19th Century Star, 20th Century Woman

Ellen Terry was born in 1847 or was it 1848? - she wasn't sure. Born in Coventry into a family of travelling actors, her first appearance on stage was at the tender age of 8. Lewis Carroll took some wonderful photos of Ellen with her brothers and sisters. Ellen said of Carroll "He was as fond of me as he could be of anyone over the age of ten". She married the artist G.F. Watts when she was only 16 and he was over 40. The marriage did not last - imagine a young lively teenager with a penchant for sliding down the banisters married to a very serious middle-aged artist...

Ellen aged about 17 photographed by Julia Margaret Cameron

When she was 20 she ran off with the architect Edward Godwin with whom she had two illegitimate children - remember this was all happening during that very staid Victorian period when men were men and women were mere decorations. You can imagine Queen Victoria herself would not have been amused at this sort of behaviour, but she too fell under Ellen's spell and Ellen was asked to perform before the Queen at the palace.

When her children were 3 and 5, abandoned by Godwin, and now a single mother, (Godwin had left her for a woman from his office - allegedly the last straw for Godwin was when Ellen, in a effort to please him, attempted to cook a chicken for him - unfortunately she left all the innards inside the bird and burnt it to a cinder) Ellen had to return to the stage to earn a living.

Ellen as Ophelia

She soon built up a famous 20 year acting partnership with Henry Irving (the first actor to be knighted) - they were probably the first superstars of the entertainment industry. It is not clear whether they were ever an item. Oh.. meanwhile she married an alcoholic actor, Charles Wardell (aka Kelly). She also found time to correspond famously with George Bernard Shaw - I don't think they ever met. Ellen's letters to Shaw are far more interesting than Shaw's to her. When she was sixty she married for the third time - this lasted 2 years but she and American actor James Carew were firm friends until her death. In 1925 she was made a dame.

In 1928 she died aged 80ish in one of her beloved cottages, Smallhythe Place, near Tenterden in Kent. It now belongs to the National Trust and is a "museum" to "Our Ellen". Her spirit lives on in that place. Her old black leather handbag, her friendship beads and geraniums help to brings a bit of Ellen back to life.

One of the most extraordinary things I have found when reading about Ellen is that it would appear that everyone fell under the spell of this beautiful and vivacious woman. Oscar Wilde wrote three sonnets about her. His words below give us some idea of the impression Ellen must have made on those who saw her, particularly on the stage:

"O, hair of gold! O, crimson lips! O, face! Made for the luring and the love of man!"

I hope this has whetted your appetite to read more about this remarkable woman. Suggested books:-

Ellen Terry - Roger Manvell

Ellen and Edy - Joy Mellville

Love or Nothing - Roger Prideaux

The Story of My life  (Ellen's autobiography)

Ellen Terry - Nina Auerbach