Famous actress ill in Wateringbury (1928)

Post date: Dec 01, 2011 11:50:17 AM

The Western Times of 24 February 1928 makes the following report:

'Dame Ellen Terry who is lying ill with a slight attack of bronchitis, at The Red House, Wateringbury , near Maidstone, passed a good night. Her condition is unchanged, but she expects to be about in a few days.'

More details were in the New Zealand Evening Post of 7 May 1928:

DAME ELLEN TERRY

(From "The Post's" Representative) LONDON, 2nd March. The King and Queen sent a telegram of congratulation to Dame Ellen Terry on her 80th birthday. Amid the hundreds of such wires, the message from Their Majesties naturally afforded Dame Ellen especial delight. As the great actress was suffering from indisposition, due to a troublesome cold, only intimate friends were allowed to see her during the day, so that her strength might be conserved for the birthday programme on the wireless at night, to which she listened in on a portable set sent down for her use by the B.B.C. This programme included acts from Shakespearean plays in which she formerly played with such success, and greetings spoken by Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson. Miss Craig, on behalf of her mother, made the following reply:— "I am very grateful for this lovely posy of words you have sent me for my birthday. I am very grateful to everyone who has thought of me to-day. It seems to me very wonderful that I should still be remembered, and that all this delightful fuss should be made because l am 80. I know I have to thank Shakespeare for it. It is because l am associated with him in people's minds, because the parts I played are more enduring than 'marble or gilded monuments' that I am not forgotten. This tribute to me is a tribute to Shakespeare and so to England, for is not he the chief glory of England? I cannot say any more. This celebration of my birthday has bereft me of all words. Only my blood speaks to you in my veins. But l am forgetting the instructions you heard just now. 'Be merry,' one which it is easy for me to obey even at my age. I was always more proud of making an audience laugh than of making it weep. This is rather a solemn occasion. Perhaps— who knows—a real farewell performance. Let the curtain come down on a smile. On four score smiles, one for every year of my life which has been made happy by the devotion of friends."

If Dame Ellen Terry's 80th birthday —spent at Red House, Wateringbury, as the guest of Lady Mabel Egerton —was one of the quietest the great actress had ever known, it was one of the happiest. Everywhere in the house there were flowers. From breakfast table onward there were scores of telegrams to remind her of the hundreds of friends —in stations high and low and in many lands—who were thinking of her. A feature of the celebration was the number of messages and little gifts from humble admirers and friends, culminating in the visit to Red House of the school children of Wateringbury, who brought her primroses they had plucked themselves.

"No actress to-day even begins to lie for players what Ellen Terry was for two whole generations of English speaking peoples," says the "Daily Express." "Mistress of the entire range of the art of acting, she was preeminent in those parts that brought out the roguishness

and vivacity and sweetness of her nature. Whatever she did had the stamp of personality on it, and if to-day she spends part of the time recalling old triumphs she may be sure that multitudes are recalling them too, and wafting from their memories a message of great gratitude and affection to herself, the central figure of them all."

The "Chronicle" comments: "Her greatness as an actress lies not so much in her capacity for impersonating this or that heroine in drama—though here, too, her natural talent was reinforced by tireless industry—as in the sheer abundance of a personality whose vital quality could not be held back by footlights and carried the most critical audience along with her."

Extract from the Kalgoorlie Miner, Australia of 1st March 1928

London, Feb. 27.

Worldwide congratulations were received by Ellen Terry, including a telegram from their Majesties, to whom she immediately sent a reply.

She was inundated with letters, sonnets, poems and telegrams. The last were so numerous that a telephone was engaged all day long transmitting them from the post office to Wateringbury, in Kent, where she is staying- The postbag had its humorous side, containing offers of patent medicines, cures for bronchitis and old-fashioned prescriptions for colds. Great bunches of flowers, her favourite daffodils predominating, arrived continuously.

