Lady Drogheda

[Rod_Filan]

A couple of months ago a thread (of which I cannot find) mentioned Lady Drogheda and her connection to an a/c display in the USA. Of course I may be way off base here, but I seem to recall it may have something to do with a Sop Tripe in a post by Mike W. At the time I searched for any reference to her, but to no avail.

Today, a friend in Belgium who has been regularly supplying scans from 'The Illustrated War News' to me, sent along this:

==> http://www.geocities.com/wwiaviation/Drogheda.jpg <==

Who is the Countess of Drogheda and what is her connection to aviation? It sounds like an interesting story but unfortunately I can find not one iota of bio on this woman, let alone her christian and family name.

VBR
Rod

[MikeW]

Rod,

it was my thread - about the only thing I've found out is that there still appears to be a Lady Drogheda around in Ireland somewhere, so it must be an heridtary title.

The url of the Illustrated War News is brilliant, wrong exhibition though. The newspaper is dated January 1917. The one that I am interested in took place in late 1917 and amongst other things exhibited one of Naval 10's triplanes, if memory serves correctly, one flown by Desmond Fitzgibbon.

It would be interesting to know what happened to it, surely it wasn't shipped back to the UK.

Mike

[mike_baram]

So far, I have found a "Countess Drogheda" who appears in a short story, "Olivia's Pottage" which appeared in a book entitled "The Certain Hour" by James Branch Cabell, published in 1909.

Also, this Masters Thesis from UC Riverside Department of History of Art:
Preston, Genevieve M. "A Modern Setting for a Modern Life: Madame Stringberg, Ethel Sands, and Lady Drogheda's Innovative and Avant-garde Interiors," 1998

Finally, there appears this passage in the Whitehall Review of 1881:
"The corridors also are full here and there a startling figure stands out, notably a magnificent Kurd chieftain with turban and wild eyes, a splendid figure, the effect increased by knowing he is a real hero, Major McCalmont; in a corner a very handsome Leicester in white satin doublet (Hon. Captain Denison) is talking to Mother Hubbard (Lady Drogheda), an excellent figure."

Assuming that she did exist, Lady Drogheda seems to have been one of society's movers and shakers during that era, and it appears that she was connected (perhaps tangentally) with Oscar Wilde and his circle of associates.

[Rod_Filan]

Thanx for the information Mike(s).

I was aware of Lady Drogheda's flair for interior decorating (that's about the only reference I have found on her so far) but I'm suspecting her partonizing of the 'aero arts' must have been the result of cause and effect influenced by early British aviators of the 1900's (Latham, Grahame-White, Cody etc.)

The 'Oscar Wilde' connection (or more correctly: post-Wilde) is in the direction I was driving at. Who were the aviators that travelled in these circles? Certainly talk of the great adventures and bravery of these men would have been high on the list of fashionable subjects of discussion at all the most elite functions. Consequently it stands to reason having a 'Flyer' on your guest list would make your event enviable to others on the social calendar.

Perhaps I'm wrong. She may have been a forward and scientific thinker ahead of her time, not influenced by position but standing intellectually equal with these 'enlightened age' men. Most likely the answer lies somewhere in the middle and she held a fascination for flight that would have not been uncommon. Nevertheless, the men of the RFC were no doubt appreciative of her support as so should we.

VBR
Rod

[MikeW]

There seem to be Countess Droghedas dating back to Cromwell's time, and she keeps popping up throughout history. I think there is even a pop group of that name!

Rod

Concerning the lady that we are interested in, was there any more text associated with the pictures in the Illustrated War News?

Has anyone got a "Who's Who" or "Burkes Peerage" from 1917?

[MikeW]

Rod & Mike

got it! I gave up on her, and searched for male Droghedas - soon found her husband, and hence the family name.


Kathleen Moore, Countess of Drogheda, Aviation enthusiast, died 1966.

Apparently there is a bio in "Who's Who in British Aviation 1936".

Also British Biographical archive fiche 11 1355, 109.

That's a start.


Rod - thanks for kicking this one off again,


Mike

[Graeme]

On 14 June 1661, Charles II conferred the earldom of Drogheda on Henry Moore, who thereafter seemed to spend much of his time naming Dublin streets after himself.

The theatrical connection is probably Olive May, whose real name was Olive Meatyard, and who made her first appearance at the Gaiety Theatre, Strand, in a small part in the musical play The Toreador, which opened on 17 June 1901. For the most part she remained at that theatre, sustaining a number of minor roles, for the next twelve years. She was much photographed and became a favourite with postcard collectors. Miss May also made one gramophone record (HMV 03231), "The Lass with the Lasso", a ditty by Leslie Stuart which she sang in Peggy, the Gaiety musical comedy of 1911.

"One member of the Gaiety company set up a record by marrying twice into the peerage. This was Miss Olive May, who, in January, 1913, left the cast of The Sunshine Girl to marry Lord Victor Paget, a brother of an heir-presumptive to the Marquess of Anglesey. But the marriage did not turn out as had been hoped; and in 1921 Lady Victor Paget (whom suburban reporters invariably described as "Lady Paget") brought an undefended petition for its dissolution… Undeterred by this experience, in the following year Lady Victor Paget became the second wife of the 10th Earl of Drogheda, who had been divorced from his first one. The re-marriage was at the registrar’s office in Kensington [in London], with a religious ceremony to follow it at St. Jude’s, Hampstead. The bride’s costume was described by a lady reporter as "a gown of beige lace and charmeuse, and a hat of brown straw with orange trimming." - Horace Wyndham, Chorus to Coronet, British Technical and General Press, London, 1951, pp.135-136

Olive May died in 1947.

Almost as much fun looking for this as for WW1 stuff!

Graeme

[Rod_Filan]

Nice work Mike and Graeme! Thanx fellas.

I'll get back to you with any additional text from Illustrated War News if any is available Mike.

VBR
Rod