Rare childhood photos of Agatha Christie to go on public display

A set of “extremely rare” photographs showing crime writer Agatha Christie as a child is to go on public display.

The pictures, taken between 1895 and 1898, show Christie at her childhood home of Ashfield in Torquay, Devon.

In one triptych, from when she was eight years old, she is seen playing the mandolin and holding two dolls.

Another image features Christie holding her hands over the eyes of her elder brother, Louis “Monty” Montant, then aged 15.

The creator of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple is also pictured watering plants in the garden of her home.

Christie’s grandson, Mathew Prichard, described the photos as “extremely rare”.

“I’m delighted to be able to share these rarely seen images of my grandmother with visitors to Torquay and the International Agatha Christie Festival this coming September,” he said.

“These and many more can be viewed for a limited time during the Unfinished Portrait exhibition at Torre Abbey.”

Christie spent much of her life in the seaside resort town of Torquay.

During the First World War, she trained and worked as a nurse at the temporary soldiers’ hospital in its town hall.

She completed her first novel at the Moorlands Hotel near Haytor, on the edge of Dartmoor, in 1916.

And in 1938, she bought the estate of Greenway near Kingswear with husband Max Mallowan.

The International Agatha Christie Festival takes place each year to celebrate her birthday on September 15.