Violet Myers (11 May 1875 – 15 September 1943) was a classical singer and the wife of British diplomat William Algernon Churchill.

Early life

Hannah Violet Myers was born on 11 May 1875 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, died on November 20, 1943, the oldest daughter of George MyersAlumni of Cambridge University
/ref> (b.1841) and Flora Wertheimer (1851–1921), granddaughter of Chief Rabbi Akiba Wertheimer and niece of German philosopher

Constantin Brunner Constantin Brunner (1862–1937) was the pen-name of the German Jewish philosopher Arjeh Yehuda Wertheimer (called Leo). He was born in Altona (near Hamburg) on 27 August 1862. He came from a prominent Jewish family that had lived in the vicinity ...

. Her brother

Walter Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

was a distinguished physician and bacteriologist, and her younger sister Stella was a noted psychologist and psychotherapist.

Education

Myers went to

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by Edward VI of England, King Edward VI in 1552, it ...

, and

Edgbaston High School Edgbaston High School for Girls is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for girls aged to 18 in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England. History In 1846, Elizabeth Brady founded a school in Edgbaston for the daughters o ...

, and then in 1893 to

Girton College Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...

, Cambridge where she read Mediaeval and Modern Languages, matriculating in 1896 and receiving an MA in 1928.

Career

After graduating from university in 1898 she studied singing in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and until her marriage in 1906 she gave recitals and also acted, including at the New Court Theatre (now known as the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

), London. She performed classical concerts around the UK during the early 20th century and was described as "possessed of a beautiful soprano voice". On 26 October 1906 she married British diplomat William Algernon Churchill,Levantine Heritage
/ref> and accompanied him on his postings as British Consul in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in 1906,The London Gazette – 1 May 1906
/ref>

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in 1913,The London Gazette – 1 July 1913
/ref>

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in 1919,The London Gazette – 16 June 1919
/ref>

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

in 1928 and finally

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

in 1934.Letter to The Times 3 September 1934 She had four children:

(1907–1943),

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

(1909–1972), Flora (1911–1929), and Oliver (1914–1997). Her three sons served in the British Armed Forces during World War II –

becoming an

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

while

and Oliver each served in the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

– and all three were highly decorated, each being awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

and also a second high level medal of gallantry. After her husband's retirement in about 1935 they lived in

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

, Worcestershire, where from 1937 she was Secretary o
Malvern Branch of the National Council of Women
and from 1939 Secretary of the Refugee Committee until her death on 15 September 1943, aged 68. Her sister Stella married her husband's brother Sidney, who was also a British diplomat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, Violet 1875 births 1943 deaths Singers from Birmingham, West Midlands British Jews British people of Polish-Jewish descent Jewish British musicians