Dorothea Baird
(The Star [Christchurch, NZ] - 16th September, 1896)
TRILBY'S WEDDING
It has been a week of weddings, and upon my word I believe the Trilby wedding, when Miss Dorothea Baird married the "little Billie" of her real life - Mr H. B. Irving to wit - excited very nearly as much enthusiasm as the Royal marriage of Princess Maud to Prince Charles of Denmark.
The church - St Pancras - was a sweltering crowd of notabilities packed closer than any sardines ever boxed. Outside in the pitiless blazing sunshine of one of the hottest days ever experienced in London was a crowd of such magnitude that it was all the police could do to manage it, and traffic was entirely out of the question.
The ceremony was performed by the Rev H.L. Paget, assisted by the Rev W. Holden Hutton, Fellow of St John's College, Oxford, and the service, which was fully choral, was characterised by the exquisite quality of the music.
The bridegroom was amongst the first arrivals accompanied by his best man, Mr. Lawrence Irving. But "Trilby" was punctual and kept no one waiting. She wore an absolutely plain dress of white satin, and the only jewels visible were a necklet presented by Mr Cook, and a brooch given by Mrs. du Maurier.
The address - in place of sermon - was unusually happy, and a portion will bear quotation as a sample of the right thing to say on such an occasion:-
"How can I," said Mr Hutton, "put in words for you the wishes that your friends are thinking as I speak - for you who have so much before you, as we hope and believe, of all that may raise, and brighten and inspire the lives of others? He who wrote the song for Hymen when he brings Rosalind to her father and her lover, could speak for us; or he who sank to rest with 'Cymbeline' at his pillow, not we for ourselves. A life together - in it all has become new. We do not lose the old world - our world of visions, or the world in which our old selves moved, trained daily by the sharp discipline of life, we do not lose the past, but we see it, and, please God, the future too -
With such different eyes.
O world as God has made it! All is beauty:
And knowing this is love, and love is duty.
What further may be sought for or declared.
Poets can say these things: we are happy if we can feel them. So go brightly and boldly forth together. Honour and truth and purity, and a loyal faith - these it may be yours to show where thousands watch you; and still more certainly and more happily it will be yours to show them, together, in the home, in the life which you lead for each other and for God."
After the wedding there was the usual reception and an enormous throng of people gathered outside in the street. So great did the roar of "Trilby, Trilby," become that the newly-wed Mrs. Irving had to go out onto the balcony and bow her acknowledgment.
The quaint scene of enthusiasm reached its height when "Trilby" raised a glass of champagne above her head and in dumb show drank the health of the multitude below. The cheering was deafening and the block of traffic a serious inconvenience. "A mad world my masters," isn't it.
(The Wheelwoman [UK] - 1st August, 1896)
SOCIETY ON WHEELS (extract)
... The two principal brides of this week of bridals are both ardent cyclists, so I know you will be doubly interested in hearing about their weddings. First on the list (because it took place on Monday), comes that of Miss Dorothea Baird, the ever-fascinating "Trilby," of almost historic fame. I wouldn't have missed seeing her married for anything. But oh! wasn't it hot!
St. Pancras (where the wedding took place) is a fine old-fashioned church, and capable of holding a large number of people, but it did not seem to me to be nearly big enough to hold the crowds which flocked in their best "bibs and tuckers" to witness the tying of the knot which joined dear, sweet "Trilby'' to her ''Little Billee" for ever. I thought, as I saw her and her bridegroom, Mr. H. B. Irving (who, by the way, is very handsome, with a thorough Irving face), standing before the altar plighting their troth to each other, of Mr. Beerbohm Tree's happy remark which he made on the occasion of saying "Au revoir " to his Haymarket Company a week or two ago - that this Trilby was not denied her 'little Billee' in real life, as a cruel author had denied it to her in the book and on the stage.
I always felt sorry that Mr. Du Maurier couldn't have made poor Trilby happy in the end, but then the book wouldn't have been half so pathetic if he had, and would have thereby lost a great part of its charm.
There is no doubt about it that we women (and men too, the nice ones I mean) like a bit of romance and sentiment in this work-a-day world, or else how do you account for that unaccountable lump that will rise, do what you like, in one's throat at a wedding? I suffered from it the other day, and I saw several furtively wiping away a tear or two. Well, no wonder, and I won't make any excuse for my very womanly weakness. "Trilby" looked so sweet and modest, and her bridegroom so proud and radiantly happy, that it was quite touching.
