H. Robert Averell, grandson of Jenny Lind, on tour in the United Kingdom during 1908 in The Girls of Gottenberg

H. Robert Averell (1885-1913), English actor and singer, as he appeared on tour in the United Kingdom during 1908 in the role of Prince Otto in George Dance’s The Girls of Gottenberg company. The part was first played by George Grossmith junior in the original production of The Girls of Gottenberg at the Gaiety Theatre, London (15 May 1907).
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, 1908; postcard published by The Rotary Photographic Co Ltd, London, in the Rotary Photographic Series, no. 2356 B)

The promising young actor known as H. Robert Averell (and sometimes as Robert Averell) was born Walter Averell Lind Goldschmidt in Kensington, London, on 4 May 1885. He was the son of Walter Otto Goldschmidt (1854-1929) and his first wife, Mary Julia (née Daniell, 1859-?), who were married in 1884 and acrimoniously separated ten years later. Averell was therefore the grandson of Jenny Lind (1820-1887), the celebrated soprano known ‘The Swedish Nightingale,’ his father being her eldest child by her husband, the German-born musician, Otto Moritz David Goldschmidt (1829-1907).

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‘Mr Robert Averell, a promising young English actor, died suddenly recently from the after effects of a chill. Only a few days previous Mr Averell, who made his name on the metropolitan stage as Hubert in The Girl in the Taxi, was playing in Oh, I Say at the London Criterion. A grandson of Jenny Lind, the famous Swedish diva, he was an old Westminster schoolboy and a ward in Chancery, and, consent to his adopting the stage as a career being practically impossible to obtain, he made his way to South Africa, where although under age he managed to join the Cape Mounted Rifles. Then he joined a travelling theatrical company which was often unable to proceed for lack of funds and the privations he then met with unquestionably hastened his end.’
(The New Zealand Observer, Auckland, Saturday, 13 December 1913, p. 14a)

In 1910 Averell was declared bankrupt, ‘his failure being attributed to his having lived in excess of his income.’ (The Times, London, Saturday, 14 May 1910, p. 17d) This reverse did not interfere with his career, however, and he went on to appear in several West End productions including Our Little Cinderella, a play with music (Playhouse Theatre, London, 20 December 1910), with his kinsman Cyril Maude (1862-1951) in the leading role; and The Girl in the Taxi, the musical play produced at the Lyric Theatre, London, on 5 September 1912. Averell’s last appearance was in the Parisian farce, Oh! I Say!, produced at the Criterion Theatre, London, on 28 May 1913. During the run he became ill and died suddenly in October that year, when his part was taken over by Ronald Squire who went on to become a well-known character actor.

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Beatrice Ferrar, Miss M.A. Victor and George Giddens in the revival of Oliver Goldsmith’s comedy, She Stoops to Conquer; or, The Mistakes of a Night, Haymarket Theatre, London, 9 January 1900

Beatrice Ferrar (1876-1958) as Miss Neville, Miss M.A. Victor (1831-1907) as Mrs Hardcastle and George Giddens (1845-1920) as Tony Lumpkin in the revival of Oliver Goldsmith’s comedy, She Stoops to Conquer; or, The Mistakes of a Night, produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London, on 9 January 1900.
(cabinet photo: Window & Grove, 63a Baker Street, London W, 1900)

