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Reminder:

All sessions (both in-school and on-site) offered by the Education team are free of charge.

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Presentation on the life of Lillie Langtry

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In late 1942 Louisa Gould and her sister Ivy Forster began sheltering a Russian slave worker named Fyodor ‘Bill’ Burriy, who had escaped from his labour camp.

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As in many walks of life, women artists have been undervalued or underrepresented in Jersey. Let’s celebrate some of the beautiful and thought-provoking art by women inspired by Jersey’s landscape, history and people.

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She was a writer who specialised in romatic (and risque!) stories.

She popularized the concept of the it-girl, and had tremendous influence on early 20th-century popular culture and, possibly, on the careers of notable Hollywood stars such as Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson and, especially, Clara Bow

She has a plaque celebrating her life at No.1 St Saviours Road.

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Every age has its own idea of beauty and in Lillie Langtry we have the epitome of a late 19th century "pinup".

She was a successful actress, toured America and became friends with Royalty.

A memorial statue to her can be found in St Saviour's graveyard.

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Lillie was born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton in 1853, her father William Corbet Le Breton, was the Dean of Jersey and Rector of St Saviour and she grew up at the Parish Rectory.

She was known as Lillie after her own childish attempts to pronounce Emilie and was the only girl in a family of six boys. 'Living the life of my brothers transformed me into an incorrigible tomboy. I could climb trees and vault fences with the best of them, and I entered with infinite relish into their practical jokes'. She received the same education as her brothers and had lessons for Latin, Mathematics, Greek, German, French, Music and Drawing.

In March 1874 Lillie married Edward Langtry, a wealthy widower and the heir to a Belfast shipbuilding family. By the end of that year, they had moved to London where her beauty soon became the talk of society.

Lillie became the first acknowledged mistress of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, yet she remained friendly with his wife, Princess Alexandra. The Prince had other mistresses but his friendship with Lillie remained strong until his death in 1910.

Lillie also had a relationship with Prince Louis of Battenberg, by whom she had a daughter, Jeanne. Financial difficulties led to Lillie taking to the stage in the 1880s. While she was not a great actress, she was a crowd puller, because of her beauty and her notoriety.

After divorcing Edward Langtry, she married Hugo de Bathe, nineteen years her junior, at St Saviour's Church in 1899. In 1907 she became Lady de Bathe on the death of her father-in-law. She died in February 1929 at her home in Monte Carlo and her body was brought back to Jersey to be buried in St Saviour's Churchyard.
Lillie and the Theatre
Once Lillie had finished her engagements, she embarked on a tour of the provinces during 1882, with her own company and four plays; She Stoops to Conquer , , and As You Like It . Lillie was acclaimed in all cities.

Following this success, Henry E Abbey planned a tour of the United States, and he paid Lillie a higher percentage of the tour receipts than any other actress at the time. Despite her initial reservations, Lillie grew to love America and her company toured every year between 1882 and 1887. Indeed, Lillie boasted 'I can hardly put my finger on any town sufficiently important to be marked on the map in which I have not played more than once'.

Lillie struck up a friendship with the very wealthy Freddie Gerhard and during 1886 they embarked on a three-month tour of Europe, where the company was received by most of the crowned heads of Europe. Whilst touring America, Lillie had a personal railway carriage built for her and paid for by Freddie. Lillie also invested in land, buying a ranch in California, and bought a well-stocked racing-stable. Lillie's time in America was financially very successful which enabled her to divorce Edward Langtry in 1884 and become a naturalised American Citizen three years later.

In 1891, Lillie leased the St James Theatre where her performance of Rosalind in As You Like It was sold out for four months and then she leased the Princes Theatre where she produced and starred in Anthony and Cleopatra . Despite her long absence from the London stage, her performance as Cleopatra drew great reviews, The Telegraph called her the 'finest Cleopatra of our time' and the first night audience made her take fourteen curtain calls. Lillie finally accepted an invitation to take to the stage in Jersey in 1891 and played Rosalind to rapturous reception.

In 1901, Lillie bought the Imperial Theatre in London. She spent nearly £50,000 refurbishing it but was forced to sell it at a loss soon after.

In 1905 Lillie embarked on a six-month tour of South Africa and although she did not particularly enjoy it, it was a financial success. Times and tastes were changing, and Lillie changed with them, in 1906, she made her first appearance in vaudeville.