We all know how beautiful Miss Baird appears on the stage, but I'll challenge anyone to contradict me when I say she looked better than I have ever seen her on her wedding-day. The rich white satin gown, with its brocaded train, and the flowing veil, suited her tall graceful figure to perfection, and her beautifully shaped head was bound with the utmost simplicity by a flat wreath of real orange blossoms. The six child bridesmaids who carried her train and walked behind her looked quaint and pretty in their artistic costumes of green with dear little Dutch bonnets; they were quite dignified and composed, but all children seem to me to be that now-a-days.
Talking of children, I particularly noticed little Miss Viola Tree, who came with her father and mother, such an artistic-looking child she is to be sure, and exquisitely dressed! She, too, wore a Dutch bonnet. Besides Mr. and Mrs. Tree, among the numerous guests I observed Mr. and Mrs. Clement Scott, the latter wearing magnificent diamonds; Mr. and Mrs. George Alexander, perfectly dressed as ever; Mr. Bancroft, and his clever wife in green satin brocade and small bonnet trimmed with pink roses; Lady Lawson, whose blue satin waistcoat was draped with rare old lace; Mr. James Sant, R.A., with his wife and pretty daughter, Mr. Leonard Courtney, M.P., and Mrs. Courtney, Canon and Mrs. Bamett, Lord Justice Lawrence, Mr. William Heinemann, Mrs. Comyns Carr, Hon. Stephen Coleridge and Mrs. Coleridge, and a host of others well known in theatrical circles and the world of art - and oh! I must not forget to mention Mr. Du Maurier, who looked with admiring eyes at his beautiful "creation."
Well, all I can say, whilst not wishing to cut short the honeymoon of the happy pair, is that I hope we shall soon have both Mr. and Mrs. "Harry" Irving back among us again, for I miss the latter sadly in Regent's Park. On her bicycle she is a "thing of beauty," I can tell you, and rides remarkably well. I have taken the liberty of copying the following lines from the Sun, they are very good, I think. It is a song that "Trilby" need never sing, for do we not all know the "Trilby feet?"
Only a little mermaid,
Who perched on a cold, damp rock,
And wept as if her system
Had incurred a dreadful shock.
"Alas! ah woe!" she blubbered,
"I'm the victim of a cheat;
I cannot ride a bicycle
For I haven't any feet."
Lily Hanbury
(The Daily Mail [London, UK] - 19th April, 1905)
MISS LILY HANBURY MARRIED - AN UNCONVENTIONAL CEREMONY
Among the numerous theatrical and musical weddings of the present year none has been brighter or more popular than that of Miss Lily Hanbury and Mr. Herbert Guedalla, which took place yesterday.
The bride and bridegroom looked radiantly happy, and all their guests, old and young, caught some reflection of their delight. The actual marriage took place very quietly at the Mount Street registry office. The first intention was to have it at the Great Portland Street Synagogue; but Mr. Guedalla was somewhat unwell in the early part of the year, and did not yet feel able to face the long service. Consequently, as Miss Hanbury told all the friends who reproached her for not sending invitations to the ceremony, "There hasn't been any ceremony. I went to Mount Street in a mauve cloth dress, and someone read some sentences which you may find in "Whitaker's Almanack," and we were married."
THE RECEPTION AT CLARIDGE'S
In fact, there was only a very small party at the registry office, including Mrs. Hanbury and Miss Hilda Hanbury, the bride's mother and sister. Mr. Ernest Jacobson, and Mr. Guedalla, the bridegroom's brother, with his wife. No bridesmaids were present. There was a brief declaration on the part of the bride and bridegroom that there was no impediment to their marriage, some murmured congratulations, and after a ceremony lasting scarcely five minutes, everyone departed.
The place of the wedding being unknown, there were no spectators outside, but a few casual passers-by chanced to recognise the bride, and raised their hats to her, Mrs. Guadalla smilingly returning their greetings. The bride and bridesmaids only donned their wedding garments for the reception at Claridge's Hotel in the afternoon, and dresses and wearers and flowers looked unusualy fresh and charming as a result, while the guests' amusement at such an original proceeding brought yet more gaiety into the scene. The bride looked delightfully picturesque in her dress of Irish lace, with a white velvet, silver-embroidered train, and orange blossoms in her hair, and a rope of pearls; her seven bridesmaids (three in pale pink, two in blue, and two in mauve) stood about near her, and Miss Phyllis Terry, the beautiful little daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Terry, who was down in the programme to carry the bride's train, preferred to wander about in her white satin dress and wreath of rose-leaves and show the presents to her friends.
