Lillie Langtry

"Jersey Lily" redirects here. For a plant sometimes called by this name, see Amaryllis belladonna.
For the racehorse, see Lillie Langtry (horse).
Lillie Langtry

Portrait of Langtry by Frank Miles
Born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton
(1853-10-13)October 13, 1853
Jersey
Died February 12, 1929(1929-02-12) (aged 75)
Monte Carlo
Occupation Actress
Spouse(s) Edward Langtry (1874-1897; divorced)
Sir Hugo Gerald de Bathe (1899-1929; her death)
Children Jeanne Marie (1881-1964)

Lillie Langtry (born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton; October 13, 1853 – February 12, 1929), usually spelled Lily Langtry in the United States, was celebrated as a young woman of beauty and charm, who later established a reputation as an actress and producer. Her looks and personality attracted interest, commentary, and invitations from artists and society hostesses.

By 1881, she had become an actress and starred in many plays, including She Stoops to Conquer, The Lady of Lyons, and As You Like It, eventually running her own stage production company. In later life she performed "dramatic sketches" in vaudeville. She was also known for her relationships with noblemen, including the Prince of Wales, the Earl of Shrewsbury, and Prince Louis of Battenberg. She was the subject of widespread public and media interest.

Biography

Born in 1853 as Emilie Charlotte Le Breton, Langtry was the only daughter of Rev. William Corbet Le Breton and his wife Emilie Davis (née Martin), who was known for her beauty.[1] They eloped to Gretna Green[2] and, in 1842, married at Chelsea. Emilie Charlotte was born in the rectory of St Saviour's Parish Church in Jersey where her father was Rector and Dean of Jersey.[1]

Emilie, the daughter, was the sixth of seven children; all of her siblings were brothers; Francis Corbet Le Breton (1843–1872), William Inglis Le Breton (1846–1931), Trevor Alexander Le Breton (1847–1870), Maurice Vavasour Le Breton (1849–1881), Clement Martin Le Breton (10 January 1851 – 1 July 1927), and Reginald Le Breton (1855–1876). When she died, William was her last surviving brother.[3] One of their ancestors was Richard le Breton, one of the reputed assassins in 1170 of Thomas Becket.

Her French governess was unable to manage her, so Lillie was educated by her brothers' tutor. This enabled her to gain a better education than did most women of her day.[4] Their father was the Dean of Jersey, but he earned an unsavoury reputation because of several extramarital affairs. When his wife Emilie finally left him in 1880, he left Jersey.[5]

From Jersey to London

A Jersey Lily by Millais

On 6 March 1874, 20-year-old Lillie married 30-year-old Irish landowner Edward Langtry, a widower, who had been married to Jane Francis. She was the sister of Elizabeth Francis, who had married Lillie's brother William.[6] They held their wedding reception at The Royal Yacht Hotel in St. Helier, Jersey. Langtry was wealthy enough to own a yacht, and Lillie insisted that he take her away from the Channel Islands. Eventually, they rented an apartment in Eaton Place, Belgravia, London before moving to 17 Norfolk Street off Park Lane.[7]

In an interview published in several newspapers (including the Brisbane Herald) in 1882, Lillie Langtry said,

“It was through Lord Raneleigh [sic] and the painter Frank Miles that I was first introduced to London society... I went to London and was brought out by my friends. Among the most enthusiastic of these was Mr Frank Miles, the artist. I learned afterwards that he saw me one evening at the theatre, and tried in vain to discover who I was. He went to his clubs and among his artist friends declaring he had seen a beauty, and he described me to everybody he knew, until one day one of his friends met me and he was duly introduced. Then Mr Miles came and begged me to sit for my portrait. I consented, and when the portrait was finished he sold it to Prince Leopold. From that time I was invited everywhere and made a great deal of by many members of the royal family and nobility. After Frank Miles I sat for portraits to Millais and Burne-Jones and now Frith is putting my face in one of his great pictures."[8]

Lord Raneleigh, a friend of her father and her sister-in-law, invited Lillie Langtry to a high-society reception, at which she attracted notice for her beauty and wit. In contrast to most women's more elaborate clothing, she wore a simple black dress (which was to become her trademark) and no jewellery.[1] Before the end of the evening, Frank Miles had completed several sketches of her that became very popular on postcards.[9] Another guest, Sir John Everett Millais, also a Jersey native, eventually painted her portrait. Langtry's nickname, the "Jersey Lily," was taken from the Jersey lily flower (Amaryllis belladonna), a symbol of Jersey. The nickname was popularised by Millais' portrait, entitled A Jersey Lily. (According to tradition, the two Jersey natives spoke Jèrriais to each other during the sittings.) The painting caused great interest when exhibited at the Royal Academy. Langtry was portrayed holding a Guernsey lily (Nerine sarniensis) in the painting rather than a Jersey lily, as none of the latter was available during the sittings. She also sat for Sir Edward Poynter and is depicted in works by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. She became much sought-after in London society, and invitations flooded in. Her fame soon reached royal ears.[10]

