Eliza Davis Aria (1866–1931) was an English fashion writer and gossip columnist known as "Mrs Aria". She was the editor of a fashion magazine titled ''The World of Dress'', author of books on costume and motoring, and a society hostess. She was also the long-time lover of

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

,Stetz, Margaret D
"‘To defend the undefendable’: Oscar Wilde and the Davis Family"
. ''Oscar Wilde, Jews & the Fin-de-Siècle'', ''The OScholars'', Summer 2010, accessed 26 July 2011 from the 1890s until his death in 1905.

Early life

Eliza Davis was born in London on 11 August 1866 to portrait photographer Hyman Davis and his wife Isabella (Bella). She spent her early years in the house attached to her father's

Bruton Street Bruton Street is a street in London's Mayfair district. It runs from Berkeley Square in the south-west to New Bond Street in the north-east, where it continues as Conduit Street. Notable residents have included Field Marshal John Campbell, 2n ...

, Mayfair studio. She attended Miss Belisario's school and was afterward tutored by Madame Paul Lafargue, the daughter of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

. Eliza's seven siblings included several writers: novelist and art historian

Julia Frankau Julia Frankau (née Davis; 30 July 1859 – 17 March 1916) was a successful novelist who wrote under the name Frank Danby. Her first novel was published in 1887: ''Dr. Phillips: A Maida Vale Idyll''. Its portrayal of London Jews and Jewish l ...

(pseudonym Frank Danby) and their eldest brother James (pseudonym Owen Hall), a racing correspondent, theatre critic and librettist. "While James was still living at home, he brought to the house literary and theatrical figures, including Oscar and Willie Wilde, who would play tennis in a nearby public garden with Julia and Eliza." A younger sister, Florence Collins, published one novel, ''The Luddingtons'' (Heinemann 1905), about which Mrs Aria had this to say: You are the beauty of the family,' we advised her, and she accepted the verdict as condemning the volume to solitude." Her nephew Gilbert Frankau became a journalist and novelist, and Gilbert's younger brother

Ronald Frankau Ronald Hugh Wyndham Frankau (22 February 1894 – 11 September 1951) was an English comedian who started in cabaret and made his way to radio and films. Family Frankau was born in London, the third child of Arthur Frankau, son of Joseph Fra ...

went onto the stage.

Marriage and Career

In 1884, Eliza married Jamaican-born merchant David Bonito Aria, and gave birth to their daughter the following year, but there was "little of real love between" the couple, and his precarious finances proved a poor match for her view of luxuries as "the absolute necessities of existence," leading to a permanent separation with David Aria's departure for South Africa after five years of marriage. The separation served as a stimulus to her journalistic career. She became a prominent fashion columnist, eventually founding her own magazine, '' The World of Dress'', which she edited from 1898 to 1908. In 1898 she began an affair with prominent actor

which lasted until his death in 1905. Mrs Aria's literary and artistic salon included

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Isidore de Lara Isidore de Lara, born Isidore Cohen (9 August 18582 September 1935), was an English composer and singer. After studying in Italy and France, he returned to England, where he taught for several years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama an ...

, and

C. R. W. Nevinson Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (13 August 1889 – 7 October 1946) was an English figure and landscape painter, etcher and lithographer, who was one of the most famous war artists of World War I. He is often referred to by his initial ...

who painted a view of

Fitzroy Square Fitzroy Square is a Georgian square in London. It is the only one in the central London area known as Fitzrovia. The square is one of the area's main features, this once led to the surrounding district to be known as Fitzroy Square or Fitzro ...

from the window of her flat. Gilbert Frankau's novelist daughter

Pamela Pamela may refer to: *''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740 *Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname * Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela" * MSC ''Pamela'', ...

recalled that Mrs Aria "was the friend of such gods as George Moore, Ivor Novello,

Michael Arlen Michael Arlen (16 November 1895 – 23 June 1956), born Dikran Kouyoumdjian ( hy, Տիգրան Գոյումճեան), was a British essayist, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and scriptwriter of Armenian origin, who had his greatest s ...

, Sybil Thorndike and

Rebecca West Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...

. She sent her great-nieces a collection of autographs that looked like the Milky Way." Mrs Aria's sister Julia Frankau "was wont to say, 'Unless Eliza receives each morning four letters from leading actresses which commence "Dearest" she looks unhappy.'" "All celebrated people," commented Pamela Frankau, "were called 'Darling' by Aunt Eliza, and in her presence at least greeted one another by the same title. So much so that, leaving Buckingham Gate on one occasion, the copywriter said to a taxi-driver during controversy, 'I ''did'' hail you first, darling.'"

Later life

Eliza Aria went with actor

Frank Vosper Frank Permain Vosper (15 December 1899, in London – 6 March 1937) was an English actor who appeared in both stage and film roles and a dramatist, playwright and screenwriter. Stage Vosper made his stage debut in 1919 and was best known for pl ...

to attend the London opening night of the stage play ''Grand Hotel'', and died at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

just before the curtain went up – "'Which is odd because I have often heard her say she would like to die in a theatre.'"Pamela Frankau, ''I Find Four People'', Ivor Nicholson and Watson 1935 - p265

References

Publications

*''The May Book: compiled by Mrs Aria in aid of

Charing Cross Hospital Charing Cross Hospital is an acute general teaching hospital located in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. The present hospital was opened in 1973, although it was originally established in 1818, approximately five miles east, in central L ...

'', Macmillan 1901 *Mrs Aria. ''Woman and the Motor Car: being the autobiography of an automobilist'', Sidney Appleton 1906 *Mrs Aria. ''Costume - Fanciful, Historical, and Theatrical'', Macmillan 1906 *Mrs Aria. ''My Sentimental Self'',

Chapman and Hall Chapman & Hall is an imprint owned by CRC Press, originally founded as a British publishing house in London in the first half of the 19th century by Edward Chapman and William Hall. Chapman & Hall were publishers for Charles Dickens (from 1840 ...

1922

External links