Two big rooms were given up to tea, and the wedding cake was cut with much ceremony at four o'clock.
CELEBRITIES AND PRESENTS
Every wedding which is to be picturesque - surely the whole duty of a wedding - ought to have ladies from "the" profession among its guests with their graceful dresses and poses. Mrs. Fred Terry (Miss Julia Neilson) was wearing sweeping shaded plumes in a picture hat with a white gown; Miss Lilian Braithwaite in grey, was talking to Mrs. George Alexander, beautifully dressed in apple green, taffetas; Miss Dorothea Baird was quite a picture in biscuit panne, a lace cap resting on her hair under her grannie hat; Miss Eva Moore was wearing fawn colour and pale shades; Mrs. Cyril Maude (Miss Winifred Emery) in cornflower blue, brought her tall young daughter in white and blue; Miss Fanny Ward was wearing ermine with a white dress; Miss Clara Butt wore pink roses with blue ribbons in her turban hat, and a white gown; and Mrs. Dion Boucicault (Miss Irene Vanbrugh) was in black, with fine sables.
The hundreds of presents included a Praying carpet from Count and Countess Hatzfeldt, and a very fine bust of the bride by Mr. Luther Monday. Some good Chippendale furniture came from Mr. and Mrs. Cyril Maude, Mr. and Mrs. Percy Marsden and others; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Terry gave an old Dutch writing-desk; Miss Hilda Hanbury, an old Welsh dresser; and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Curzon, an old Sheraton sideboard. The bridegroom's present of pearls was supplemented by a large gold-fitted dressing-case, and several minor gifts, and nearly every member of the dramatic profession sent some gift to this most popular member.
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Guedalla left at six o'clock for Bournemouth, where they will spend a week.
Lily tragically died after only three years of marriage from complications following the still-birth of her first child - Ed.
Gabrielle Ray
(The Daily Mail [London, UK] - 1st March, 1912)
MISSING BRIDE - MISS GABRIELLE RAY'S POSTPONED WEDDING - BRIDEGROOM'S VAIN WAIT
All arrangements had been made for the wedding at St. Edward's Roman Catholic Church, Windsor, yesterday, of Miss Gabrielle Ray, the musical comedy actress, and Mr. Eric Loder, second son of the late Mr. Alfred Loder and a nephew of Major Eustace Loder. But the ceremony did not take place owing to the non-arrival of the bride, who, it is stated, is ill.
It was desired that the wedding should be of a private character, but the date was publicly announced. There was a large crowd outside the church yesterday, including two cinematograph operators and a number of photographers. The hour fixed was eleven, and before that a few white flowers were carried in to decorate the chancel.
The bridegroom, with a friend, arrived in a motor-car at Canon Longinotto's house adjoining the church at 10.30. The registrar also arrived, and after entering the church was sent for to Canon Longinotto's house. Meanwhile the organist, who had composed a special wedding march, and the choir entered the church. After those sitting in the church had waited for over an hour the caretaker informed them that the wedding would not take place that day. The organist, choir, and the few others present then left. Mr. Eric Loder and his friend had not entered the church, and after staying at Canon Longinotto's house for a short time left in a motor-car for London.
The crowd waited outside the church from early in the morning to three in the afternoon. During the time that people were waiting at Windsor yesterday Miss Gabrielle Ray was at home at her flat in South Kensington, too ill to go out or even to get up. The only people she saw during the day were a lady who is on a visit to her, and her fiance, Mr. Eric Loder, who called at four o'clock.
Miss Ray and Mr. Loder occupied a box together at the Gaiety on Tuesday evening and her friends on the stage, although they had no definite information, were all under the impression that the wedding was fixed for yesterday. Her travelling dresses had been ordered for Wednesday, and they assumed she would require them the following day. Miss Ray, however, had most emphatically assured one of her friends on Tuesday that the actual date for the wedding had not then been fixed, but her anxiety to keep the affair as quiet as possible may have had something to do with her evident determination to say nothing that would help anyone actually to see her wedding.
SENSE OF HUMOUR
Miss Gabrielle Ray is known among her friends to possess an exceptionally keen sense of humour, and the excitement over the postponed wedding will appeal to her more than to most people. What people say or do does not ever affect Miss Ray. She is a kind-hearted actress, always ready to help anyone she knows even but slightly, but she admits very few to her confidence. She has not the least vanity because of the praise given her for charming grace. She just shrugs her shoulders, probably says, "That's why Mr. Edwardes wants me in his theatre," and so ends the matter. She can sing a great deal better than most people think, but she says "the public don't believe if, or don't expect it, and the best thing, I suppose, is to conceal the fact that my voice has improved."
