William Charles Kingsbury Wilde (26 September 1852 – 13 March 1899) was an Irish journalist and poet of the
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
and the older brother of
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
.
Background
![Willie-wilde265](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Willie-wilde265.jpg)
Willie was the oldest son born into an
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...
family, at 21 Westland Row,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, to Sir
William Wilde
Sir William Robert Wills Wilde FRCSI (March 1815 – 19 April 1876) was an Irish oto- ophthalmologic surgeon and the author of significant works on medicine, archaeology and folklore, particularly concerning his native Ireland. He was the fat ...
and his wife
Jane Francesca Wilde (née Elgee) (her pseudonym being 'Speranza'). Their second son,
Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
, was born in the same house in 1854. Jane Wilde was a successful writer, being a poet for the revolutionary
Young Irelanders
Young Ireland ( ga, Éire Óg, ) was a political and cultural movement in the 1840s committed to an all-Ireland struggle for independence and democratic reform. Grouped around the Dublin weekly ''The Nation'', it took issue with the compromise ...
in 1848 and a lifelong Irish nationalist.
[Literary Encyclopedia – Oscar Wilde](_blank)
/ref> Sir William was Ireland's leading Oto
Oto, Ōtō, or OTO may refer to:
People
* Oto (name), including a list of people with the name
*The Otoe tribe (also spelled Oto), a Native American people
Places
*Oto, Spain, a village in the Valle de Broto, in Huesca, Aragon
* Otorohanga, a to ...
-Ophthalmologic
Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders.
An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...
(ear and eye) surgeon and was knighted in 1864 for his services to medicine. William also wrote books on archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
and folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
. He was a renowned philanthropist, and his dispensary
A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization that dispenses medications, medical supplies, and in some cases even medical and dental treatment. In a traditional dispensary set-up, a pharmacist dispen ...
for the care of the city's poor, in Lincoln Place at the rear of Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
, was the forerunner of the Dublin Eye and Ear Hospital, now located at Adelaide Road.
In June 1855, the family moved to 1 Merrion Square
Merrion Square () is a Georgian garden square on the southside of Dublin city centre.
History
The square was laid out in 1752 by the estate of Viscount FitzWilliam and was largely complete by the beginning of the 19th century. The demand fo ...
in a fashionable residential area, where Wilde's sister, Isola, was born in 1856. Here, Lady Wilde held a regular Saturday afternoon salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
with guests including Sheridan le Fanu, Samuel Lever, George Petrie, Isaac Butt
Isaac Butt (6 September 1813 – 5 May 1879) was an Irish barrister, editor, politician, Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, economist and the founder and first leader of a number of Irish nationalist parti ...
and Samuel Ferguson
Sir Samuel Ferguson (10 March 1810 – 9 August 1886) was an Irish poet, barrister, antiquarian, artist and public servant. He was an acclaimed 19th-century Irish poet, and his interest in Irish mythology and early Irish history can be seen ...
.
In February 1864, Willie and Oscar were sent to board at the Portora Royal School
Portora Royal School located in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, was one of the public schools founded by the royal charter in 1608, by James I, making it one of the oldest schools in Ireland at the time of its closure. Origina ...
at Enniskillen
Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , 'Cethlenn, Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of ...
in Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
, where Willie became known for his good-humour and friendliness, later being described by a classmate as "clever, erratic and full of vitality". Oscar became known to his school fellows by the nickname 'Grey Crow', which he disliked, while Willie was 'Blue Blood'. Willie was "an accomplished pianist and an artist of little talent' Oscar Wilde later recalled that the headmaster, Dr Steele, had told him that “If I went on studying as I had been during the last year I might yet do as well as my brother Willie, and be an honour to the school and everyone connected with it.”
Willie was already a student at Trinity College, Dublin
, name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin
, motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin)
, motto_lang = la
, motto_English = It will last i ...
when Oscar joined him in 1871, the two sharing rooms during their second and third years there. In 1876 'Willie' published several of his poems in the College magazine ''Kottabos'', which he also edited.
Life
After graduating from Trinity College Willie Wilde studied law and was called to the Irish Bar
The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...
, but he never actually practised law. His father died in 1876, and in early 1879 Willie and Lady Wilde moved to London, where he became a journalist, serving as a drama critic for ''Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pun ...
'' and '' Vanity Fair'', as a leader writer for ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', and as editor of Christmas numbers of several magazines.[Willie Wilde on the Oscar Wilde website]
/ref>
Willie was a regular guest at the Fielding Club, which during its short life opened its doors at eight o'clock in the evening and remained open all night. The club was famous for its grills, its brandy and its Pol Roger
Pol Roger is a producer of champagne. The brand is still owned and run by the descendants of Pol Roger. Located in the town of Épernay in the Champagne region, the house annually produces around 110,000 cases of Champagne.K. Gargett, P. Forr ...