It was about this time that Lillie is credited with starting a theatrical tradition - the red carpet - for whilst appearing in a play, she asked the manager of the theatre to lay a carpet from her dressing room to the stage in order to keep the hems of her dresses from getting dirty. The carpet happened to be red and it is said that Lillie's request started the tradition of laying out the red carpet.
Lillie's Friendship with Royalty
Lillie became the mistress of the Prince of Wales soon after she was introduced to him by Sir Allen Young and from then on, the Langtry social diary closely followed that of the Prince of Wales.

They enjoyed each other's company and were often seen taking dawn rides in Hyde Park. The Prince had a house built in Bournemouth, called 'The Red House', where they could be together. He even arranged for Lillie to be presented at Court to his mother, Queen Victoria.

Their relationship continued until 1879, when the affair became public when a magazine claimed that Edward Langtry had named Bertie as co-respondent in a divorce case. Despite printing a retraction, the magazine's editor was sued for libel, found guilty and sentenced to 18 months in prison. However, the damage had been done and the relationship between Lillie and the Prince was ended, but they remained friends and continued to keep in touch even after he became king.

Lillie enjoyed another royal liaison - this time with Prince Louis of Battenburg whom she knew through the Prince of Wales. The relationship did not last long but Lillie became pregnant. Unable to stay in London or Jersey for fear of discovery Lillie went to Paris, where her daughter Jeanne-Marie was born in secret.

The baby was returned to Jersey with her grandmother and was brought up believing that Lillie was her aunt. It was only in her teens that Jeanne-Marie was told the truth and even then, the identity of her father remained secret until just a few days before her marriage to Sir Ian Malcolm. On discovering her true parentage, Jeanne-Marie estranged herself from her mother and from then on, treated her like a stranger.
Lillie and her Influence
Lillie's beauty and charisma inspired painters like Millais, Poynter and Miles and poets like Rudyard Kipling and Oscar Wilde. For a while Lillie seemed everywhere - women wore the 'Langtry knot' and the 'Langtry shoe' mimicking Lillie's style of dress. Special dances such as the "Langtry Waltz" were written for her and became a favourite of London Society. She also became an advertising magnet and became the face of Pear's Soap and the voice of Dr Marmaduke Purcell's Voice Lozenge.

Lillie Langtry's influence was widespread and was at its height when she became an actress. Tiffany & Co. fashioned a belt buckle in honour of her 1901 tour of the United States and buttons from her dresses became highly valuable objects.

Lillie so fascinated Judge Roy Bean that he named his saloon in South Texas the Jersey Lily. Bean also claimed that he named his town of Langtry in honour of Lillie, although some say that the town was actually named after a railway engineer called Langtry and the name was just a coincidence.

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Lillie was born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton in 1853, her father William Corbet Le Breton, was the Dean of Jersey and Rector of St Saviour and she grew up at the Parish Rectory. She was known as Lillie after her own childish attempts to pronounce Emilie and was the only girl in a family of six boys.

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Marcel Moore was a surrealist artist alongside her partner Claude Cahun. Both of them took part in resistance during the Occupation.

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Louisa Gould, who ran a food shop in St. Ouen, was part of the resistance during the German occupation.

Together with her brother and sister, she hid away Russian slave workers who had escaped brutal work camps. Most famously, Louisa hid a Russian soldier, Feodor Buryi, known as “Russian Bill”, who became a part of the community. She reportedly said: “I had to do something for another mother’s son”.

Louisa also hid a radio in her bedroom and was known to pass on information from broadcasts to visitors to her shop.

Louisa’s home was searched by German forces and she was killed in a gas chamber at Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1945.

Her life was the inspiration for the 2017 film Another Mother's Son.

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The Story of Louisa Gould & Feodor Buryi on the WW2 Occupied Island of Jersey.

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Visit for Jersey Women - on site at the Archive 

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Visit for Jersey Women - on site at the Archive 

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To look at real documents and hear more about Jersey's Suffrage your class can visit Jersey Archive.

For more information or to book a visit, please email:

education@jerseyheritage.org

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Florence Boot, one of the founders of Boots, was born in St Helier in 1863. She grew up helping her father sell books and stationery.

Florence met Jesse Boot when he was holidaying in Jersey. While Jesse had already founded Boots as a pharmacy when they married, Florence expanded the business to include toiletries, stationery, books and gifts - using her experience in Jersey. She introduced library counters where users paid 2d to borrow books.