Personal life

Royal mistress

August 1885 by William Downey

The Prince of Wales, Albert Edward ("Bertie", later Edward VII), arranged to sit next to Langtry at a dinner party given by Sir Allen Young on May 24, 1877.[11] (Her husband Edward was seated at the other end of the table.) Although the Prince was married to Princess Alexandra and had six children, he was a well-known philanderer. He became infatuated with Langtry, and she soon became his semi-official mistress. She was presented to the Prince's mother, Queen Victoria. Eventually, a cordial relationship developed between Langtry and Princess Alexandra.[12]

The affair lasted from late 1877 to June 1880. Although remaining friends with the Prince, Lillie Langtry's physical relationship with him ended when she became pregnant, probably by her old friend Arthur Jones with whom she went to Paris for the birth of the child, Jeanne Marie, in March 1881.[13][14][15]

In July 1879, Langtry began an affair with the Earl of Shrewsbury; in January 1880, Langtry and the earl were planning to run away together.[16] In the autumn of 1879, rumours were published in Town Talk that her husband would divorce her and cite, among others, the Prince of Wales as co-respondent. Adolphus Rosenberg was the journalist. He wrote separately about Mrs Cornwallis-West, which resulted in her husband suing him for libel. At this point, the Prince of Wales instructed his solicitor George Lewis to sue. Rosenburg pled guilty to both of the charges brought against him and was sentenced to 2 years in prison.[17] For some time, the Prince saw little of Langtry. He remained fond of her and spoke well of her in her later career as a theatre actress; he used his power to help and encourage her.[18]

With the withdrawal of royal favour, creditors closed in. The Langtrys' finances were not equal to their lifestyle. In October 1880, Langtry sold many of her possessions to meet her debts, allowing Edward Langtry to avoid a declaration of bankruptcy.[19]

Daughter

Langtry as Lady de Bathe, circa 1915

In April 1879, Langtry had an affair with Prince Louis of Battenberg, while she was involved with Arthur Clarence Jones (1854–1930), an old friend. In June 1880, she became pregnant. Her husband was not the father; she led Prince Louis to believe that he was. When the prince told his parents, they had him assigned to the warship HMS Inconstant. The Prince of Wales gave her a sum of money, and Langtry went into her confinement in Paris, accompanied by Arthur Jones. On March 8, 1881, she gave birth to a daughter, whom she named Jeanne Marie.[20]

The discovery in 1978 of Langtry's passionate letters to Arthur Jones and their publication by Laura Beatty in 1999 support the idea that Jones was the father of her daughter.[21] Prince Louis' son, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, had always maintained that his father was the father of Jeanne Marie.[22]

In 1902, Jeanne Marie married the Scottish politician, Sir Ian Malcolm at St Margaret's, Westminster.[23] They had four children, three sons and a daughter. Lady Malcolm died in 1964. Her daughter Mary Malcolm was one of the first two female announcers on the BBC Television Service (now BBC One) from 1948 to 1956. She died on 13 October 2010 at the age of 92.[24] Jeanne Marie's second son, Victor Neill Malcolm, married English actress Ann Todd.[25] They divorced in the late 1930's. Malcolm remarried in 1942 to an American, Mary Ellery Channing.[26]

Acting career and manager

Lillie Langtry in character as the adventuress Lena Despard from the 1887 play As in a Looking-Glass.

In 1881 Lillie was in need of money. Her close friend Oscar Wilde suggested she try the stage, and Lillie embarked upon a theatre career. She first tried out for an amateur production in the Twickenham Town Hall on 19 November 1881. It was a comedy two-hander called A Fair Encounter, with Henrietta Labouchere taking the other role and coaching Langtry in her acting. Labouchere had been a professional actress (Henrietta Hodson) before she met and married Liberal MP Henry Labouchere. Following favorable reviews of this first attempt at the stage, and with further coaching, Langtry made her debut before the London public, playing Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer at the Haymarket Theatre[27] in December 1881. Critical opinion was mixed, but she was a success with the public. She next performed in Ours at the same theatre. Although her affair with the Prince of Wales was over, he supported her new venture by attending several of her performances and helping attract an audience.[28]

Early in 1882, Langtry quit the production team at the Haymarket and started her own company,[29] touring the UK with various plays. She was still under the tutelage of Henrietta Labouchere.[28]

American impresario Henry Abbey arranged a tour in the United States for Langtry. She arrived by ship in October 1882 to be met by the press and Oscar Wilde, who was in New York on a lecture tour. Her first appearance was eagerly anticipated, but the theatre burnt down the night before the opening; the show moved to another venue and opened the following week. Eventually, her production company started a coast-to-coast tour of the USA, ending in May 1883 with a “fat profit.” Before leaving New York, she had an acrimonious break with Henrietta Labouchere over Langtry's relationship with Frederick Gebhard, a wealthy young American.[30]

