Rosie Boote (1878 – 17 August 1958) was an Irish

Gaiety Girl Gaiety Girls were the chorus girls in Edwardian musical comedies, beginning in the 1890s at the Gaiety Theatre, London, in the shows produced by George Edwardes. The popularity of this genre of musical theatre depended, in part, on the beautifu ...

who became the Marchioness of Headfort when she married in 1901.

Early life

Rose Boote was born in Ireland, or possibly to Irish parents in England; reports vary on this point. She was said to have attended a convent school at

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

."Marchioness of Headfort Dead; Had Been Gaiety Girl in London"
''New York Times'' (August 19, 1958): 27. Miss Rosie Boote

Career and marriage

Irish theatre manager

George Edwardes George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond. Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...

moved chorus girl Rosie Boote to London in 1896, to appear ''The Runaway Girl''. She was especially popular in ''The Messenger Boy.'' Rosie Boote married

Geoffrey Taylour, 4th Marquess of Headfort Geoffrey Thomas Taylour, 4th Marquess of Headfort DL, JP, FZS (12 June 1878 – 29 January 1943), styled Lord Geoffrey Taylour until 1893 and Earl of Bective between 1893 and 1894, was a British politician and Army officer. Career Styled Lor ...

in 1901, against his family's wishes and causing an international sensation. "Tremendous efforts were made to prevent the marriage by all Lord Headfort's relatives and friends," noted a 1903 summary of the event; even the King attempted to discourage the match. Lord Headfort resigned his military commission to marry Miss Boote, and converted to Roman Catholicism soon after they wed. Theirs was one of the first weddings in a trend of Gaiety Girls marrying titled husbands, and Rosie Boote's acceptance into society set a template for how the rest could be received.

Later life

Lady Headfort had two sons and a daughter, and lived primarily at the family house in

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

. She attended three kings' coronations at

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

.Michael Parsons
"The Irish Couple Who Scandalised London Society"
''Irish Times'' (January 14, 2012). She was widowed in 1943 and died in 1958, aged 80 years, in London."Gaiety Girl, First to Wed a Peer, Dies"
''Chicago Daily Tribune'' (August 19, 1958): A8. Portraits of the Marquess and Marchioness by artist Sir

William Orpen Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who worked mainly in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portraits for the well-to-do in ...

were auctioned by

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

in London in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boote, Rosie 1878 births 1958 deaths Headfort

Early life

Career and marriage

Later life

See also

References