Florence was passionate about the wellbeing of her employees, many of whom were women, starting social clubs and feeding them a hearty breakfast before they started their workday.

Florence was an important philanthropist who was passionate about the island, donating land for exercise and wellbeing - and many of these sites still exist today, such as Beauport Bay, Coronation Park, and the adjoining Millbrook Playing Field.

Millbrook in turn became the site of a Covid-19 field hospital in 2020.

A plaque honours Florence at her birthplace at 101 Halkett Place.

For more information:

The Lady and the Bay: The Florence Boot Story (substack.com)

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Florence Boot, one of the founders of Boots and one of Jersey's greatest businesswomen and philanthropists has been honoured in Jersey as a permanent plaque is installed in her honour.

Florence Rowe was born in Jersey in 1863 at 5 Grove Place, now 101 Halkett Place. Until she married, she worked in her father's bookshop and stationers in St Helier, and it was there that she developed her business acumen.

She married Jesse becoming both his wife and business partner, bring a a flair for fashion and design to the business and together they made a formidable team, accelerating and developing Boots into the national business that we know today.

Florence and Jesse never forgot their working class backgrounds and throughout their lives worked to improve the wellbeing of their employees and their families across the UK. A particular passion for Florence was her birthplace, Jersey, and she made a great impression on the island donation great spaces of land to improve health and wellness and for the enjoyment of people living on the island - many of which are still there today including Beauport Bay, the renovation of St Matthew's Church and Coronation Park.

Awarded for her philanthropy on the island, the commemorative plaque is displayed at Florence's birthplace, and was unveiled at a special event by members of the Boot family including Florence Boot's great granddaughter, along with members from Jersey Heritage, Boots UK and the Parish of St Helier.

Boots UK continues to occupy two stores on the island, one being where Florence's father's bookshop was based in St Helier and it continues to serve the island for all of their health and beauty needs.

Check out our heritage timeline for more information on Florence, Jesse the history of the Boots brand.

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Florence Boot Has Been Honoured in Her Birthplace

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Florence Boot, one of the founders of Boots and one of Jersey's greatest businesswomen and philanthropists has been honoured in Jersey as a permanent plaque is installed in her honour. Florence Rowe was born in Jersey in 1863 at 5 Grove Place, now 101 Halkett Place.

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Wednesday 08 March 2023

In honour of International Women's Day 2023, Express touches on some of the stories of the island's most groundbreaking women...

From artists and Jurats, to doctors and philanthropists... take a look back at some of the women who have provided the groundwork for many more women to lead the way in the island today...

Caroline Trachy broke the mould by being the first Jersey woman to stand for election. Caroline was barred several times from standing due to her being a woman, but through her persistence she eventually got the law changed.

She also founded the ladies' branch of the Jersey Political Association in October 1918 and, as its first President, wrote an open letter which spoke of women's role in WW1: "The women in this war have given their dearest and best, who have been taken with or without their consent, and as husbands, sons and brothers, in the sight of God, (if not of man) belong to their womenfolk, then those women in the future have every right to have a voice in the disposal of their dear ones."

The draft law enabling women over 30 to vote was brought to the States on 10 April 1919 and was debated over several days before being passed on 22 May and came into force that June.

Although Caroline was never elected to the States, she laid the path for Jersey's first female politician, Ivy Forster, who was elected as Deputy for St. Helier in 1948, 20 years after the campaign to allow women candidates to stand.

This came just years after she was arrested for sheltering a Russian prisoner-of-war in her attic during the Occupation of the island.

Deputy Forster went onto become the first woman to top the poll when she was re-elected in 1951, but eventually lost her seat in 1954.

Gwyneth Huelin was originally a Deputy for St. Brelade and then St. Saviour, before becoming Jersey's first female Senator in 1966.

She is perhaps best remembered for her work as President of the Public Health Committee, a position she held for 18 years.

Under her leadership, the General Hospital underwent a £15m modernisation project, which was completed shortly before she retired from the States. The 'Gwyneth Huelin Wing' was named in her honour.

She also oversaw the transformation of St. Saviour facilities, having noticed that they were inadequate, over-crowded and offered no privacy to patients.

She was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours in 1966 and in 1981 she was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Jersey's first female Constable was remembered as a forthright and community-conscious "trail-blazer", who left a lasting impact on the island's education system, after she passed away aged 93 last year.