Her first tour of the United States (accompanied by Gebhard) was an enormous success, which she repeated in subsequent years. While the critics generally condemned her interpretations of roles such as Pauline in The Lady of Lyons or Rosalind in As You Like It, the public loved her. After her return from New York in 1883, Langtry registered at the Conservatoire in Paris for six weeks' intensive training to improve her acting technique.[31] In 1889, she took on the part of Lady Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth. In 1903, she starred in the US in The Crossways, written by her in collaboration with J. Hartley Manners. She returned to the United States for tours in 1906 and again in 1912, appearing in vaudeville. She last appeared on the stage in America in 1917. Later that year, she made her final appearance in the theatre in London.[28]

From 1900 to 1903, with financial support from Edgar Cohen,[32] Langtry became the lessee and manager of London's Imperial Theatre, opening on the 21 April 1901 after an extensive refit.[33]

Thoroughbred racing

For nearly a decade, from 1882 to 1891, Langtry had a relationship with the American Frederick Gebhard, described as a young clubman, sportsman, horse owner, and admirer of feminine beauty, both on and off the stage. Gebhard's wealth was inherited; his maternal grandfather Thomas E. Davis was one of the wealthiest New York real estate owners of the period. His paternal grandfather, Dutchman Frederick Gebhard, came to New York in 1800 and developed a mercantile business that expanded into banking and railroad stocks.[34] Gebhard's father died when he was 5 years old and his mother died when he was about 10. He and his sister, Isabelle, were raised by a guardian, paternal uncle William H Gebhard.[35] When Gebhard began his relationship with Langtry, he was 22 and she was 29.

With Gebhard, Langtry became involved in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing. In 1885, she and Gebhard brought a stable of American horses to race in England. On August 13, 1888, Langtry and Gebhard traveled in her private car[36] attached to an Erie Railroad express train bound for Chicago. Another railcar was transporting 17 of their horses when it derailed at Shohola, Pennsylvania at 1:40 am. Rolling down an 80-foot (24 m) embankment, it burst into flames.[37] One person died in the fire, along with Gebhard's champion runner Eole and 14 racehorses belonging to him and Langtry. Two horses survived the wreck, including St. Saviour, full brother to Eole. He was named for St. Saviour's Church in Jersey. This was where Langtry's father had been rector and where she chose to be buried at her death.[38][39]

Despite speculation, Langtry and Gebhard never married. In 1895 he married Lulu Morris of Baltimore. They divorced in 1901.[40] In 1905 he married Marie Wilson; he died in 1910.[41]

Sale of Regal Lodge 1919

In 1889, Langtry met “an eccentric young bachelor, with vast estates in Scotland, a large breeding stud, a racing stable, and more money than he knew what to do with”: he was George Alexander Baird or Squire Abington,[42] as he came to be known. He inherited wealth from his grandfather, who with seven of his sons, had developed and prospered from coal and iron workings.[43] Baird’s father had died when he was a young boy, leaving him a fortune in trust. In addition, he inherited the estates of two equally wealthy uncles who had died childless.

Langtry and Baird met at a race course when he gave her a betting tip and the stake money to place on the horse. The horse won and, at a later luncheon party, Baird also offered her the gift of a horse named Milford. She at first demurred, but others at the table advised her to accept, as this horse was a very fine prospect. The horse won several races under Langtry’s colours; he was registered to “Mr Jersey” (women were excluded from registering horses at this time). Langtry became involved in a relationship with Baird, from 1891 until his death in March 1893.[44][45][46][47]

When Baird died, Langtry purchased two of his horses, Lady Rosebery and Studley Royal, at the estate dispersal sale. She moved her training to Sam Pickering’s stables at Kentford House[48] and took Regal Lodge as a residence in the village of Kentford, near Newmarket. The building is a short distance from Baird's original race horse breeding establishment, which has since been renamed Meddler Stud.[49]

Langtry found mentors in Captain James Octavius Machell[50] and Joe Thompson, who provided guidance on all matters related to the turf. When her trainer Pickering failed to deliver results, she moved her expanded string of 20 horses to Fred Webb at Exning.[51] Told of a good horse for sale in Australia called Merman,[52] she purchased it and had it shipped to England; such shipments were risky and she had a previous bad experience with a horse arriving injured (Maluma). Merman was regarded as one of the best “stayers”; he eventually went on to win the Lewes Handicap, the Cesarewitch, Jockey Club Cup, Goodwood Stakes, Goodwood Cup, and Ascot Gold Cup (with Tod Sloan up).[53] Langtry later had a second Cesarewitch winner with Yentoi, and a third place with Raytoi. An imported horse from New Zealand called Uniform, won the Lewes Handicap for her.