‘Messrs. [Frederick] Harrison and [Cyril] Maud’s projected series of revivals of standard English comedies at the Haymarket made an auspicious commencement on Tuesday evening with She Stoops to Conquer. Goldsmith’s masterpiece was, on the whole, a judicious choice for the opening production, for there has been no performance of this play in London of any importance since the revivals at the Vaudeville and the Criterion in the spring of 1890. That delightful actress, Miss Winifred Emery [Mrs Cyril Maude], who was the Miss Hardcastle of the former occasion, now returns to the part, and plays it, as will be expected, with a more sustained vivacity and finesse than in her more juvenile days. Mr. Giddens, who was the Tony Lumpkin of Mr. [Charles] Wyndham’s cast, now repeats his richly humourous and forcible impersonations of the loutish young Squire. Miss M.A. Victor as Mrs. Hardcastle, and Mr. Sydney Valentine as Diggory, are also distinguished recruits from the Criterion cast. Conspicuous among the now-comers is Mr. Cyril Maude, who breaks the tradition of his part by emphasising the peevishness and irritability of Mr. Hardcastle at the expense of his more genial qualities. The change, though it took the spectator somewhat by surprise, was not unwelcome, and it must be confessed that Mr. Maude’s portrait is drawn by a master-hand. Young Marlow finds an excellent representative in Mr. Paul Arthur, the young American actor, whose recent performance of the Prince in Captain Marshall’s clever and fanciful comedy [A Royal Family] at the Court Theatre, has won for him so large a tribute of praise. Miss Beatrice Ferrar and Mr. Graham Browne are respectively the Miss Neville and Hastings of the cast. The comedy, which is acted throughout with a spirit and precision of touch that auger well for the management’s experiment, was received with great cordiality.’
(The Graphic, London, Saturday, 13 January 1900, p. 54)

‘… Mr George Giddens gave us a genuinely rough and rural Tony Lumpkin, a real bit of boorish aristocracy, unforced, unexaggerated, but in the richest and rarest vein of low comedy… Miss M.A. Victor was exquisitely amusing, and, at the same time, perfectly easy and reposeful as Mrs Hardcastle. The part suited her exactly, and she gave a reading of it which delighted the audience greatly, and even added to Miss Victor’s extensive and intense popularity. Miss Beatirce Ferrar’s Miss Neville was younger and more hoydenish than is customary; but, in practice, this proved an advantage, and ”Neville’s” scuffles and combats with Tony sent the house into roars of laughter, and greatly assisted the success of the revival. In the more serious passages of the part Miss Ferrar showed how keenly acute she is by nice enunciation and by sufficiently subduing her vivacity… .’

(The Era, London, Saturday, 13 January 1900, p. 13d)

Ellaline Terriss, Seymour Hicks and Baby Betty

Actresseses photographed with their children.

Seymour Hicks (1871-1949) and his wife, Ellaline Terriss (1871-1971) and their daughter Betty (b. 1907), who was widely known as ‘Baby Betty’ and later professionally as Betty Seymour Hicks.
Postcard 4051 B in the Rotary Photographic Series, published in 1908 by the Rotary Photographic Co Ltd, London.
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, 1908)

‘London, Sept. 21 [1910].
‘The latest fashion among English actresses is to be photographed with their children. The family life of English theatrical people has always been of interest to the British public, and the new postcards and photographs of actresses holding their children in their arms or on their knees have sold better than any other pictures of the same gifted yet domesticated ladies.

Muriel Beaumont (Mrs Gerald Du Maurier, 1881-1957) and two of her daughters, Angela (1904-2002) and Daphne (1907-1989), both of whom became well known writers.
Postcard E 1927, published by the Aristophot Co Ltd, London, 1908.
(photo: Rita Martin, London, 1908)

‘It seems to please theatregoers to know that the leading lady of the company is in private life a good mother and excellent housewife, and they give her an extra round of applause for these qualities. Middle-class England does not believe in the artistic temperament, and any little idiosyncrasies in the private affairs of actresses meet with disapproval. Domesticity is the drawing card. the knowledge that a stage favorite is comfortably settled in her own home with a devoted husband and one or two future actors learning their lessons at her knee is unction to the British matron’s soul.
‘Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Hicks lead in public favor as examples of domestic theatrical life. The public knows their ménage intimately, and takes a tremendous interest in Baby Betty, the little daughter of the household. Both Mr. Hicks and his wife, Ellaline Terriss, take the audience into their confidence, and in the course of a musical comedy they have been known to mention Baby Betty and the stage of her health or the fact that she sent her love to everybody, and such announcements are received with cheers of delight.
‘Betty once wrote an ode which was published. She is just 5 now. If no news of the child is forthcoming admirers have been known to call out from the depths of the pit and inquire for the latest news. Naturally, Mr. and Mrs. Hicks have been photographed with Betty countless times, and their pictures in plush frames adorn many British homes.
‘Mr. and Mrs. Gerald du Maurier are another couple in whom great interest is taken. On the stage Mrs. du Maurier is Miss Muriel Beaumont. She rarely acts now, as home interests are engrossing. Her little daughter Angela is 4, and promises to be a real Du Maurier in appearance as well as in ways. she has not yet any stage aspirations.

