Scrap Book.

• The Tatler, 8th September 1915.
   
  
  Skegness is SO Bracing.
  
   
• The Gabrielle Ray web site has kindly shared two new items of interest - The Dollar Princess - Music Score
  and (quote) Girls I have In My Eye. Very much of its time period.
   
• Der Lehárfilm von Thomas Macho, kommt jetzt am 27. Dezember endlich auf arte.tv
   
  Ist aber danach noch bis 2. Januar in der Mediathek zu sehen: gut gespielt von Wolfgang Hübsch und Aglaia Szyszkowitz:
  www.arte.tv
  
   
• Staging Fashion Lecture, 16th September 2020.
   
  In the days before Instagram and "influencers", who created the fashion trends and set the celebrity media abuzz? 
  Michele Major of Bard College takes us back to the turn of the 20th century with a lush presentation on how the mass media of the day--newspapers, trade cards, popular theater and fashion magazines--first turned actresses into internationally known and marketable fashion leaders.
  "Staging Fashion" features one of our own from the UWS. Billie Burke, the stage beauty of her generation (and Glinda the Good Witch of the North to children of another generation), lived in the Ansonia with her husband Flo Ziegfeld. Like English actress Lily Elsie and French actress Jane Hading, she projected an aura of beauty and taste that made her a major trendsetter.  
  For all three, maintaining a glamorous image, both on and off stage, depended not only on natural good looks, but also on the skills of what today are personal stylists and savvy PR agents.  
  We'll watch from the wings as the "staging" of fashion moves far outside the theater in ways not possible a few decades earlier, and witness the very beginnings of the creation of a public persona and the rise of celebrity culture. 
  
  
   
• The Tatler, 16th May 1917.
   
  
  Some stallholders at the St. Dunstan's bazaar at the Albert Hall.
  Miss Lily Elsie's Stall. Miss Gill and Miss Glyn. Mrs Smallwood, Miss Anne Pollock, Miss Lily Elsie, and Mrs Carpenter.
  The great bazaar at the Albert Hall in aid of funds of St. Dunstan's Hostle for blinded soldiers, the great work in which Sir Arthur Pearson is the moving spirit, opened on the 7th inst. and was continued till the 10th. The bazaar was opened by Her Majesty Queen Alexandra. Sir Arthur Pearson in a speech on the occassion explained the After-Care scheme, which was designed to help and forward the interests of those who have passed through St. Dunstan's as well as those who were still there learning trades, etc.
  Most grateful to CH for passing that on.
  
   
• The Daily Telegraph, 11th June 1950. Photo of Elsie, possibly at the Gaiety Reunion in January 1950 or the Foyles Literary Luncheon that year
   
  
  Most grateful to CH for passing that on.
  
   
• The Daily Telegraph Magazine, No. 487 of 8th March 1974. Article by Cecil Beaton lifted from 'The Rise and Fall of the Matinee Idol' (Anthony Curtis)
   
  
           
   
• The Royal Magazine, Volume 23, 1910. 'From The Stalls' (Article)
   
  

  LILY ELSIE, Scarcely Disguised as a Nightingale.

  "Have a shot at it and don't be beaten," is Miss Lily Elsie's heroic advice to young girls anxious to go on the stage, if they show any aptitude. There is, of course, much virtue in that "if." "But don't go in the chorus - get a part, however small."

  She did that herself. As "Little Elsie" she gained quite a reputation in obscure Lancashire music-halls before taking parts in Pantomime and coming to London. True, she did actually enter the chorus, but it was with quiet confidence that her special experience would not go unrecognised.

  How that confidence in herself and Mr. George Edwardes' discriminatory powers was justified, her sensational triumphs in "The Merry Widow," and now in "The Dollar Princess," sufficiently testify.

  The Royal Magazine was published from 1898 to 1939. Noted for being the initial publisher of a number of the works of fiction by Agatha Christie.