Yesterday her flat was bombarded with messages and inquiries, but the answer in all cases was that Miss Ray was ill. Her companion informed our representative, however, that as soon as she has recovered from this indisposition the wedding will take place in or near London. It is understood that Tuesday has been fixed provisionally.
ON THE STAGE AT 8
Miss Gabrielle Ray began her stage career at the Princess's Theatre twenty years ago when she was eight, and nine years ago came her chance. She had been understudying Miss Letty Lind in "The Girl From Kay's" and Miss Lind having to take a holiday Mr. Edwardes said Miss Ray could have her dance and he would come to the Apollo Theatre to see what she made of it. He sat in the back row of the dress circle and watched her come on. She offered a complete contrast to Miss Lind, but she walked on with a show of confidence and in three minutes had drawn a storm of applause, in which her manager joined.
Since then she has always had dancing parts from Mr. Edwardes. In "The Dollar Princess" she has an acting part and played with great charm, becoming from then one of the greatest favourites in musical comedy. She has had more post-card popularity than almost any living actress, and if she would have gone on a provincial tour would probably have beaten all records for musical comedy receipts. Mr.
Edwardes, however, could not induce her to travel in a play. London or no-where was what she wanted, and it is her almost certain intention to retire from the stage when she marries Mr. Loder.
(The Daily Mail [London, UK] - 2nd March, 1912)
MISS GABRIELLE RAY MARRIED - QUIET CEREMONY AT WINDSOR
Miss Gabrielle Ray, the musical comedy favourite, and Mr. Eric Loder, second son of the late Mr. Alfred Loder and nephew of Major Eustace Loder, were quietly married yesterday at St. Edward's Roman Catholic Church, Windsor, where the ceremony should have taken place on Thursday but had to be postponed owing to the bride's sudden indisposition.
Yesterday Miss Ray looked in the best of health. She received her early education at a Roman Catholic school in Windsor and was married in the church she had often attended as a child. She left her wedding bouquet as a little gift to the church. Yesterday's ceremony was a very quiet one. The marriage register was signed as follows:
ERIC RAYMOND LODER, twenty-three, bachelor, of independent means. 44, Alma-road, Windsor.
GABRIELLE ELIZABETH CLIFFORD COOK, twenty-eight, spinster, of independent means. 48, Coleherne Court, Kensington, London, W. Father's name, William Austin Cook, of independent means.
THE BRIDE
The bride was the first to reach Windsor, arriving in a motor-car and proceeding at once to the residence of Canon Longinotto, adjoining the church. Accompanied by a friend, Mrs. Nye, she entered the church soon after the bridegroom had taken his place in a chair facing the sanctuary. The few people allowed in the church included two of the bridegroom's friends, Sir Edward Stewart-Richardson and Mr. Lacey. The bridegroom was attired in a brown suit and wore brown boots.
The bride wore a coat and skirt of champagne-coloured cloth, with a large cowboy hat of purple suede. Round her neck she wore a marten fur lined with ermine. She also wore patent shoes and brown stockings. Her bouquet was of Parma violets, smilax, and maidenhair fern tied with purple ribbon. She took a chair on the left of the bridegroom.
Canon Longinotto performed the ceremony. In answer to the usual question the bride, said "I will" quite audibly.
When the bride and bridegroom reached the vestry door it was raining. Mr. Loder borrowed an umbrella and sheltered the bride under it, much to the chagrin of the photographers. At Canon Longinotto's house the healths of bride and bridegroom were drunk and the bridal cake cut. A little later the newly married pair entered a motor-car, and to the cheers of the crowd which had gathered they drove away to London en route for the honeymoon.
Gabrielle should have heeded her misgivings as the marriage proved to be as short as it was unhappy, with the couple splitting only two years later - Ed.
Maudi Darrell
(The Daily Mail [London, UK] - 25th March, 1909)
MISS MAUDI DARRELL WEDDED TO SON OF A RICH MANUFACTURER
Miss Maudi Darrell, the musical comedy actress, was married yesterday afternoon to Mr. John Bullough, a gentleman of independent means. The news of the engagement had been kept a secret even from the members of "The Belle of Brittany" company, with which Miss Darrell had been appearing at every performance until the run came to an end at the Queen's Theatre last Saturday night.