'74, but its tripe and onions on Saturdays were an especial draw. One member listed Willie among those who were "constant guests" on Saturdays, along with 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 ( ...
, Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...
, J. Comyns Carr
Joseph William Comyns Carr (1 March 1849 – 12 December 1916), often referred to as J. Comyns Carr, was an English drama and art critic, gallery director, author, poet, playwright and theatre manager.
Beginning his career as an art critic, Car ...
, Edward Dicey
Edward James Stephen Dicey, CB (15 May 18327 July 1911) was an English writer, journalist, and editor.
Life
He was born on 15 May 1832 at Claybrook, near Lutterworth, Leicestershire.
He was the second son of Thomas Edward Dicey, of an old Lei ...
, Carlo Pellegrini, Frederic Clay
Frederic Emes Clay (3 August 1838 – 24 November 1889) was an English composer known principally for songs and his music written for the stage.
Although from a musical family, for 16 years Clay made his living as a civil servant in HM Treasury ...
and Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
.
Ralph Nevill, the son of Lady Dorothy Nevill, said of Willie Wilde:
"Willie Wilde was a clever journalist who, had he been less careless in his habits, might have achieved considerable success. As it was, a number of the articles which he wrote for the Daily Telegraph were little short of brilliant, while as a talker, few could equal him. He was, however, his own enemy, and could not resist the attractions of the moment or settle down long to regular work – in truth, though not very old in years, he belonged to the now almost extinct school of journalists which, taking ‘sufficient is the day for the evil there of’ as their motto, never gave a thought to the future (or anything else) if they happened to have a few pounds in their pockets."
By the time of Oscar's marriage, in 1884, Willie was seriously in debt and drinking heavily. On 4 October 1891, aged 39, Willie married a wealthy widow, Mrs Frank Leslie
Frank Leslie (March 29, 1821 – January 10, 1880) was an English-born American engraving, engraver, illustrator, and publisher of family periodicals.
Biography
English origins
Leslie was born on March 29, 1821, in Ipswich, England as Henry C ...
(1836–1914), the owner of the Frank Leslie
Frank Leslie (March 29, 1821 – January 10, 1880) was an English-born American engraving, engraver, illustrator, and publisher of family periodicals.
Biography
English origins
Leslie was born on March 29, 1821, in Ipswich, England as Henry C ...
Publishing Company in New York. She was initially attracted by Willie's humour and wit. He proceeded to spend much of his time in New York drinking at the fashionable Lotos Club
The Lotos Club was founded in 1870 as a gentlemen's club in New York City; it has since also admitted women as members. Its founders were primarily a young group of writers and critics. Mark Twain, an early member, called it the "Ace of Clubs". ...
, gossiping about London Society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
and reciting parodies of his brother's poems, which perhaps suggests that he was jealous of Oscar's success. His marriage was short-lived, Mrs Leslie starting divorce proceedings within a year on the grounds of Willie's drunkenness and adultery. They were finally divorced on 10 June 1893. In recorded fact, Oscar Wilde’s lecture tour was underwritten and suggested by Mr. Liberty of Liberty’s of London and Mr. D’Oyly Carte to promote the latest successful Gilbert and Sullivan Musical “Patience” of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company.
On his return to London, early in 1892, Willie found that Oscar was the toast of the town for his successful play ''Lady Windermere's Fan
''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London.
The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband i ...
''. It is believed that Willie wrote the ambivalent review of the play that was published unsigned in '' Vanity Fair'' on 27 February 1892 (he had previously been a drama critic for the magazine). The reviewer, whoever he really was, wrote that "The play was 'brilliantly unoriginal,' but the dialogue was 'uniformly bright, graceful and flowing.' He concluded that it was 'an undeniably clever piece of work; and even though it has its weaknesses, it reflects credit on its author. ... It is emphatically a play to see.'" Oscar, believing that he recognised his brother's hand behind the anonymous review, was by then writing ''A Woman of No Importance
''A Woman of No Importance'' by Oscar Wilde is "a new and original play of modern life", in four acts, first given on 19 April 1893 at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Like Wilde's other society plays, it satirises English upper-class society. It ...
'', in which one character says: "After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations."