Other trainers used by Langtry were Jack Robinson,[54] who trained at Foxhill in Wiltshire, and a very young Fred Darling[55] whose first big success was Yentoi's 1908 Caesarwitch.

Langtry owned a stud at Gazely, Newmarket. This venture was not a success. After a few years, she gave up attempts to breed blood-stock.[56]

Langtry sold Regal Lodge and all her horse-racing interests in 1919 before she moved to Monaco. Regal Lodge had been her home for twenty-three years and received many celebrated guests, not least the Prince of Wales.[57]

William Ewart Gladstone

During her stage career Langtry became friendly with William Ewart Gladstone (1809–1898), who was the British Prime Minister on four occasions during the reign of Queen Victoria. In her memoirs Langtry says that she first met Gladstone when she was posing for her portrait at Millais' studio. They were later friends and he became a mentor to her. He told her, "In your professional career, you will receive attacks, personal and critical, just and unjust. Bear them, never reply, and, above all, never rush into print to explain or defend yourself".[58]

In 1925 Captain Peter Emmanuel Wright published a book called Portraits and Criticisms. In it he claimed that Gladstone had numerous extramarital affairs, including one with Langtry. Gladstone’s son Herbert Gladstone wrote a letter calling Wright a liar, a coward and a fool; Wright sued him. During the trial a telegram, sent by Langtry from Monte Carlo, was read out in court saying, "I strongly repudiate the slanderous accusations of Peter Wright." The jury found against Wright, saying that the "gist of the defendant's letter of 27 July was true" and that the evidence vindicated the high moral standards of the late William E. Gladstone.[59][60]

American citizenship and divorce

Lillie Langtry's grave in Saint Saviour, Jersey

In 1888, Langtry became a property owner in America when she purchased a winery with an area of 4,200 acres (17 km2) in Lake County, California, which produced red wine. She sold it in 1906. Bearing the Langtry Farms name, the winery and vineyard are still in operation in Middletown, California.[61]

During her travels in the United States, Langtry became an American citizen and on May 13, 1897, divorced her husband, Edward Langtry, in Lakeport, California. Her ownership of land in America was introduced in evidence at her divorce to help demonstrate to the judge that she was a citizen of the country.[62] In June of that year Edward Langtry issued a statement giving his side of the story, which was published in the New York Journal.[63]

He died a few months later in an asylum, after being found in a demented condition at a railway station. Cause of death was probably due to a brain haemorrhage after a fall during on a steamer crossing from Belfast to Liverpool. A verdict of accidental death was returned at the inquest.[64][65][66] A letter of condolence later written by Langtry to another widow reads in part, "I too have lost a husband, but alas! it was no great loss."[67]

Langtry continued to have involvement with her husband's Irish properties after his death. These were compulsory purchased from her in 1928 under the Northern Ireland Land Act, 1925. This was passed after the Partition of Ireland, with the purpose of the government taking ownership of property from the landlords and transferring it to tenants.[68][69]

Hugo Gerald de Bathe

After the divorce from her husband, Langtry was linked in the popular press to Prince Louis Esterhazy; they shared time together and both had an interest in horse racing.[70] However, in 1899, she married 28-year-old Hugo Gerald de Bathe (1871-1940), son of Sir Henry de Bathe, 4th Baronet and Charlotte Clare. Hugo's parents had initially not married, due to objections from the de Bathe family. They lived together and seven of their children were born out of wedlock. They married after the death of Sir Henry's father in 1870, and Hugo was their first son born in wedlock – making him heir to the baronetcy.[71]

The wedding between Langtry and de Bathe took place in St Saviour’s Church, Jersey, on August 27, 1899, with Langtry's daughter being the only other person present, apart from the officials. This was the same day that Langtry's horse, Merman, won the Goodwood Cup. In December of that year de Bathe volunteered to join the British forces fighting the Boer War in South Africa, and he was assigned to the Robert’s Horse mounted brigade as a lieutenant. He had previous military experience with the Gloucestershire Regiment as a sub-lieutenant. In 1907 Hugo's father died; he became the 5th Baronet and Langtry became Lady de Bathe.[72]

When Hugo de Bathe became the 5th Baronet, he inherited properties in Sussex, Devon and Ireland; those in Sussex were in the hamlet of West Stoke near Chichester. These were: Woodend, 17 bedrooms set in 71 acres; Hollandsfield, 10 bedrooms set in 52 acres and Balsom’s Farm of 206 acres. Woodend was retained as the de Bathe residence whilst the smaller Hollandsfield was let. During the early years of the 19th century Woodend had been owned by Sir George Cranfield Berkeley (1753-1818). He married Emilia Charlotte Lennox, a grand-daughter of the 2nd Duke of Richmond. Their daughter, Louisa Emily Anne, married Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, who commanded HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. After Hardy’s death in 1839, Louisa remarried to Lord Charles Ellis, 1st Baron Seaford, and they lived at Woodend until his death in 1845.[73]

Today the buildings retain their period appearance, but modifications and additions have been made, and the complex is now multi-occupancy. One of the houses on the site is named Langtry and another Hardy. The de Bathe properties were all sold in 1919, the same year that Lady de Bathe sold Regal Lodge.

