Famous Biography

As a researcher one has to delve into a lot of things. I don’t remember why I looked at the ‘Story of O’ but it has no relevance in the present context.  Q was employed in 1843 by the ‘Morning Post’ in London as their theatre and arts  critic. His real name was Charles G. Rosenberg and he is described in the  North American Review of 1889 as having written ‘a series of brilliant articles on the Theatre and on the Academy (of Arts)’ . He also wrote the book ‘You Have Heard of Them’ which included chapters on Catherine Hayes and Lola Montez.

He actually met Catherine in Paris in September 1843  and not the 1845 or ’46  that he states in the published version of the book which is in the British Library and the Library of Congress. I have copies of the chapter from both libraries and my own copy from a dealer in the USA.  They are all the same but not  the original version!   That was withdrawn at the last minute following objections from Mary Hayes who was in America in 1853 when the proof was produced.  You see, Q was a good critic who liked to get his facts right and he knew Catherine’s real age.  He stated it on page 128  (which is now 129).  You can read the chapter on my site www.suirvista.com/Q  It won’t give you a clue as to what age Catherine was when Q met her.  However, they couldn’t withdraw all the proof copies and  a reviewer had already quoted the paragraph on p.128 with Catherine’s age on it. It agrees with other evidence I found so I believe it to be correct.

Something else you will notice is the spelling of her name  on pages 129 and 130 which is ‘Catherine’ . On the rest of the pages,  it’s the original wrong version ‘Catharine’ and that is also the spelling on the Contents page which has the Chapter commencing on p.128  too. There is another thing about pages 129-130 i.e. they are cut differently from the rest of the chapter. So Mary Hayes didn’t want the world to know when Catherine was really born and she had good reason for that.

Another thing that Q does for research is confirm that Catherine had her own house in Paris and this was something she did anywhere she intended to stay for a lengthy period. She had a house in San Francisco and in Grass Valley too. It was the best solution for privacy and entertaining. At other times, for short stays, they used hotels or enjoyed the hospitality of friends or patrons. 

Rosenberg also noted that Catherine defied Garcia by singing an Irish ballad for which she had to play the music herself because he refused to do so. It showed she was not cowed by authority and went her own way as many a diva does.  He forbade his students to give concerts in public and here again she disobeyed him but that’s another important story.

Remember you read these facts here first. Nobody else has ever before found out much about Catherine’s real life in Paris or anywhere else. In another article, I’ll list some of her friends and describe Paris in the 1840’s.

As far as Catherine Hayes goes, nobody knows more than I do so read the best, forget the rest.

Here is a little humourous article inspired by a question on a forum and ‘Up Pompeii’. Actually it is also meant to highlight the exceptional and non-commercial returns policy in the industry and the plight of writers who often receive least for their creative effort.

Sinister,dexter,sinister,dexter.  A funny thing happened on my way to the forum this morning. I met Youngus Foolius, the scribe. He was pushing a cart piled high with odes to the Gods. “Wherefore art thou bound, Youngus”  said I. “ To deliver these odes to my friends and the booksellers who have all promised to buy them”  said he. I wished him good luck.

In the forum, we had a lengthy debate on whether the Vestal Virgins gave good value for money. I knew one who certainly did and I daresay one or two other Senators and especially Caesar himself could give an informed opinion.  Prudently, we kept our intimate secrets to ourselves and the Virgins kept their positions.

Wending my weary way home, Youngus Foolius nearly ran me over with his now empty cart.  “Hail Youngus, you seem to have had a good day” said I.  “Yes and no” Senator said he.  I wondered how he’d learned to talk like a Senator and bid him explain.  “Well, Sir I sold all my odes bar two that I donated to the Temple of Hymen but no one has paid me yet. They say I must wait until the Christians eat the lions in the Circus Maximus.  The worst thing is that the Tax Collector saw me and he wants Caesar’s share tomorrow and I only have five cistercii”

“Don’t fret, Youngus,  odes are books and, according to the Senate law of  Junius 30, they can be returned for full credit within six months. Therefore, you may make a loss and owe no tax at all. That being so, you can defer payment now and pay more with interest later if you manage to make a profit.”    “Thank you, Senator, said he. I’ll write an ode to you”  I consider charging him five cistercii for my advice but my kinder nature prevailed and I bid him farewell.