Isabel Jay (Mrs Henry Sheppard Hart Cavendish, 1879-1927) and her daughter Cecilia Claribel (1903 – 1963) in their Spyker car.
Postcard 4846B in the Rotary Photographic Series, published about 1907 by the Rotary Photographic Co Ltd, London.
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, circa 1907)

‘Mr. and Mrs. Fred Terry, who are soon to appear in America, are very proud of their tall daughter, who has just made her debut in Priscilla Runs Away. She calls herself Miss Neilson-Terry, but is known to her intimates as Phillida. Though she is taller than her mother, and very well developed, she is only 17. She is very pretty. At present the post card shops are filled with a variety of pictures of the Fred Terry family.
‘Miss Maie Ash, who married Stanley Brett, a brother of Seymour Hicks, a year or so ago, is the proud mother of a very recent baby and she has lost no time in being pictured with her little son. Miss Ash was one of the prettiest of the pretty girls in Mr. Hicks’ company, and was a musical comedy favorite. Just now she is playing a sketch with her husband.
‘Miss Eva Moore, who is Mrs. H. Esmond in private life, has two children, and is a devoted mother. Her stage career takes her from her family a good deal, as she is in demand to create parts in her husband’s plays as well as others, but she has her children with her all she can. The Moore family of girls, five of them, is a type of a theatrical family often found in England. Every Miss Moore went on the stage when she arrived at years of discretion, and two of them, Miss Eva and Miss Decima Moore have become successful actresses.
‘Miss Violet Vanbrugh and her husband, Arthur Bourchier, are having a difficult time to persuade their daughter Prudence that 12 is not the proper age to begin a stage career. Prudence has had dramatic aspirations since she was little more than a baby, and Mr. Bourchier confesses that before long she is likely to get her way and appear at his theater in a Christmas play.
‘Mr. and Mrs. Cyril Maude are another couple in whom the public is interested here, and though their one child, Winifred, is seldom seen on post cards or photographs, her clever sayings and doings are well known, and her debut is looked forward to.
‘Miss Nancy Price, who for years has played adventuress parts in risky French gowns and red wigs, is really, to the joy of her audiences, a model wife and mother. She, too, has a small daughter, who is kept carefully from the glare of the footlights out in the suburban home where Miss Price makes her way after the fatigues of Drury Lane performances.

Ellaline Terriss and her daughter ‘Baby Betty.’
Postcard 11706 C in the Rotary Photographic Series, published in 1911 by the Rotary Photographic Co Ltd, London.
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, 1911)

‘Mrs. G.P. Huntley’s small boy [Timothy] has seen his father act very often, but not his mother, as for the last few years she [Eva Kelly] has seldom appeared on the stage.
‘Mr. and Mrs. H.B. Irving have a daughter very like her mother [Dorothea Baird], with silky flaxen hair and blue eyes. She dances prettily, and can recite yards of poetry.
‘Mrs. Kendal, who used to be regarded as an example of theatrical motherhood, seems to have dropped out in recent years. One sees no pictures of her with her children, who are grown now.
‘Miss Ellen Terry is probably the most devoted mother in the theatrical world, yet she is never pictured with her son or daughter. She has never figures before the public in the role of mother, but those who know say that her devotion to her children [Edward Gordon Craig, and Edith Craig] is the greatest thing in her life. She has started both of them several times in various careers in which they wished to embark, and she is always the kind friend to whom they go in their difficulties. to see Miss Terry and Miss Edith Craig, her daughter together is to realize the strong bond between them.
‘Miss Annie Hughes, whose forte is playing the part of catty, sneaky, little ladies of the Country Mouse variety, has a son, who is her special joy and pride.’
(The Washington Post, Washington, D.C., Sunday, 2 October 1910, Miscellany Section, p.10b-g)