Mrs Le Feuvre was the island's first female Constable and served the island for 19 years, first as a Deputy for St Lawrence from December 1978 and then as Connétable of the same parish from June 1984 until her retirement in February 2000.

During that time she was an active member of the Assembly and served on a variety of Committees, but is best remembered as Education President and it was during her tenure that the new Haute Vallée School was built to replace d'Hautrée.

Dr Barbara Myles was not only a respected Jurat, but a highly-regarded doctor, and a dedicated and enthusiastic charity worker.

Described as a formidable lady, an achiever who "got things done" in both her personal and professional life, her contribution to island life was rewarded when she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2001.

In 1970, she was appointed as one of the 12 lay members of the Juvenile Court and held this post for the next ten years.

She was then invited to become a Jurat and decided to do so, mainly because of the lack of female Jurats. It was on her third attempt, in August 1980, that she became the first female Jurat in the Channel Islands. Jurat Myles also served on the probation panel and was a member, and later chairwoman, of the Prison Board of Visitors, both of which were honorary positions.

In March 1997, she was appointed as Jersey's first female Lieutenant-Bailiff, the swearing-in ceremony being an opportunity for thanks to be expressed for her 16 years' service as a Jurat, during which time it was said that her pragmatism and sensitivity in her judicial duties and her medical knowledge and experience had not only been of great value to the court but had won her the respect of all.

In 2002, she was appointed as relief coroner and despite a stroke in 2009, which left her disabled, continued in this role until 2011.

The stroke may have slowed her down, but she carried on doing everything she possibly could for as long as she could, only retiring from work in her early 80s.

French photographer Claude Cahun (born Lucie Renée Schwob) is best known for her highly-staged self-portraits in which she assumed a variety of androgynous performative characters, subverting gender norms through the visual aesthetics of Surrealism.

Her artistic work permeated many other mediums and much of it was delivered in collaboration with her partner, Marcel Moore (born Suzanne Malherbe).
Pictured: Claude Cahun (Lucie Renée Schwob) and Marcel Moore (Suzanne Malherbe) are buried in St. Brelade's Church's cemetery.
Originally from France, the pair relocated to Jersey in 1937 and become active resistance workers and propagandists during the German occupation.

However, their acts of rebellion eventually led to imprisonment for the pair and they were threatened with a death sentence.

Although this was never carried out, their their incarceration caused Cahun ill health until her death in 1954.

Louisa Gould, who ran a food shop in St. Ouen, was part of the resistance during the German occupation.

Together with her brother and sister, she hid away Russian slave workers who had escaped brutal work camps. Most famously, Louisa hid a Russian soldier, Feodor Buryi, known as "Russian Bill", who became a p[art of the community. She reportedly said: "I had to do something for another mother's son".

Louisa also hid a radio in her bedroom and was known to pass on information from broadcasts to visitors to her shop.

Louisa's home was searched by German forces and she was killed in a gas chamber at Ravensbrück concentration camp in 1945.

Her life was the inspiration for the 2017 film Another Mother's Son.

Florence Boot, one of the founders of Boots, was born in St Helier in 1863. She grew up helping her father sell books and stationery.

Florence met Jesse Boot when he was holidaying in Jersey. While Jesse had already founded Boots as a pharmacy when they married, Florence expanded the business to include toiletries, stationery, books and gifts - using her experience in Jersey. She introduced library counters where users paid 2d to borrow books.

Florence was passionate about the wellbeing of her employees, many of whom were women, starting social clubs and feeding them a hearty breakfast before they started their workday.

Florence was an important philanthropist who was passionate about the island, donating land for exercise and wellbeing - and many of these sites still exist today, such as Beauport Bay, Coronation Park, and the adjoining Millbrook Playing Field.

Millbrook in turn became the site of a Covid-19 field hospital in 2020.

A plaque honours Florence at her birthplace at 101 Halkett Place.

Lilian Grandin was Jersey's first female doctor. She went to China as a medical missionary,

A devout Methodist, she was born in St Helier at the end of the 19th century. She was educated at Jersey Ladies' College and studied midwifery in London and eye diseases and tropical medicine in London. She sailed to China as a medical missionary, leaving Southampton in 1906.

She travelled by boat to Chaotung, Yunnan Province. She set up a leper clinic and nursed missionary Sam Pollard after he was attacked by a local tribe.