Yesterday, about noon, Mr. Bullough, who has been staying at the Ritz Hotel, called at Miss Darrell's house, 7, Somers Place, Cambridge Square, W., and together in a taxicab they drove to the Paddington Registry Office, Harrow Road, where they were married. The only other persons present at the ceremony were the Bride's father, Mr. Hugh J. Didcott, who is a theatrical and music-hall agent, and a lady friend, who acted as a witness.
The bridegroom, a tall, clean-shaven young man, twenty-three years of age, who gave his address as the Ritz Hotel, is a son of the late Mr. John Bullough, a very wealthy Accrington manufacturer, and a half-brother of Sir George Bullough, of Kinloch Castle, Isle of Rum, Argyleshire. Miss Maudi Darrell's slight figure and pretty face have become familiar to theatre-goers through the many parts she has played in successful musical comedies since she first went on the stage, in her seventeenth year, as one of the six little wives in "San Toy" at Daly's Theatre, nearly ten years ago. She had only just left school - the Sacra Coeur Convent, Paris.
Her advancement was fairly rapid, for in less than three years she got an opportunity to play a good part in "The Toreador" at the Gaiety Theatre. Then followed a sewries of successes.
Maudi tragically died only eighteen months later from complications following an operation for appendicitis. Her widower subsequently remarried to actress Lily Elsie - Ed.
Olive May
(Poverty Bay Herald [NZ] - 8th March 1913)
A GIBSON GIRL - MISS OLIVE MAY WEDDED TO LORD VICTOR PAGET - LORD ANGLESEY'S GIFT
London, Jan. 16.
Miss Olive May, the well-known musical comedy actress, was married on Thursday morning, at All Saints' Church Norfolk Street, Paddington, to Lord Victor Paget, brother and heir-presumptive of the Marquis of Anglesey. It was a surprise marriage. The secret of time and place had been kept to the very last. In fact, the sacristan of the church only received an intimation that the ceremony was to take place the same morning, and had considerable difficulty in making ready, having already prepared the church for the Sunday service. As a result of this secrecy only a few relatives, and intimate friends of the principals were present - among them Miss Gertie Millar, with whom the young bride had so often acted.
The bridegroom, accompanied by his best man, Captain Joliffe, arrived shortly before the time (11.30) fixed for the wedding, and was followed soon after by the bride, who had motored from her flat in Richmond Mansions, Earl's Court, with her mother and brother. Miss May wore a heavy sable coat over her beautiful, but simple white cashmere dress. Her brother gave her away. The service, which was fully choral, was conducted by the vicar, the Rev. William Boyd, and at the close the hymn "0 Perfect Love" was sung and an address was given by the vicar. Mr William Wolstenholme, Mus. Bac. Oxon, who is blind, was at the organ.
The bride signed her name as "Olive May Meatyard," and was described as being "twenty-seven years of age, the daughter of George Meatyard, jeweller." The bridegroom is four years younger than his bride, being only twenty-three. He was described as a stockbroker, of 7 Radnor Place, and the son of Lord Alexander Victor Paget. Among those who signed the register was the Marquis of Anglesey, whose wedding present was £1000 a year each to bride and bridegroom. Afterwards the bridal party had luncheon at the Carlton Hotel, and later in the day Lord Victor Paget and his bride left for Paris for the honeymoon.
There was a curious little contretemps before the ceremony. Whether the idea was to put the curious off the Scent, or whether Miss May's chauffeur made a mistake, is uncertain. At any rate, the bride's motor car was pulled up at the wrong churdh - St. John's in Southwick Crescent. The authorities here kindly directed Miss May to "All Saints. Miss May has played leading parts in "Peggy" and "Our Miss Gibbs" at the Gaiety, and there made her last appearance on the stage on January 11 in "The Sunshine Girl." Curiously enough, in this she represented Lady Rosabelle Merrydew, fiancee of Lord Bastin. She has two sisters on the stage - Miss Maggie May and Miss May Onslow. Lord Victor William Paget was educated at Eton and Sandhurst. For some time a lieutenant in the Royal Horse Guards, he is now on the reserve of officers. The Marquis of Anglesey succeeded to the title on the death of his cousin, who was notorious for his eccentricities and his passion for acting and jewellery. The present marquis married, only last year, Lady Marjorie Manners, daughter of the Duke of Rutland, and his sisters are the wives of Viscount Ingestre, heir of the Earl of Shrewsbury, and Lord Herbert, heir of the Earl of Pembroke.
Among the Gaiety actresses who have married into the peerage are Miss Sylvia Storey (Countess Poullett), Miss Connie Gilchrist (Countess of Orkney), and Miss Rosie Boote (Marchioness of Headfort).
Continued.... see links below.