Mabel Veronica Hatch Batten (1856–1916) was a well-known amateur singer of

lieder In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...

Early life

She was born Mabel Hatch in a well-connected family. She studied in Dresden and Bruges, harmony and composition.

Career

She was a leading "patroness of music and the arts, mezzo-soprano and composer" of drawing-room songs. One of her best compositions was the setting of "The Queen's Last Ride" by the poem of

Ella Wheeler Wilcox Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850October 30, 1919) was an American author and poet. Her works include the collection '' Poems of Passion'' and the poem "Solitude", which contains the lines "Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you ...

. She was an accomplished singer, pianist and guitar player.

Personal life

Mabel Batten at the time of her relationship with Radclyffe Hall

Vault of Mabel Batten and Ratcliffe Hall in Highgate Cemetery

In 1874 she married George Batten, secretary to the Viceroy of India. They had one daughter, the painter and film maker Lady Cara Harris. In the 1880s she had a relationship with

Wilfred Scawen Blunt Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (17 August 1840 – 10 September 1922), sometimes spelt Wilfred, was an English poet and writer. He and his wife Lady Anne Blunt travelled in the Middle East and were instrumental in preserving the Arabian horse bloodlines ...

. She was friends with composer

Adela Maddison Katharine Mary Adela Maddison, née Tindal (15 December 1862 – 12 June 1929), usually known as Adela Maddison, was a British composer of operas, ballets, instrumental music and songs. She was also a concert producer. She composed a number of ...

who, in 1893, dedicated her "Deux Melodies" to her. She was also friends with composer Ethel Smyth. From 1906 she was friends with Toupie Lowther and her brother

Claude Lowther Colonel Claude William Henry Lowther (1870 – 16 June 1929) was an English Conservative politician. Early life Lowther was the only son of Capt. Francis William Lowther and Louise Beatrice de Fonblanque; Francis William was the illegitimate so ...

. On August 22, 1907, at

Bad Homburg Bad Homburg vor der Höhe () is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's offic ...

, a spa in Germany, Mabel Batten met Radclyffe Hall. Batten was 51 years old and Hall was 27. In 1913 Batten and Hall visited the Lowthers at Claude's Herstmonceux Castle.When Batten was a widow, she went to live with Hall in Cadogan Square. Batten, nicknamed Ladye, gave the name John to Hall, which Hall used for the rest of her life. In 1915 Hall met Batten's cousin

Una Troubridge Una Vincenzo, Lady Troubridge (born Margot Elena Gertrude Taylor; 8 March 1887 – 24 September 1963) was a British sculptor and translator. She is best known as the long-time lesbian partner of Marguerite Radclyffe Hall, author of ''The We ...

(1887–1963). When Batten died the following year, Troubridge took care of a defeated Hall and in 1917 they went to live together. Batten is buried in a vault in the Circle of Lebanon on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...

in London, and Hall chose to be buried at the entrance of the crypt.

Legacy

Mabel Batten's portraits were taken by

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

and

Edward John Poynter Sir Edward John Poynter, 1st Baronet (20 March 183626 July 1919) was an English painter, designer, and draughtsman, who served as President of the Royal Academy. Life Poynter was the son of architect Ambrose Poynter. He was born in Paris, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batten, Mabel 1856 births 1916 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery