Rosemary Frances Rees (1875 – 19 August 1963) was a New Zealand actress, playwright, theatre producer and novelist. She worked in New Zealand, Australia and England. After her career in theatre she became a romantic novelist.

Early life

Rosemary Rees was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand in 1875 or 1876 to

William Lee Rees William Lee Rees (16 December 1836 – 18 May 1912) was an English-born New Zealand cricketer, politician and lawyer. Early years Rees was born in Bristol in 1836, the son of James Rees, a surgeon, and Elizabeth Pocock. Rees' father died when ...

, a barrister and MP. From a young age she was determined to become an actress.

Career

Rees worked as an actress in New Zealand before moving to England in about 1900 or 1901. In 1901 she joined Fanny Brough's theatre company becoming Brough's understudy after one month. Her first one act play ''The New Gun'' was performed as a curtain raiser to ''Uncles and Aunts'', by

William Lestocq William Lestocq (born Lestock Boileau Wooldridge; 1852 – 16 October 1920) was a British theatre manager, playwright, and actor.(20 October 1920)William Lestocq (obituary) ''New York Tribune''(20 October 1920)William Lestocq is Dead ''The Evening ...

and Walter Everard, in 1902. She also toured with the companies of Mr and Mrs Lewis Waller, Fred Ash, Walter Melville and Mr Van Biene among others. She wrote articles and short stories for the magazines ''Madame, The King and M.A.P.'' Several of her one act plays were produced in this period: in 1907 ''A Judicial Separation'' in Manchester and ''Her Dearest Friend'' in London; ''A Desperate Marriage'' in Brighton in 1908; ''The Happiest Woman in the World'' in Bournemouth in 1909. In 1908 she returned to New Zealand. In 1909 she presented, at His Majesty's Theatre in Gisborne, an evening's entertainment which included three of her own one act plays: the comedy ''A Judicial Separation'', the drama ''The New Gun'' and the comedietta ''Her Dearest Friend''. Rees returned to England in 1911 where she continued to act, write and produce plays. In 1913 she produced and acted in her comedy sketch, ''Uncle Bill'', at the Grand Theatre, Clapham. It was also produced at The Globe Theatre in London and The

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

in The Strand, London (as a curtain raiser to Jerome K. Jerome's play ''Robina in Search of a Husband''). In 1915 she acted in her own one act play ''Will You Walk into my Parlour'' at the Artillery in Woolwich; it was a curtain raiser for H.A. Vachell's play ''Searchlights'.'' She had a starring role in ''Searchlights'.'' In 1914 Rees took an injunction (Rees vs. Robbins) against theatre managers Walter and Frederick Robbins, better known as Walter and Frederick Melville, for infringement of copyright. Rees sought to prevent performances of the Melville's play ''The Beggar Girl's Wedding'' on the grounds that it had great similarities to a play she had written in 1906 called ''A Beggar Bride'' and which had been read by the Melvilles; she had changed the title of the play to ''A Desperate Marriage'' and it was performed in Brighton in 1908. The playwright and actress Cecily Hamilton gave evidence in the case. The court found there had been no infringement of copyright because as melodramas they would have many similarities in their plots and stock characters. During

World War 1 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 ...

Rees decided to dedicate herself to the war effort. Initially she worked on the New Zealand War Contingent Association's Entertainment Committee entertaining New Zealand soldiers in England; she gave out 20,000 tickets to New Zealand soldiers which she obtained from her contacts in the theatre world. By 1917 her health had deteriorated from overwork on the Entertainments Committee and, ordered to rest, she was offered a free trip to New Zealand by the military authorities. Instead, in early 1918, she joined one of Lena Ashwell's touring theatrical companies (the Lena Ashwell Dramatic Party), based in Rouen, entertaining the troops. She did this for 14 months; after the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

the Dramatic Party entertained the wounded at

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

in Belgium and at

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

and

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, D ...

in Northern France. After recovering in London from a breakdown in 1919 she returned to New Zealand where she managed her own touring theatre company; one of the actors was the writer

Ngaio Marsh Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh (; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand mystery writer and theatre director. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1966. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Det ...

. In 1921 her theatre company, The Rosemary Rees English Comedy Company, performed ''The Mollusc'' by

Hubert Henry Davies Hubert Henry Davies (17 March 1869 – 17 August 1917) was a leading British playwright and dramatist of the early 20th century, following in the tradition of Arthur Wing Pinero and Henry Arthur Jones, but influenced profoundly by Thomas William ...

in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, and other small towns. It also performed Rees's own plays ''Will You Walk into my Parlour'' and the comedy ''The Amateur Adventuress''. The company foundered after three to five months because Rees was unable to pay salaries and she moved to Australia to find work in the theatre there, though she returned to New Zealand to tour with the J. C. Williamson company in 1922. While in Australia she had begun to write romantic novels, giving up acting to become a successful writer. Her novels were published in England and the United States. She made an important contribution to the development of light romance writing in New Zealand. During the 1920s and 1930 Rees travelled and worked in Australia, England and America. In 1938 she was living in London and was sometimes mistaken for an airwoman with the same name. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she lived in London with her sister May; they returned to New Zealand in 1955. Rees died in Chelsea Private Hospital in Gisborne on 19 August 1963. Rosemary Rees was well known in New Zealand, Australia and England as a writer and actor. She attempted to create a permanent theatre in New Zealand, but competition from cinema and radio plus the country's small population and high cost of touring made touring theatre unviable. She is most remembered for her success as a romantic novelist.

Works

Novels

* ''April's Sowing'' (1923) *''Lake of Enchantment'' (1925) * ''Dear Acquaintance'' (1929) * ''Heather of the South'' (1930?) * ''Wild, Wild Heart'' (1932) * ''Local Colour'' (1933) * ''Sane Jane'' (1933) * ''Concealed Turning'' (1934) * ''Hetty Looks for Local Color'' (1935?) * ''"Life's What you Make It"'' (1936) * ''Turn the Hour'' (1937) * ''Home's Where the Heart Is'' (1937) * ''Sing a Song of Sydney'' (1938) * ''Miss Tiverton's Shipwreck'' (1939) * ''Sackcloth for Susan'' (1941) * ''You'll Never Fail Me'' (1946) * ''Penelope Waits'' (1947) * ''I Can Take Care of Myself'' (1947?) * ''The Mended'' ''Citadel'' (1949) * ''Displaced Person'' (1951) * ''She Who Loves'' (1952) * ''The Five Miss Willoughbys'' (1955) * ''Better to Trust'' (1956) * ''Love in a Lonely Land'' (1958) * ''The Proud Diana'' (1962)

Non-fiction

* ''New Zealand Holiday'' (1936)

Plays

*''The New Gun'' (1902) *''A Judicial Separation'' (1907) *''Her Dearest Friend'' (1907) *''A Desperate Marriage'' (1908) *''The Happiest Woman in the World'' (1909) *''Uncle Bill'' (1913) *''Will You Walk into My Parlour'' (1915) *''The Amateur Adventuress'' (?1921)

References

External links

Play by Rosemary Rees on Great War Theatre database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Rosemary Frances 1870s births 1963 deaths New Zealand women novelists New Zealand stage actresses Writers from Auckland 20th-century New Zealand novelists 20th-century New Zealand actresses 20th-century New Zealand women writers 20th-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights Grace family New Zealand women dramatists and playwrights New Zealand expatriates in Australia New Zealand expatriates in the United Kingdom