In 1922 a tragedy occurred at Hollandsfield when the new resident, London County Council alderman Louis Courtauld, shot his wife and committed suicide whilst deranged. Courtauld was the nephew of George Courtauld, textile manufacturer.[74]

Final days

During her final years, Langtry, as Lady de Bathe, resided in Monaco whilst her husband, Sir Hugo de Bathe, lived in Vence, Alpes Maritimes.[75] The two saw one another at social gatherings or in brief private encounters. During World War I Hugo de Bathe was an ambulance driver for the French Red Cross.[76][77] After Langtry's death, he remarried on November 26, 1931 in Corsica, to Deborah Warschowsk Henius, a Danish lady.[78]

Larne Times, May 18, 1929

Langtry's closest companion during her time in Monaco was her friend, Mathilde Marie Peate, the widow of her butler. Peate was at Langtry's side during the final days of her life as she died of pneumonia in Monte Carlo. Langtry left Peate £10,000, the villa known as Le Lys Monaco, clothes, and Langtry's motor car.[79]

Langtry died in Monaco at dawn 12 February 1929. She had asked to be buried in her parents' tomb at St. Saviour's Church in Jersey. Due to blizzards, transport was delayed. Her body was taken to St Malo and across to Jersey on 22 February on the steamer Saint Brieuc. Her coffin lay in St Saviour's overnight surrounded by flowers, and she was buried on the afternoon of 23 February.[80] Pictures of the funeral may be viewed at http://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Lillie_Langtry

Bequests

In her will, Langtry left £2000 to a young man that she had become fond of in later life named Charles Louis D'Albani; the son of a Newmarket solicitor, he was born in about 1891. She also left £1000 to Dr A. T. Bulkeley Gavin of 5 Berkeley Square, London, a physician and surgeon who treated wealthy patients. In 1911 he had been engaged to authoress Katherine Cecil Thurston, who died before they could marry; she had already changed her will in favour of Bulkeley Gavin.[81]

Cultural influence and portrayals

Langtry used her high public profile to endorse commercial products such as cosmetics and soap, an early example of celebrity endorsement. She used her famous ivory complexion to generate income, being the first woman to endorse a commercial product when she advertised Pears Soap.

Caricature of Langtry, from Punch, Christmas 1890: The soap box on which she sits reflects her endorsements of cosmetics and soaps.

Scholars believe the fictitious Irene Adler in A Scandal in Bohemia (1891), the first Sherlock Holmes short story, is based on Langtry. Adler outwits the private investigator in the story when he seeks an incriminating photograph of her and a European monarch.[82]

In the 1944 Universal film The Scarlet Claw, Lillian Gentry, the initial murder victim, wife of Lord William Penrose and former actress, is an oblique reference to Langtry.

Langtry's life story has been portrayed in film numerous times. Lillian Bond played her in The Westerner (1940), and Ava Gardner in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972). Judge Roy Bean, a famous American frontier admirer, was played by Walter Brennan in the former and Paul Newman in the latter film, both times as a man with a lifelong obsession with the beauty.

In 1967, the Who released "Pictures of Lily" as a single. According to Pete Townshend, the song was "merely a ditty about masturbation and the importance of it to a young man. It's all about a boy who can't sleep at night, so his dad gives him some dirty pictures to look at. Then he falls in love with the girl in the pictures which is too bad because she is dead". Lillie Langtry, the music hall star, died in 1929, the year referred to in the song.

In 1978, Langtry's story was dramatised by London Weekend Television and produced as Lillie, starring Francesca Annis in the title role. Annis had previously played Langtry in two episodes of ATV's Edward the Seventh. Jenny Seagrove played her in the 1991 made-for-television film Incident at Victoria Falls.

Langtry is a featured character in the "tongue-in-cheek" western novel, Slocum and the Jersey Lily by Jake Logan. She figures prominently in Death at Epsom Downs by Robin Paige, the pseudonym of Bill and Susan Wittig Albert, who wrote a series of Victorian novels based on historic people.

Langtry is a featured character in the fictional The Flashman Papers novels of acclaimed writer George Macdonald Fraser, in which she is noted as a former lover of arch cad Harry Flashman. Flashman describes her as one of his few true loves.[83]

Langtry is used as a touchstone for old-fashioned manners in Preston Sturges's comedy The Lady Eve (1941), in a scene where a corpulent woman drops a handkerchief on the floor and the hero ignores it. Jean (Barbara Stanwyck) begins to describe, comment, and anticipate the events that we see reflected in her hand mirror. Jean says: "The dropped kerchief! That hasn't been used since Lily Langtry ... you'll have to pick it up yourself, madam ... it's a shame, but he doesn't care for the flesh, he'll never see it" (Pirolini 2010).[84]

The song "Lily Langtry" is included in a few albums by the folk group, New Christy Minstrels. A British feature film used the song title Pictures of Lily in 2011.

