As the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Dunmore, Lady Victoria Murray was born into the world of British titled society. But life for this goddaughter of Queen Victoria took a new direction when she, along with other family members, began the study of Christian Science in 1894.
Although only seventeen at the time, Lady Victoria quickly applied the healing truth she was learning. As one writer has said of her, ". . . it was not long before she felt that Christian Science was the only thing worth living for."B. Tatham Woodhead, An Historica Sketch (Manchester, 1934), p. 8. Four years later Lady Victoria withdrew from society and began a lifetime of promoting the Cause of Christian Science in England.
Her decision was sparked in large measure by the first visit she made, with her parents and sister, to Mrs. Eddy in 1898. Lady Victoria took to heart Mrs. Eddy's urging that the family come out and work publicly for the Cause. Soon Lady Victoria was answering calls for Christian Science treatment from around the country. At the same time she formed a friendship with Miss Florence Coutts-Fowlie, who became her lifelong co-worker.
A memorable moment in the work came in October 1900 when Lady Victoria responded to the desperate efforts of a medical doctor, Walter F. W. Wilding, to find a Christian Scientist to save his eight-year-old daughter.See ibid, pp. 21-23. See also Journal, Vol. 21, November 1903, pp. 507-509; Christian Science Sentinel, Vol. 8, November 4, 1905, p. 150. Agreeing to go to the young girl, who was dying of tuberculosis of the lungs and of the hip joints, Lady Victoria set out on a train for the county of Lancaster.
Dr. Wilding planned to meet her at the train station. He approached several older women as they got off the train, thinking they might be the Christian Scientist he was expecting. When finally just one pretty young woman was left standing on the platform with him, he discovered to his amazement that this delicate-looking twenty-three-year-old was the one who had come to heal his daughter!
The child improved immediately, and in less than six months she was completely well. Soon demand in the area for Christian Science treatment was so great that Lady Victoria, joined by Miss Coutts-Fowlie, settled permanently in the industrial city of Manchester, Lancashire.
Many of the patients who first came, some of whom were considered incurable, were sent by Dr. Wilding. He soon gave up his medical practice and later became a Christian Science practitioner, assisting in establishing the Cause in that region.
But progress did not come without opposition. Referring to the building of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Manchester, Lady Victoria wrote Mrs. Eddy in 1904: "It was two years of one failure after another, and crowned with a triumph at last that was only won after nights & days of prayer for Love to reign in place of the malice. ... No hall no room would allow us to hold services, we were turned out of each place, and so the only alternative left us was to build."Murray letter to Mrs. Eddy, March 1, 1904, Archives and Library of The Mother Church.
In spite of the challenges, the growth of Christian Science was remarkable. "Within the last five years," Lady Victoria said in 1905, "there have been organized fifteen churches and societies in the larger towns of the north of England, and in each case the work started through healing."Quoted in Sentinel, Vol. 8, January 6, 1906, p. 293.
Back in 1901 Mrs. Eddy had invited the Dunmores and their two daughters to attend the Normal class. Afterward all four were given certificates to teach Christian Science, and Lady Victoria continued as a Christian Science teacher for a quarter of a century.
Seldom can a pioneering life accomplish great good without also incurring some challenge and criticism. Yet when faced by adversity, Lady Victoria did not flinch. She maintained to the end what had been a lifetime's dedication: treating patients, addressing her pupils, attending to church business, answering correspondence about Christian Science—all in the service of God. Soon after her passing, replies to her last letters gave reports of healings.Blanche Norma Rundle reminiscences, Archives.
Writing to Lord and Lady Dunmore in 1905, Mrs. Eddy spoke of their "dear daughter Victoria" as "accomplishing much for the race."Sentinel, Vol. 8, December 30, 1905, p. 280. Such is the lasting legacy of a life spent in Christian service.