  
   
• Sacramento Union, Number 47, 17 December 1911
  Report of Elsie's wedding

  MORE MEN THAN WOMEN AT LILY ELSIE WEDDING

  Special to the Union. LONDON, Dec. 16. —An interesting incident in connection with Miss Lily Elsie's wedding has passed quite unnoticed by the daily press. A noticeable feature of the ceremony in the church was the presence in the congregation of more males than females; and on the beautiful and popular bride leaving the building at the close of the service, she had to pass between lines of youthful admirers holding handkerchief to their eyes in an attitude of grief. It was a humorous incident, and at the same time a pretty compliment to the happy bride.

  The Sacramento Union was a daily newspaper founded in 1851 in Sacramento, California. It was the oldest daily newspaper west of the Mississippi River before it closed its doors after 143 years in January 1994.

  
   
• "Female Stars of Musical Theatre in Edwardian England" by Christopher Frost
  Female Stars of Musical Theatre
  The book covers 286 actresses with 358 illustrations over 304 pages. There are 9 pages dedicated to Lily Elsie.
   
• Elsie on the cover again!
  
  A new magazine published in Germany on 1st December 2016
  www.womens-history.de
   
• In a letter dated 1/6/1947 to Sir Shane Leslie (1885-1971), Lily Elsie requests a signed photograph of Winston Churchill (1874-1965, British prime minister 1940-45 and 1951-55).
   
• From Noël Coward's diary; Tuesday 11th December 1962.
  Lily Elsie is dead. So is Pops d'Erlander. Very sad.
  (Sir Gerald 'Pops' d'Erlander. Company Director and chairman of BOAC.) [Editor's note - Elsie actually died December 16th.]
   
• Who Was Who records her father as Charles W Cotton. Beaton disagrees, he records William Thomas Cotton. Although he does say, 'Her parents were supposedly...'. There is a strong suggestion that she was illegitimate, perhaps the daughter of the Lord Buchan of the day. Her marriage certificate says William Thomas Cotton (Dec'd).
   
• A 'Mrs Cotton', (either her mother or an Aunt) was wardrobe mistress at D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (founded 1876).
   
• Lily Elsie was familiarly known to everyone simply as Elsie. Her adult stage name followed from her childhood stage name of 'Little Elsie'.
   
• She made a film just after the first world war.
  Comradeship a 67 minute, black & white, silent picture made in 1919. This film, produced by Stoll, directed by Maurice Elvey, tells the story of two friends and their varying fortunes during WWI. Elsie plays Betty Mortimore and Gerald Ames, Guy Newall, and Peggy Carlisle starred alongside her. The film was very popular in it's day.
   
• In later life Elsie suffered from obsessional neurosis. As part of the treatment for this she underwent leucotomy. This is a surgical operation to interrupt the course of white nerve fibres within the brain. The original form of this procedure, prefrontal lobotomy, had serious side effects. Modern procedures are more selective and the side effects less traumatic.
   
• Meggernie Castle, Glen Lyon, Perthshire, in the West Highlands of Scotland, was a family home of Elsie's husband, Major Ian Bullough. His father, John Bullough, purchased the 16th century castle (27 bedrooms) and 50 square mile estate in 1884 and on his death in 1891 it passed to his son Ian (aged 5). It was later sold to Sir Ernest Salter Wills (Wills Tobacco). This castle is probably where Captain Robert Campbell planned his treachery at Glencoe in 1695. The grounds contain a remarkable collection of trees planted 1730-40. A large house has been added to the original castle keep, in a style perfectly in keeping with the original structure.
  
  
  Elsie may have lived here after her marriage in 1911 until moving with the Major to Redmarley in 1920.
   
• On May 22nd 1926 Elsie opened the new pavilion at Redmarley cricket club, Gloucestershire, in the West of England. This was reported in the Ledbury Reporter and Guardian.
   
• Elsie had at least three photographic sittings with Cecil Beaton. Late 1920s, early 40s, and late 50s.
   
  
• The 10c US Postage, 'Special Delivery', stamp in use in the 1900s was known as the 'Merry Widow'. This stamp shows a winged helmet of Mercury, printed in green. This was thought to bear a resemblance to Elsie's large-brimmed plumed hats from the stage show.
   