In The Simpsons episode, "Burns' Heir", the theatre in which the auditions are held on Burns' estate is called the Lillie Langtry Theater.[85]

Langtry is a featured character in the play Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily by Katie Forgette. In this work, she is blackmailed over her past relationship with the Prince of Wales, with intimate letters as proof. She, along with friend Oscar Wilde, employ Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to investigate the matter.[86]

Places connected with Lillie Langtry

When first married (1874), Edward and Lillie Langtry had a property called Cliffe Lodge in Southampton.[87]

blue plaque commemorating Langtry
Blue plaque memorial at Langtry's former address, 21 Pont Street, London
exterior of red bricked house, with blue plaque on front wall
8 Wilton Place, London
Lillie Langtry plaque, 8 Wilton Place

Judge Roy Bean named the saloon "The Jersey Lilly", which also served as the judge's courthouse, for her, in Langtry, Texas (named after the unrelated engineer George Langtry).

Lillie Langtry lived at 21 Pont Street, London from 1892 to 1897. Although from 1895 the building was operated as the Cadogan Hotel, she would stay in her former bedroom there. A blue plaque (which erroneously states that she was born in 1852) on the hotel commemorates this, and the hotel's restaurant is named 'Langtry's' in her honour.

While she was Edward VII's mistress, Lillie Langtry frequently performed at the in-house theatre of a hotel on 1–9 Inverness Terrace, in Bayswater, on the north side of Hyde Park, London W2. The in-house theatre is known as 'Lillie's theatre'. A grade II listed building, the hotel was originally built by Ritz architects Charles Mewès and Arthur Davis. It continues to function as a hotel today; its in-house theatre continues as the venue for nightly cabaret-style performances. The hotel is now named the Grand Royale London Hyde Park, part of the Shaftesbury Hotels company.[88]

From about 1886 to 1894 she owned a house in New York at 362 West 23rd Street, a gift from Frederick Gebhard.[89]

Langtry had a dwelling in Alexandra Road called Leighton House,[90] possibly demolished in the 1970s to make way for the Alexandra Road Estate. She is remembered in the area in the name of Langtry Walk and a local pub.[91]

There is a pub named after her on the Lillie Road (The A3218), Kensington, London, near West Brompton tube station.

Langtry was a cousin of local politician Philip Le Breton, pioneer for the preservation of Hampstead Heath.[92][93]

There are a pair of bars in New York City devoted to the memory of Lillie Langtry, operating under the title Lillie's Victorian Establishment.[94]

Steam yacht White Ladye

Langtry owned a luxury steam auxiliary yacht called White Ladye from 1891 to 1897. The yacht was built in 1891 for Lord Asburton by Ramage & Ferguson of Leith from a design by W C Storey. She had 3 masts, was 204 feet in length and 27 in breadth and was powered by a 142 hp steam engine. She had originally been named Ladye Mabel.

In 1893 Ogden Geolet leased the vessel from Langtry and used it until his death in 1897.[95] It was sold at auction[96] to John Lawson Johnston, the creator of Bovril. He owned it until his death on board in Cannes, France in 1900.[97] In 1902/3 the yacht was recorded in the Lloyd's Yacht Register as being owned by shipbuilder William Cresswell Gray, Tunstall Manor, West Hartlepool, and remained so until 1915. Following this the Lloyd's Register records that she became adapted as French trawler La Champagne based in Fécamp; she was broken up in 1935.[98]