The B.B.C.¹ broadcast a special programme, largely played by members of the Terry family, of the successes of her long career; birthday greetings were spoken by wireless by Mr. Forbes-Robertson from a West End stage. Her daughter broadcasted Miss Terry's reply, in which she said a tribute to her was a tribute to Shakespeare and so to England, 'for is he not he the chief glory of England?'

Extract from The Stage of 1st March 1928:

DAME ELLEN TERRY'S BIRTHDAY

80th ANNIVERSARY

Many tributes

Dame Ellen Terry spent her eightieth birthday with friends in the Kentish village of Wateringbury. She was the guest of Lady Mabel Egerton at The Red House which was decorated with daffodils her favourite flower. Favoured by the warm spring-like weather, Dame Ellen had almost recovered from her cold, but was still in bed. Among the hundreds of birthday telegrams was one from the King and Queen as follows:-"The Queen and I offer you our sincere congratulations on your eightieth birthday, and wish you a speedy recovery from your current indisposition. -George R.I."

The following reply was sent in her name by her daughter, Miss Edith Craig:-"May it please Your Majesty to let me thank you and Her Majesty the Queen for your gracious message on my birthday, by which I am greatly honoured and touched. -Ellen Terry"

The Mayor of Coventry telegraphed "Heartiest congratulations from the city of your birth on the attainment of your eightieth birthday. We are proud of you and wish you many years of health and happiness."

From breakfast time onwards there were scores of telegrams to remind Dame Ellen of all the friends-in stations high and low and in many lands who were thinking of her. A feature of the celebration was the number of messages and little gifts, from humble admirers and friends, culminating in the visit to the Red House of the school children of Wateringbury, who brought her primroses they had plucked.

Amongst the senders of telegram and other messages were: Sir Frank Benson, Sir Israel Gollancz, Miss Sybil Thorndyke, Mrs Patrick Campbell, Miss Lena Ashwell, Miss Fay Compton, the Garrick Club, the Arts Theatre Club, the Gallery First Nighters' Club, Lord and Lady Aberdeen, Mr. Edward Knoblock, Mr. Justin Huntley McCarthy, Lady Alexander, the Servers of the Blind League, the Dame Ellen Terry Blind School, the Stewart Headlam Shakespearean School, Sir Barry Jackson (Birmingham Repertory Theatre), and Mr. Kenneth Barnes (School of Dramatic Art).

Only intimate friends were allowed to see Dame Ellen during the day, so that her strength might be conserved for the birthday programme on the wireless at night, to which she listened on a portable set sent down for her use by the B.B.C. The programme was as follows:-

Coronation March from "Henry VIII" (Edward German) by Wireless Orchestra. Introductory remarks by James Agate. "The Winter's Tale" Act 2 Scene 1 Cast, Mabel Terry Lewis, Mint le Terry, May Whitty, Virginia Parsons, Ben Webster, Tom Heslewood. "A Mid- Summer Night's dream" Act 2, Scene 1, music by Mendelson; cast, Mary Casson, Virginia Parson, John Gielgud, Elizabeth Irving. "The Merchant of Venice", Act 3 , Scene 2 music by Sullivan; cast, Lillian Davies, Mabel Terry Lewis, John Gielgud. Oscar Wilde's sonnet to Ellen Terry as Portia. "Hamlet" Act 4, Scene 5, music by Henschel; cast, Mabel Terry Lewis, John Gielgud, Fay Compton, Charles Terry, Ben Webster. "The Merry Wifes of Windsor", Act 2, Scene 1 music by Nicolai; cast, Minnie Terry, Mabel Terry Lewis. Bouree from "Much Ado about Nothing" (Edward German) by the Orchestra.