• From the Weekly Dispatch. 2nd September 1917.Devonshire [Rural south east England] was more patronised then ever this season by theatre folks on holiday. The neighbourhood of Bournmouth was also a favourite place. Lily Elsie, who although she is not on the stage, is still (for the present) reckoned as belonging to it, went to Bournemnouth for a change of air in August. Gertie Millar, to get a change of air, has been going to Hove by the midnight train and returning to town every day in time to play.
   
• Elsie's name was used to endorse various products. For example, this advert for Phosferine.
  
  
  (Phosferine Liquid and tablets are listed under schedule 10 of the National Health Service (General Medical Services) Regulations 1992 - items not to be prescribed. A quick web search shows they are still available today, for example from the Qwomar Trading Company, British Virgin Islands.)
   
• Elsie attended performance of Lilac Time in 1928 to mark the retirement of Garrett Todd. Everyone who had acted at Daly's during that century were invited.
   
• Cecil Beaton makes note that Elsie smoked.
   
• The interior of All Saints Church, Ennismore Gardens, London, SW7, (The church where Elsie was married in 1911) was designed by the artist and architect Thomas Ralph Spence (1855-1903). The church was deconsecrated by the Church of England in the early 1970s and became the Russian Orthodox Cathedral for London.
   
• St Andrews Hospital, Dollis Hill, where Elsie ended her days, was built in 1913. It was run by Sisters of the Little Company of Mary aka the Blue Nuns. St Andrew's was a private hospital but had some wards for geriatric NHS patients. It even had a small casualty/A&E. Someone who worked there at the time describes Elsie as a ‘valetudinarian’ -not ill, but looked after more than in a hotel. (Ref. AP290511)
   
• 1901 Census. I have searched the on-line version of the 1901 census and find Elsie living in London. Click here for full details.
   
• It has been noted elsewhere that Elsie often failed to appear at performances where she was billed as the star. One of her understudies was Miss May Hobson.
   
• In an article in the 28th January 1950 edition of The Sphere, W MacQueen-Pope reported on the Foyle's Literary Luncheon at the Dorchester Hotel, London. This was an event to celebrate the 'Gaiety Girls'. Elsie was amongst the guests, along with Gertie Millar, Phyllis Dare, and other famous names from the theatre around the turn of the century. There is a picture of her at age 63.
  Many thanks to www.arthurlloyd.co.uk for this picture.
   
• Just before the first world war Elsie was living in an apartment in the Great Portland Street area of London. The Lift Attendant, a Mr Alfred Sell of Bolsover Street who had just left the army, named his daughter after her. Miss Elsie Clara Sell was born in 1909 and sadly died this year (2002). Miss Sell (later Noades) met Elsie several times in her flat and was given a doll as a birthday present by her. Elsie would have left this address when she married in 1911. Great Portland Street is conveniently close to The Strand and Leicester Square theatres.
  I have since been told that the address was Devonshire Mansions, 208 Great Portland Street.
  
  Pictures by D Noades
   

• Sir George and Lady Bullough (briefly!) had a residence near Ross-on-Wye, Bishopswood Mansion.

  

  Sir George purchased the property from Mr H McCalmont M.P. in 1898.  Sadly it was destroyed by fire two years later.  The house was never rebuilt and the estate has now been broken up.

  The property had previously been extensively damaged in an earlier fire (1873).  The restoration following the first fire had included the installation of a fabulous 'Grand Staircase', relocated from London and reputedly by Wren.

   

  
   
• Another product endorsement.
  
  
  
  Dalys Theatre, Nov 16. 1909
  dear Madame Rubinstein
  After several months use of your Valaze I can frankly say that I have found nothing as beneficial
  Yours very truly
  Lily Elsie
   
• Elsie's entry in the 1906 edition of The Green Room Book.
  