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lillie Langtry
  2. ↑ Camp, op.cit. 366.
  3. ↑ "The life of lillie langtry" (PDF). langtryfarms.
  4. ↑ Langtry, Lillie (1989). The Days I Knew - An Autobiography. St. John: Redberry Press. p. Chapter 1 - Call Me Lillie.
  5. ↑ Anthony Camp, Royal Mistresses and Bastards: Fact and Fiction 1714–1936 (London, 2007) 365.
  6. ↑ Dudley, Ernest (1958). The Gilded Lily. London: Odhams Press Limited. pp. 34–35.
  7. ↑ Aronson, Theo (1989). The King in Love. London: Corgi Books. p. 74.
  8. ↑ "Interview with the Jersy Lillie". Daily Telegraph, Issue 3507, 3 October 1882, Page 4. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  9. ↑ "Frank Miles Drawing". lillielangtry.com. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  10. ↑ Leslie, Anita (1973). The Marlborough House Set. New York: Doubleday & Company. p. 68 to 70.
  11. ↑ Camp, op.cit., p.364.
  12. ↑ "The Girl from Jersey". lillielangtry.com. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  13. ↑ Beatty (1999), p. 173.
  14. ↑ Camp, Anthony. Royal Mistresses and Bastards: Fact and Fiction: 1714–1936 (2007), pp. 364–367.
  15. ↑ Camp, op.cit., 364.
  16. ↑ Laura Beatty, Lillie Langtry: Manners, Masks and Morals (London, 1999), pp. 164–65.
  17. ↑ Juxon, John (1983). Lewis & Lewis. London: Collins. p. 179.
  18. ↑ Magnus, Philip (1964). King Edward the Seventh. John Murray. p. 172.
  19. ↑ "Changing fortunes". jaynesjersey.com. Retrieved May 30, 2008.
  20. ↑ Camp, op.cit., pp.364–67
  21. ↑ Beatty, op. cit.
  22. ↑ Daily Telegraph, September 27, 1978; Evening News, October 23, 1978.
  23. ↑ "MISS LANGTRY'S WEDDING". Kalgoorlie Miner 7, (18437) (Western Australia). 5 August 1902. p. 6. Retrieved 8 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  24. ↑ Purser, Philip (October 14, 2010). "Mary Malcolm obituary". The Guardian (London).
  25. ↑ "No title". The Australasian. CXLII, (4,597) (Victoria, Australia). 13 February 1937. p. 13 (METROPOLITAN EDITION). Retrieved 8 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  26. ↑ "Miss Channing to wed V. N. Malcolm in Washington". New York Sun. February 5, 1942.
  27. ↑ New International Encyclopedia
  28. 1 2 3 Dudley, Ernest (1958). The Guilded Lily. London: Odhams Press Limited. p. Chapters 6/7/8.
  29. ↑ Dudley, Ernest (1958). The Gilded Lily. London: Oldhams Press. p. 73.
  30. ↑ Beatty, Laura (1999). Lillie Langtry - Manners, Masks and Morals. London: Vintage. p. Chapter XXVII Down the Primrose Path.
  31. ↑ Beatty, Laura (1999). Lillie Langtry - Manners, Masks and Morals. London: Vintage. p. Chapter XXVIII Venus in Harness.
  32. ↑ "FORTUNE OF FIVE Millions". The Evening News (3752) (Queensland, Australia). 14 October 1933. p. 3. Retrieved 28 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  33. ↑ "Mrs Langtry sold the theatre to Wesleyan Methodists. They later sold [the interior] to the company owning the Royal Albert Music Hall, Canning Town. They reconstructed the theatre stone by stone as the Music Hall of Dockland." (Source: Templeman Library, University of Kent at Canterbury). On the site of the theatre is now the Westminster Central Hall.
  34. ↑ Barrett, Walter (1863). The old merchants of New York City. New York: Carleton. p. 132.
  35. ↑ "Disposing of Two Million". The New York Times. 28 June 1878. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  36. ↑ "Mrs Langtry's Private Car". The Decorator and Furnisher. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  37. ↑ "Wreck on the Erie Road". The Sun - page 5. 14 August 1888. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
  38. ↑ The New York Times, August 14, 1888, p.33
  39. ↑ The New York Times, August 15, 1888, p. 20
  40. ↑ "Mr Frederick Gebhard to Pay His Divorced Wife a Fortune.....". The San Francisco Call. 30 October 1901. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  41. ↑ "Fred Gebhard Near Death". New York Times. 22 April 1910. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  42. ↑ "Baird, George Alexander (1861 - 1893)". Copyright © 2003 All rights reserved worldwide The National Horseracing Museum. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  43. ↑ Bulloch, John Malcolm (1934). The Last Baird of Auchmedden and Strichen. Aberdeen: Privately Printed. p. 2.
  44. ↑ "Lillie Langtry and George Baird of Stichill". Thanks to Stichill Millennium Project. Bairdnet. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  45. ↑ Camp, op.cit., p.366.
  46. ↑ Dudley, Ernest (1958). The Gilded Lily. London: Oldhams Press. p. 128 to 134.
  47. ↑ "Baird's of Stichill". thank to Stitchill Millennium Project. Bairnet. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  48. ↑ "Pickering, Samuel George (1865 - 1927)". The National Horseracing Museum. 2003. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  49. ↑ Dudley, Ernest (1958). The Gilded Lily. London: Oldhams Press. p. Chapter 14 and Postscript.
  50. ↑ "Machell, James Octavius (Captain) (1837 - 1902)". Copyright © 2003 All rights reserved worldwide The National Horseracing Museum. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  51. ↑ "Webb, Frederic E (1853 - 1917)". Copyright © 2003 All rights reserved worldwide The National Horseracing Museum. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  52. ↑ Allison, William (c. 1917). My Kingdom for a Horse. New York: E P Dutton & Company. p. 346.