As a close to the programme Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson gave "Our Birthday Greetings". As the doctors had decided it would not be advisable for Dame Ellen to use her voice to broadcast her thanks, her daughter, Miss Edith Craig, read the reply which ran:-

I am grateful for this lovely posy of words you have sent me for my birthday. I am grateful to everyone who has thought of me today. It seems to me wonderful that I should still be remembered, and that all this delightful fuss be made because I am eighty. I know that I have to thank Shakespeare for it. It is because I am associated with him in people's minds, because the parts I played are more enduring than "marble or gilded monuments", that I am not forgotten. This tribute to me is a tribute to Shakespeare, and so to England, for is not he the chief glory of England? I cannot say any more. This celebration of my birthday has bereft me of all words. Only my blood speaks to you in my veins. But l am forgetting the instructions you heard just now. 'Be merry,' one which it is easy for me to obey even at my age. I was always more proud of making an audience laugh than of making it weep. This is rather a solemn occasion. Perhaps— who knows—a real farewell performance. Let the curtain come down on a smile. On four score smiles, one for every year of my life which has been made happy by the devotion of friends.

Ellen Terry, born 27 February 1847 according to the Wikipedia article on her, was the leading Shakespearean actress of her time. The congratulatory telegram which King George V and Queen Mary sent to her on her birthday, was forwarded from Smallhythe Place (her home and now a National Trust property well worth a visit) to The Red House (see article on The Red House, pages 32 to 34, in 'Wateringbury People and Places'). It is believed she was visiting her friend Lady Mabel Egerton and while ill was visited by another friend, Graham Robertson, who wrote that ‘the lady was drifting away into a strange world where nothing is real and people bear no names’. She died at Smallhythe on 21 July 1928, having suffered from loss of eyesight and senility in her final years.

The photo (in the public domain and sourced from Wikipedia) showing Ellen at the age of 16, was taken by Julia Cameron (1815-1879), a photographer well known for her photos of famous celebrities.

Former local resident, Syvia Curd, (born 1916) recalls in her Memories (Wateringbury People and Places Vol two) being one of two girls who took primroses from the school to Red House for Ellen Terry's birthday. She remembers the actress sitting by an upstairs window, while she stood on the path and waved to her.

The Girls' school log records for 27th February 1928:

Children took a basket of primroses to Dame Ellen Terry who is staying at the Red House for her birthday.

and on 2nd March 1928:

Miss Edith Craig called this morning to thank the girls for their gift of flowers to Dame Ellen Terry.

Edith (or Edy) Craig was Ellen Terry's first child, born in 1869 and fathered by Edward Godwin, a prominent architect, when they were living at a cottage also called The Red House at Wheathampstead, which was probably the happiest period of her life. Edy was a theatre costumier and director in her own right, and became very involved in the suffragette movement. Mother and daughter had an often strained relationship, but with Ellen heavily reliant on her daughter in her latter years.

The following letters relating to her stay are available in the British Library. They remain under copyright until 2039 but are summarised on the Smallhythe database (http://www.ellenterryarchive.hull.ac.uk/):

Document ID: EC-Z3,014 Archive location: EC IN, A (BL) Loan 125/1/1

Document ID: EC-Z3,043 Archive location: EC IN, B (BL) Loan 125/1/1

Document ID: EC-Z3,209 Archive location: EC IN, E (BL) Loan 125/1/5

Document ID: EC-Z3,044 Archive location: EC IN, B (BL) Loan 125/1/1

Document ID: EC-Z3,015 Archive location: EC IN, A (BL) Loan 125/1/1

Document ID: EC-Z3,210 Archive location: EC IN, E (BL) Loan 125/1/5

We know little about Lady Mabel Laura Egerton with whom Ellen was staying at The Red House. She was born December 1869 (the eldest of 11 siblings) and died in 1946. She was the daughter of the 3rd Earl of Ellesmere and sister of Lady Alice Constance Egerton. She was a bridesmaid to Princess Louise in 1891 when she married Prince Aribert in 1891 (see http://theesotericcuriosa.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/lulu-ari-tie-knot-at-windsor-amid.html for photo and detailed info) at St George's chapel in Windsor Castle.

Notes:

1, The B.B.C. was formed in 1922 and its first national broadcast was in November that year.