Ethel Sydney, a Gaiety girl #EdwardianActress #Postcards

 

I discovered Ethel Sydney from someone who responded to my post about The Gaiety Girls and what an interesting discovery she was.  Most Victorian and Edwardian actresses came from theatrical families or at least were supported by their mothers at the outset of their career but Emily Beatrice Lloyd, as she then was, ran away from home to go on stage. Having been born in Burma in 1874, the youngest daughter of Lt-Colonel Malcolm Lloyd of HM Madras Staff Corps she was brought to England at the age of two, by her mother Louise, after her father’s sudden death. In 1893, nineteen year old Ethel married Sydney Douglas Edward Hall, whose father had been an officer of the Bengal cavalry and from this point her acting name was Ethel Sydney. It is in this name that she is listed in the programme of George Edwards’ production of “A Gaiety Girl”.  In newspaper articles she is praised for her ability as a comedy actress as well as her fine singing voice.

When interviewed by The Sketch in 1894 she told of a gold medal awarded to her as champion Lady swimmer of Portsmouth 5 years earlier but now all her ambitions were in musical comedy. 

After playing the title role in The Shop Girl on Broadway in 1895 there was a pause in her career for the birth of her son in 1898. In the 1901 census Ethel is listed in her married name, accompanied by her son Durham Hall staying at the South Shore Hydro, Blackpool along with the cast of the play in which she was performing.  But her marriage did not survive as in 1902 she divorced Sydney Hall, citing his denial of conjugal rights and she later married Samuel Robinson Oliver, a man of independent means. 

However, in 1911 allegations of adultery with John Upton Gaskell were made against Ethel by her husband, Samuel. Guy Oliver, the child she and Samuel Oliver had in 1905, remained in his father’s custody. Once the divorce was finalised, she married John Gaskell and in 1913 they had a son, Peter Upton. At her last three marriages Ethel gave misinformation about her age, probably because she was considerably older than her spouses.

Ethel’s last husband, Alistair Ian Matheson, was at 25, half Ethel’s age but on the marriage certificate in 1924, she is listed as “of full age”. 

  Alistair Matheson had been a 2^nd  Lieutenant during the First World War and then became a commercial artist specialising in animation including the Bonzo cartoon for New Era Films.  Despite the age difference Ethel and Alistair remained together for the rest of her life. Ethel died in London in 1967, her husband a year later.

Jean Aylwin, the Lady Harry Lauder #Edwardian Actress

Like many of her contemporaries on the Edwardian stage, Jean Aylwin progressed from provincial theatre to fame as a “Gaiety Girl.”  Born in Hawick in 1885 and educated in Edinburgh, she later became a fashion icon and was entertained by men of means.  She was an excellent singer earning the title of, “The Lady Harry Lauder.”

It was touring in the play “The Red Coat” in 1904 which brought her to England and she made her debut as principal in “The Spring Chicken,” two years later.  By 1907 she had joined George Edwards’ Gaiety Theatre and in 1909 she was the only British actress in the play “Our Miss Gibbs” when it opened in New York.

In 1913 Jean married Colonel Alfie Rawlinson of the Intelligence Corps, but this did not stop her touring Scotland and the north-east of England with productions of “A Careless Lassie.”  She was highly praised in the local papers, the Dundee Evening Telegraph saying, “Miss Aylwin is a clever actress and her gaiety is quite infectious.”  Fashion designers loved to dress her and she inspired a lace dress copied by many.  She starred in two films, "Winning a Widow" in 1910 and "The Greatest Wish in the World" in 1918, in which she played Mother Superior.

In 1923 she rented a flat opposite the Chelsea Theatre where she was playing “Polly.”  When her husband Col. Rawlinson discovered her there with the composer Hubert Bath, he began divorce proceedings.  Miss Aylwin announced her intention to leave the stage and travel to India to work with the Wesleyan Missionary Society, but this did not prevent the high-profile scandal of the divorce evidence.  On her return to Britain she became a radio broadcaster with a programme of "Scotch Tales and Songs" for the BBC.  She died in Kent in 1964.

You can read more about The Gaiety Girls here

Who were the Gaiety Girls?

The Gaiety Theatre introduced a new style of musical comedy to London in the 1890s.  The group of female dancers employed by the theatre were called Gaiety Girls but as time went on this term was used to describe the stars of the shows too.  The formula was created by George Edwardes, moving away from burlesque to light comedies, with songs containing witty lyrics and repartee.  The heroines wore high fashion and sang catchy songs.

The Gaiety Theatre on the corner of Aldwych and the Strand

Many productions had “girl” in the title from The Gaiety Girl to The Shop Girl, The Circus Girl and A Runaway Girl. The actresses and dancers were well spoken ladies of respectable background and they attracted many fans, from the stage-door Johnnies to the young women who collected picture postcards of their favourite leading lady.  Many noble and wealthy men took the stars to dine at Romano’s restaurant in the Strand which added to their fame and made the restaurant a popular night spot.

Many well known Edwardian actresses owed their success to their performances as a Gaiety Girl.

Gertie Millar

                                                                                                            

    

 Gertie Millar made her name as a singer and dancer in Yorkshire music halls but in 1901 she was chosen by George Edwardes as leading lady in The Toreador at The Gaiety Theatre.  In Our Miss Gibbs she became the most famous musical comedy actress in Britain.  She later married the writer of this play, Lionel Monkton, but their marriage was unhappy and he left her in 1905.  He refused to divorce Gertie and so it was only when he died in 1924 that she was finally able to marry her lover William Humble Ward, the second Earl of Dudley.

   

Constance Collier, first appeared on stage at the age of 3 and became a Gaiety Girl when she was 15.  She grew much taller than the other dancers and had an exuberant personality.  She went on to become an acclaimed actress and with the advent of talking movies she turned to a career as a voice coach in Hollywood.

Olive May was one of the Gaiety girls who married into the aristocracy.  In 1913 she married Lord Victor Paget but they divorced in 1921.  A year later she married the Earl of Drogheda. She retired from the stage in 1912.  Some found marriages between actresses and peers amusing or romantic, but many disapproved.

For a fascinating contemporary comment on this go to Stage Beauty

Marie Studholme’s stage career lasted from 1891 until 1915.  Chosen by George Edwardes for a small part in The Gaiety Girl, she went on to tour in many of his productions around Britain and abroad.  She was a favourite for post card collectors.