  53. ↑ The New York Times, June 15, 1900, p.16
  54. ↑ "Robinson, William Thomas (1868 - 1918)". The National Horseracing Museum. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  55. ↑ "Darling, Frederick (1884 - 1953)". The National Horseracing Museum. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  56. ↑ Langtry, Lillie (2000). The Days I Knew. Panoply Publications. p. Chapter 18 The Races.
  57. ↑ "Kentford Village History". A Forest Heath District Council (Suffolk) Project. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  58. ↑ Langtry, Lillie (2000). The Days I Knew. Panoply Publications. p. Chapter 10, Young and Optimistic.
  59. ↑ "THE GLADSTONE CASE.". The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 3 February 1927. p. 13. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  60. ↑ "The Gladston Case; Verdict Against Capt. Wright" (P.14). The Times. February 4, 1927.
  61. ↑ "Langtry Farms History". Langtry Farms.
  62. ↑ "Mrs. Langtry's Divorce.". Telegraph (Brisbane) (7700) (Queensland, Australia). 1 July 1897. p. 2. Retrieved 6 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  63. ↑ "THE JERSEY LILY". Sunday Times (604) (New South Wales, Australia). 25 July 1897. p. 9. Retrieved 6 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  64. ↑ "MR. EDWARD LANGTRY.". Adelaide Observer LIV, (2,925) (South Australia). 23 October 1897. p. 6. Retrieved 6 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  65. ↑ Beatty, op.cit., p.302.
  66. ↑ New York Times, October 17, 1897
  67. ↑ Letter in the Curtis Theatre Collection, University of Pittsburgh.
  68. ↑ "LAND PURCHASE COMMISSION, NORTHERN IRELAND. NORTHERN IRELAND LAND ACT, 1925" (PDF). www.thegazette.co.uk/Belfast. The Gazette. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  69. ↑ "ESTATE OF LADY LILY DE BATHE (Widow), REPRESENTATIVE OF EDWARD LANGTRY, DECEASED". www.thegazette.co.uk/Belfast. The Gazette. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  70. ↑ "Mrs Lantry to Marry". The New York Times. September 25, 1897. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  71. ↑ "Legitimacy Declaration" (Page 5 Column 5). The Times. February 22, 1928.
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  73. ↑ Beckett, J. V. (1994). The Rise and Fall of the Grenvilles: Dukes of Buckingham and Chandos, 1710 to 1921. Manchester University Press. p. 104. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  74. ↑ "FATAL DELUSION". World. VIII, (98) (Tasmania, Australia). 26 April 1922. p. 8. Retrieved 3 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  75. ↑ "LILY LANGTRYS HUSBAND". The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser. June 26, 1931. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  76. ↑ The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England. WWI Service Medal and Award Rolls; Class: WO 329; Piece Number: 2324
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  78. ↑ Lundy, Darrly. "Deborah Warschowsky". The Peerage. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
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  80. ↑ Dudley, Ernest (1958). The Gilded Lily. London: Oldhams Press. p. 219 to 220.
  81. ↑ Copeland, Caroline (2007). The Sensational Katherine Cecil Thurston: An Investigation into the Life and Publishing History of a 'New Woman' Author (PDF). ©Caroline Copeland 2007. pp. various. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
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  83. ↑ Fraser, George Macdonald (1999). Flashman and the Tiger. The Flashman Papers. HarperCollins. ISBN 0007217226. OCLC 62265058.
  84. ↑ Pirolini, Alessandro. The Cinema of Preston Sturges: A Critical Study, McFarland & Co., 2010. ISBN 978-0-7864-4358-1
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  88. ↑ "The Grand Royale London Hyde Park". OUR HISTORY. grandroyalelondon.co.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  89. ↑ Bunyan, Patrick (1999). All Around the Town: Amazing Manhattan Facts and Curiosities. Fordham Univ Press. p. 249.
  90. ↑ Leslie, Anita (1973). The Marlborough House Set. New York: Doubleday & Co. p. 69.
  91. ↑ "Alexandra Road Park Conservation Management Plan" (PDF). See page 13. © Sarah Couch Historic Landscapes. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
  92. ↑ "Hampstead Heath - History". See timeline 1870. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  93. ↑ "British History on Line". See paragraph 6. 'Hampstead: St. John’s Wood', A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9: Hampstead, Paddington (1989), pp. 60-63. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22639 Date accessed: 27 February 2013. External link in |publisher= (help)
  94. ↑ "Lillie's Victorian Establishment". Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  95. ↑ "Mr Goelet Charters White Ladye". The New York Times. 14 July 1893. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  96. ↑ "Mrs Lantry's Yacht Sold". The New York Times. 25 November 1897. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  97. ↑ "Inventor of "Bovril" Dead". The New York Times. 25 November 1900. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  98. ↑ Daussy, Jack (1991). The cod fishing trawlers Fécampois. Fécamp: Imp. L. Durand & Fils. pp. 37 to 40.

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