Lilian married the travel writer and journalist Edwin John Dingle but continued working. She returned to Jersey during the First World War and then returned to China. She died of typhus in China in 1924 - it is believed that she died after giving her medicine to another patient who needed it more.

The hospital Lilian established still treats patients today.

Anita Regal was Jersey's first female advocate.

She also founded Whiteley, a networking group for local businesswomen, in 1990, and was a popular and dedicated member of the island's Jewish community.

Having moved to the island in the late 50s, she went on to study at Manchester University, completing her law degree in 1964.

She was then sworn in as an Advocate of the Royal Court in August 1968.

Stephanie Nicolle was the first woman in Jersey to have held a Crown Officer role.

Nicolle was called to the bar in 1976, and then the Jersey Bar in 1978. She then became a Crown Advocate from 1986 to 1994, and was subsequently appointed HM Solicitor General, a role she kept until 2008.

Following this, she became Adjunct Professor of Immovable Property at Jersey's Institute of Law, then retired in 2012.

A Jersey woman made history last year by becoming the first ever woman appointed to the rank of Admiral in the Royal Navy.

Commodore Jude Terry OBE, who has served in the Navy for nearly 25 years, has been promoted to Rear Admiral, becoming the most senior woman ever given the role in the centuries-long history of the Royal Navy.

Commodore Terry (47) joined the Navy in 1997, spending the bulk of her career in Plymouth-based warships, including survey vessel HMS Scott and two spells with helicopter carrier HMS Ocean.

Her career has spanned the globe, with her role taking her to locations as wide ranging as the Gulf and Middle East, Indian Ocean, Far East and the Caribbean.

On 12-month second draft to HMS Ocean when she spent 10 weeks away in the Baltic and Gulf, and she also was responsible for working with the team producing Channel 4 documentary series 'Warship'.

In addition to her work across various staff appointments through the years, Commodore Terry was awarded the OBE in the New Year's Honours list in 2017 for her efforts during three years at the UK military's operational hub, Permanent Joint Headquarters.

In 2022, Jersey saw the appointment of its , Kristina Moore, following an election in which first ever female Chief Minister more female Deputies than male were elected for the first time. Last year also saw the island get its second ever female Greffier, Lisa Hart, following the departure of Dr Mark Egan.

The year before, the island got its first female Government CEO, Suzanne Wylie.

Joining Kristina Moore in her Council of Ministers, meanwhile, is Deputy Elaine Millar, who was herself Jersey's first ever female Viscount.

These are just some of the amazing women to have made a difference in island history - we'd love to hear more stories.

Tag us on social media or email editor@bailiwickexpress.com to share.

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FOCUS: Celebrating Jersey's groundbreaking women

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From artists and Jurats, to doctors and philanthropists... take a look back at some of the women who have provided the groundwork for many more women to lead the way in the island today...

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Women in Jersey were able to vote in elections from 1919 but it took the repeated efforts of one woman to become a politician before the law was changed to enable women to stand for election.

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Mrs Le Feuvre was the island’s first female Constable and served the island for 19 years, first as a Deputy for St Lawrence from December 1978 and then as Connétable of the same parish from June 1984 until her retirement in February 2000.

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Find out about the prominent women in Jersey's political history

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One hundred years after women in Jersey got the Vote, we remember the activists who helped make it happen. Though their campaign was not as militant as that of the Suffragettes in the UK, there’s no doubt that campaigning by Caroline Trachy and the Women’s Jersey Political Union, changed hearts and minds ahead of a crucial States of Jersey debate in 1919….

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The French Surrealists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore lived in St Brelade’s Bay throughout the German Occupation of Jersey 1940-1945. Already famous for their avant garde photographs, we now know that they also undertook acts of resistance towards the end of the War. It’s part of a story that has attracted fans all over the world, including rock-star David Bowie…

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She was the Jersey girl who married Jesse Boot, of Boots the Chemist. Florence Rowe would become Lady Trent and, after she and Jesse settled in Jersey in the 1920s, become one of the Island’s best-known benefactors…

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She carried on her husband's business as a merchant after his death, and particularly imported alcohol. When she died she was worth about £7 million in todays money. She gave her money to create a poor house, which became a general hospital.

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Virtual tour of the exhibition that was at Jersey Museum called 'People, Power, Protest'.