  ELSIE, Lily, actress; commenced with chorus and small parts in the provinces; was selected by Frank Curzon and George Dance to play the Princes in "The Chinese Honeymoon" at the Strand, which she did for nearly the entire run of that piece; afterwards went for a short time on tour, and on returning to London was engaged by George Edwardes to play in "Lady Madcap"; was transferred under the same management to "The Little Michus" at Daly's, 1905; went to Prince of Wales's to appear in "The Little Cherub," by Owen Hall, 1906. Address: Prince of Wales's Theatre, W.C.
  And the entry for 1907.
  ELSIE, Lily, actress; commenced in the provinces; was selected by Frank Curzon and George Dance to play the Princes in "The Chinese Honeymoon" at the Strand, which she did for nearly the entire run of that piece; afterwards went for a short time on tour, and on returning to London was engaged by George Edwardes to play in "Lady Madcap"; was transferred under the same management to "The Little Michus" at Daly's, 1905; went to Prince of Wales's to appear in "The Little Cherub," followed by "See See," 1906; created part of Lally in "The New Aladdin," Gaiety, 1906. Address: Gaiety Theatre, W.C.
  Now wouldn't the entry in 1908 be interesting!
   
• Elsie's picture on the front of a music magazine from July 1924.
  
          
   
• This is a page from a 1930 visitors' book, from the collection of Zena Dare. (Reproduced by kind permission of her grand-daughter.)
  
  
   
• A full page feature on Elsie appeared in this magazine from November 1953.
  
   
   
• In his biography, Horace "Cadogan" Smith, the Queen's (then Princes Elizabeth) riding instructor, also lists Elsie amongst his notable pupils. [A HORSEMAN THROUGH SIX REIGNS, Reminiscences of a Royal Riding Master. Odhams. 1955]
   
• Cecil Beaton :  My Bolivian Aunt A Memoir  Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1971

  [p 46 - circa 1915] Aunt Jessie attempted to furnish this spare room in the manner of a French dress shop, and she made a somewhat haphazard collection of picture postcards of current stage-favourites with which she decorated the top of a gilt and pleated silk screen.  To me these photographs possessed the very essence of the theatre.  An electric current ran through me at the mere sight of Iris Hoey, showing her gums as she smiled, holding a very stiff bunch of artificial irises; I was abject in admiration of the opulent Marie Blanche with rabbit's nostrils and cart-rut-undulating hair, while the latest smiling postcards of my favourite Lily Elsie gave me the terrible desire for ownership which only a collector knows.

  
   
• Listing of the PRO Archive.
   
• A book with some humorous comments about rehearsals for 'The Merry Widow' at Daly's theatre in 1907 - 'Fortunes Favourite. The life and times of Franz Lehar'.  Authors, W. Macqueen-Pope and D.L. Murray.  Hutchinson 1953.  Pages 97/8 give these details about the rehearsals.  Here is one short quote:  'Lily Elsie was more wide-eyed than ever with wonder and fear.  She was sure she could not do it.  "This part wants an opera singer," she would say, "and I'm not an opera singer."  She had seen the show in Vienna and it had frightened her.  What Lily Elsie feared most was the song 'Vilja'.  That she was sure she could not sing.
   
• 
  Miss Lily Elsie at the British Empire Pageant ball in May 1930
  
  Elsie appeared in this striking costume on May 26th 1930 in a show attended by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales.  She represented 'Britain and her industries', and wore £100,000 worth of jewellery.  (Photo from the Tatler of may 1930)
   
• "Ring Up the Curtain" by Ernest Short and Arthur Compton-Rickett (published 1938, Herbert Jenkins Ltd, Page 154):
  "..... Lily Elsie, who was recovering from an operation for appendicitis, only managed to finish her performance with the aid of repeated injections of morphia."
  (Kindly transcribed by C Frost)
   

• Bury St Edmunds Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society production of The Merry Widow at the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds, November 2008.

  
  

  Follow this link for more details

  
   
• Ms J, from Auckland New Zealand, writes to say, "My mother, who is now [April 2009] in her 80s, worked as a teenager in the 1930s for a wedding dress designer who so admired Lily Elsie, that she named her business "Lily Elsie" in her honour.  It was, by the way, a very successful business and made the gowns for many of the well-off people of the day!
   