By now Willie Wilde was in serious financial difficulties and Oscar began giving him money, but bad feeling between the brothers heightened when Oscar discovered that Willie was pestering their mother for money even though she was far from well-off. Oscar once said of Willie, "He sponges on everyone but himself." Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturday ...
saw the brothers as mirror images and portrayed them as such in his caricature
A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...
s of them. In a letter to the painter William Rothenstein
Sir William Rothenstein (29 January 1872 – 14 February 1945) was an English painter, printmaker, draughtsman, lecturer, and writer on art. Emerging during the early 1890s, Rothenstein continued to make art right up until his death. Though he c ...
Beerbohm wrote, "... did I tell you that I saw a good deal of scar'sbrother Willie at Broadstairs
Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of ...
? ''Quel monstre!'' Dark, oily, suspect yet awfully like Oscar: he has Oscar's coy, carnal smile & fatuous giggle, & not a little of Oscar's ''esprit''. But he is awful – a veritable tragedy of family-likeness".
Beerbohm later wrote:
"My sister Constance
Constance may refer to:
Places
*Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English
*Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada
* Constance, Kentucky
* Constance, Minnesota
* Constance (Portugal)
* Mount Constance, Washington State
People
* Consta ...
came home one day and summoned my mother and me; she was quivering to tell us what had happened. She knew in advance it was the sort of thing my mother would adore. Well, Constance had been walking along the street and met Willie Wilde – Oscar's brother. In one hand, he was carrying a huge leg of mutton by the narrow part; with his free hand he swept off his hat and bent over double in a grand, ceremonial bow. There was something so grotesquely funny in the way he did it, conveying both the mutton and the bow. We decided it was a first class thing."
In January 1894 Willie married Sophie Lily Lees (1859–1922), with whom he had been living. She has been described as "an emotional woman with a tendency to early panic ... she believed (incorrectly) that she was pregnant" She tried to induce an abortion by taking a powder. The marriage caused further distress to Lady Wilde
Jane Francesca Agnes, Lady Wilde (née Elgee; 27 December 1821 – 3 February 1896) was an Irish poet under the pen name Speranza and supporter of the nationalist movement. Lady Wilde had a special interest in Irish folktales, which she he ...
when the couple moved in with her. She wrote to Oscar on 4 February 1894, telling him of the marriage: "Miss Lees has but £50 a year and this just dresses her. She can give nothing to the house and Willie is always in a state of utter poverty. So all is left upon me." Willie and Lily had their only child, Dorothy 'Dolly' Ierne Wilde, in July 1895.[Karl Beckson, "The Importance of Being Angry: The Mutual Antagonism of Oscar and Willie Wilde" in ''Blood Brothers: Siblings as Writers'', ed. Norman Kiell, New York: International University Press, 1983.]
Lady Wilde wrote Oscar a lengthy letter seeking reconciliation between him and Willie, who, she said, was "sickly and extravagant". She added that she was "miserable at the present position of ertwo sons" and "at the general belief that you hate your brother". She then asked Oscar to hold out his hand to Willie, a request she repeated several times in the letter: "Come then & offer him yr. hand in good faith – & begin a new course of action."[
]
Later years
Following Oscar's arrest and first trial in April 1895, Willie claimed that he gave his brother shelter when he was unable to find rooms in London. Willie said that Oscar "fell down on my threshold like a wounded stag". Standing by his brother, Willie wrote to Bram Stoker
Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...
, "Bram, my friend, poor Oscar was not as bad as people thought him. He was led astray by his Vanity – & conceit, & he was so 'got at' that he was weak enough to be guilty – of indiscretions and follies – that is all.... I believe this thing will help to purify him body & soul." Willie did not meet Oscar after he was released from prison in 1897.
On 13 March 1899 Willie died, aged 46, at 9 Cheltenham Terrace in Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
from complications related to his alcoholism.[Barbaras Belford, ''Oscar Wilde: A Certain Genius'', New York: Random House 2000.] After Robert Ross wrote to Oscar in France informing him of Willie's death, Oscar replied: "I suppose it had been expected for some time. ... Between him and me there had been, as you know, wide chasms for many years. ''Requiescat in Pace''."[
Willie's widow remarried in 1900. Her second husband, who became Dolly's stepfather, was the Dutch-born translator ]Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
Alexander Louis Teixeira de Mattos (April 9, 1865 – December 5, 1921), known as Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, was a Dutch-English journalist, literary critic and publisher, who gained his greatest fame as a translator.
Early life
The Teix ...
.
References
External links
Biography of Willie Wilde
Willie Wilde in the Oscar Wilde Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilde, Willie
1899 deaths
Alcohol-related deaths in England
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
19th-century Anglo-Irish people
Irish journalists
Irish male poets
Irish Protestants
People educated at Portora Royal School
Oscar Wilde
People from County Dublin
Victorian poets
1852 births
19th-century journalists
Male journalists
19th-century Irish poets
19th-century male writers