Rosie Boote

Rosie Boote (1878 – 17 August 1958) was an Irish Gaiety Girl who became the Marchioness of Headfort when she married in 1901.

Rosie Boote
Sir William Orpen, Portrait of Rosie, Fourth Marchioness of Headfort
Born1878
Died17 August 1958
Spouse(s)Geoffrey Taylour, 4th Marquess of Headfort (1901-1943)
Musical career
Instruments
  • Vocals

Early life

Rose Boote was born in Ireland, or possibly to Irish parents in England; reports vary on this point. She was said to have attended a convent school at Clonmel.[1]

Miss Rosie Boote

Career and marriage

Irish theatre manager George Edwardes moved chorus girl Rosie Boote to London in 1896, to appear The Runaway Girl. She was especially popular in The Messenger Boy.[1]

Rosie Boote married Geoffrey Taylour, 4th Marquess of Headfort in 1901, against his family's wishes and causing an international sensation.[2][3] "Tremendous efforts were made to prevent the marriage by all Lord Headfort's relatives and friends," noted a 1903 summary of the event; even the King attempted to discourage the match.[4] Lord Headfort resigned his military commission to marry Miss Boote, and converted to Roman Catholicism soon after they wed.[5] Theirs was one of the first weddings in a trend of Gaiety Girls marrying titled husbands, and Rosie Boote's acceptance into society set a template for how the rest could be received.[6][7]

Later life

Lady Headfort had two sons and a daughter, and lived primarily at the family house in County Meath.[8][9] She attended three kings' coronations at Westminster Abbey.[10] She was widowed in 1943 and died in 1958, aged 80 years, in London.[11]

Portraits of the Marquess and Marchioness by artist Sir William Orpen were auctioned by Sotheby's in London in 2012.[10]

References
  1. "Marchioness of Headfort Dead; Had Been Gaiety Girl in London" New York Times (August 19, 1958): 27.
  2. "Young Lord Headford Headed Right for It" Los Angeles Times (February 27, 1901): 3.
  3. "London's Newest Sensation" Washington Post (February 24, 1901): 3.
  4. "London Social Sensation" New York Times (August 2, 1903): 4.
  5. Eimear Walsh, "Scandal in High Society" National Library of Ireland blog (July 18, 2011).
  6. "Actresses Who Married Into the Nobility" New York Times (August 12, 1906): SM7.
  7. "A Gaiety Dancer Weds Mr. Aspinall" New York Times (September 8, 1907): C1.
  8. "Lord Headfort's Wife from Stage" Washington Post (March 3, 1908): 6.
  9. "Ex-Gaiety Girl Conquers Irish" Los Angeles Times (February 19, 1906): I17.
  10. Michael Parsons, "The Irish Couple Who Scandalised London Society" Irish Times (January 14, 2012).
  11. "Gaiety Girl, First to Wed a Peer, Dies" Chicago Daily Tribune (August 19, 1958): A8.
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