• Here is a most interesting item, sent to me by Daniel Fearon (click on image to enlarge)
  The image shows a silver-plated electrotype plaquette of Lily Elsie in her role as Sonia in "The Merry Widow", by the sculptor Percival M. F. Hedley (1870-1921) - his bust of Elgar is in the NPG.  The British Museum (Dept of Coins & Medals) have an almost identical example, though dated 1907.  Her upward-tilted head faces to the left, wearing a curled feather.  The legend reads (left) "I LOVE YOU SO"; (right) THE MERRY WIDOW; (below) OP. DCLXXXXXI - LILY ELSE - LONDON 1908, 105 x 95mm.  Hedley produced a number of portrait plaquettes of many famous people including a number of musicians and theatrical personalities.  The plaquette has two small holes to the bottom of the side columns, for attachment to a backing.
  
  Image copyright D Fearon
  Mr Fearon currently (July 2009) has this lovely plaquette for sale, click here for details.
   
• The V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) have published a new book, 'Lucile Ltd:  London, Paris, New York, Chicago:  1890s – 1930s', which includes many mentions of Elsie along with some pictures.  V&A Bookshop ISBN NUMBER 9781851775613
   
• The Art of Gesture
  A few pages of an article by Elsie with Carmen Turia from The Strand magazine.
   
• Lily Elsie Celebration Day 2011
  On Wednesday 18th May 2011, Westminster Reference Library hosted a ‘Lily Elsie Day’ organised by Ken Reeves of the George Edwardes Society. There were two talks, an abridged reading of Lady Madcap and a screening of 'Comradeship', (on DVD from the British Film Institute), together with a display drawn from the 60,000 books and magazines in the Library’s extensive collections in the fine and performing arts.
  
  Lily Elsie Celebration Day 2011
  
  Here is a link to a review of the day posted by LN - http://www.strandlines.net
   
• There is an entry for Elsie in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography See this link for more details. (Six paragraphs by Kurt Ganzl)
   
• The Bystander May 22nd 1907
  
   
• The Salford Advertiser 28 July 2011
  
  Article by BA Lightfoot
   
• The Chicago Examiner 22 June 1913
  
  A real juicy gossip sheet (for 1913) featuring Lily Elsie, Gertie Millar, Gabrielle Ray, and May Etheridge
   
• Cecil Beaton Photo
  
  A stunning later image of Elsie by Cecil Beaton, late 1940s maybe?
   
• The Play Pictorial
  
  Vol. 6, No. 35. - The Little Michus.
   
• See See
  
  
   
• Painting of Lily Elsie by Sir John Lavery, apparently commissioned in 1909. It's a full length pose in her Lucile final act costume for The Merry Widow. This photo of the painting was in The Stage Year Book for 1910.
   
  
  
   
• New York Times, 17th July 1928. Elsie's father?
   
  
  I am told that Arthur married Agnes Clementina De-Laporte in 1883
   
• The O.P. "Merry Widow" Dinner
  Chris H from the Gabrielle Ray web site has found a seating plan for the O.P. [Old Playgoers?] "Merry Widow" Dinner in 1909. Hotel Cecil, Strand, W.C., [London, UK] Sunday 31st January 1909
  Seating Plan Quite a treasure!
   
• The Tatler, 16th May 1928. Major and Mrs Ian Bullough at Chester [Horse Race] Meeting
   
  
  Major Ian Bullough is the ex-master of the Ledbury, and is with his charming wife, who is better known to an adoring public as Miss Lily Elsie.
   
• The Tatler
  Chris H from the Gabrielle Ray web site has found another two pages from The Tatler
  26th January 1927
  7th May 1924
   
• The Tatler
  More Tatler from Chris H at the Gabrielle Ray web site
  1st March 1916
  6th February 1918
   
• See See
  More from Chris H at the Gabrielle Ray web site
  1907 programme for “See See” at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh
  also
  Several items posted 29 August 2015
  from Illustrated WW1 (Illustrated London News)
   
• The Tatler again, 16th August 1916.
   
  
  Elsie in costume for The Admirable Crichton at The Coliseum. 'Her husband is serving with his regiment in France'. Rita Martin picture.
   
• Wrench Series postcards. at the turn of the century.
  Card numbers 10431, 10432, 10637 and 10638 feature Elsie.