Eleanor "Nellie" Souray (1880 – 8 December 1931), later styled as Eleanor Byng, Viscountess Torrington, was an English actress known for her roles in

Edwardian musical comedies Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the A ...

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

and light opera.

Early life

Souray was born Ellen Mary Souray (or Sowray) at

Long Ditton Long Ditton is a residential suburb in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England on the boundary with the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. In medieval times it was a village, occupying a narrow strip of land. Neighbouring settlem ...

, one of eight children of Edwin Souray and Mary Ann (or Marion) Husted Souray. Her sister Maidie Souray was also an actress.

Career

Souray was a comic actress and singer, preferring the range of shows "from pantomime to light comedy". She appeared in ''The Black Tulip'' (1898), ''

The Girl from Kays ''The Girl from Kays'' is a musical comedy in three acts, with music by Ivan Caryll and book and lyrics by Owen Hall. Additional songs were by Paul Rubens, Howard Talbot, Adrian Ross, Percy Greenbank and others. The farcical story concerns a mi ...

'' (1902), ''

The Duchess of Dantzic ''The Duchess of Dantzic'' is a comic opera in three acts, set in Paris, with music by Ivan Caryll and a book and lyrics by Henry Hamilton (playwright), Henry Hamilton, based on the play ''Madame Sans-Gêne (play), Madame Sans-Gêne'' by Victorien ...

'' (1903), '' The Blue Moon'' (1905), ''

The Merveilleuses ''The Merveilleuses'' is a musical play in three acts, with a book adapted from the French original of Victorien Sardou by Basil Hood, lyrics by Adrian Ross, and music by Hugo Felix. The main plot is a love story, concerning Dorlis, an ''émigré'' ...

'' (1906), ''

The Admirable Crichton ''The Admirable Crichton'' is a comic stage play written in 1902 by J. M. Barrie. Origins Barrie took the title from the sobriquet of a fellow Scot, the polymath James Crichton, a 16th-century genius and athlete. The epigram-loving Ernest is p ...

'', and ''Letty''. She was also associated with the Gaiety Theatre."How Lady Torrington's Craze for Horses Brought Her to a Tragic Finish"
''Ogden Standard-Examiner'' (January 17, 1932), p. 24. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

She wrote ''Over the Garden Wall: A Story of Racing and Romance'', published in 1924.

Personal life

In 1910, Souray married George Master Byng, the 9th

Viscount Torrington Viscount Torrington is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1721 for the statesman Sir George Byng, 1st Baronet, along with the subsidiary title Baron Byng, of Southill in the County of Bedford, also in the Peerage of Gre ...

,"Eleanor Souray"
The Peerage. at the British Embassy in Paris; they met three days earlier, through their mutual interest in horse racing. They were married about four years when the viscount was commissioned to serve in the Royal Navy during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. They separated after the war; he declared bankruptcy in 1919, and they were divorced in 1921. She was later romantically linked with jockey and trainer

Steve Donoghue Steve Donoghue (8 November 188423 March 1945) was a leading England, English flat-race jockey in the 1910s and 1920s. He was British flat racing Champion Jockey, Champion Jockey 10 times between 1914 and 1923 and was one of the most celebrated ...

. Souray became more involved with horse racing in her later years, an expensive hobby, which led to her own bankruptcy in 1930."Former Wife of Peer a Suicide by Gas"
''Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' (January 3, 1932): 18. via

She died by suicide in 1931, in London, at the age of 51.

References

External links

Ten photographs
of Eleanor Souray Byng by

Bassano Ltd Alexander Bassano (10 May 1829 – 21 October 1913) was an English photographer who was a leading royal and high society portrait photographer in Victorian London. He is known for his photo of the Earl Kitchener in the ''Lord Kitchener Wants Yo ...

in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. {{DEFAULTSORT:Souray, Eleanor 1880 births 1931 deaths English actresses People from Long Ditton 1931 suicides Suicides by gas Suicides in Westminster