Sinister, dexter, sinister…

The mystery surrounding the red-haired version of the Lola Montez painting in the Gallery of Beauties at Nymphenburg intensifies. Here at Famous Biography, only the truth is good enough and so we’re trying to track down the origin of the red haired Lola. It appears on Wikimedia Commons and is being offered for sale by a US based art reproduction website.

Is the red haired version truly the one which Ludwig rejected or is it just a fake? We need readers help in tracking down the truth on this. Please get in touch if you can find any references to Lola’s hair colour in a book or a picture of her with red hair (other than those mentioned above).

When I found a Memoir of Catherine Hayes published by her agents, Messrs. Cramer & Beale of London, I thought now I can get the facts and eliminate all the silly stuff printed elsewhere. It turned out that all the other wrong short biographies of Miss Hayes had been largely based on this Cramer & Beale one. I won’t go into all it’s shortcomings here but let’s consider one major issue i.e. her education and early childhood in Limerick.

The traditional and, I have to say, accepted view to date is that she was a poor widow’s or deserted wife’s daughter with a natural talent for singing and that she was discovered by Bishop Knox as he was boating on the river Shannon. She was overheard as she sung in a bower in the Earl’s garden where she was helping her aunt who was a domestic servant there. They remarked on her fine trill.

No dount about her talent but the rest is humbug. Miss Hayes was never a servant, neither was her mother and Mrs. Daly was only an honorary aunt. The truth is that Catherine was brought up as an aristocrat’s daughter as was her sister Henrietta. They went to a young ladies academy where they learned Music, French, Italian, English and Elocution. Their mother was a rich man’s mistress whose husband had mysteriously disappeared and was never seen again.

The question now is: How do you, as a researcher, decide that all is not well with the generally accepted view of events? When you study life in Limerick in the 1820’s it should soon become apparent that there was great poverty, no schools for the poor, deserted wives could barely live never mind pay for an education. If they had the money, their children would be refused admission because only a gentleman’s daughters would qualify. By now, you should be seriously querying the published accounts of your subject’s early life and looking for alternative answers.

We have those alternative and correct answers provided for us by a close friend of the family. He details the education enjoyed by Catherine and Henrietta at a private academy and even describes their Italian and French teachers. There is later evidence in the form of letters and the employment of Henrietta that she knew French very well.

The moral here is that if the supposed facts don’t fit, you must look for alternatives which will. As a mistress, Mary Hayes didn’t work and was provided with everything she wanted. It’s doubtful if she lived in Patrick St. at all because her lover had many properties in the country which offered better privacy for his visits which had to be kept discreet.

Although she died almost 150 years ago, the legend of Lola Montez lives on in Munich where she became King Ludwig’s mistress and he made her the Countess de Landsfeldt. There is a cabaret act in Munich featuring Lola which is described on this German website which includes a topless photo of the dancer.

After her affair with the King ended , Lola went to London where she was married twice on the same day. Presumably, she was still pretending to be a Catholic so that Ludwig would continue her generous allowance. They married first at the French Chapel and went to St. George’s in the afternoon. Lola was already legally married and was charged with bigamy soon afterwards.

I also found that there is a new book “Sex with Kings” by Eleanor Herman which includes Lola Montez as one of the lovers. You can order that for light reading. There is also a German edition “Seks met de Koning”.

Lola Montez didn’t worry about seducing other women’s  husbands. This 1815 cartoon by Rowlandson reminded me of the incident in Australia when she was injured by an irate wife.

“Neighbourly Refreshment”

The Famous Biography blog is about the lives of two internationally famous women, Catherine Hayes  and Lola Montez. They both travelled the world and earned fame and fortune. Lola Montez became a courtesan and erotic dancer as a result of circumstances and her extrovert character. and

Catherine or Kate as she was popularly known in America and Australia was a lyrics lover and had many written specially for her. One in particular is extremely important in the context of her true life and that will be discussed in the new biography ‘Virtue and Vice’.

Catherine Hayes began her singing career in 1839 when she went to Dublin to study under Antonio Sapio. After three years, she returned to Limerick and persuaded the Bishop to underwrite her new dream of becoming an opera star despite the Church’s opposition to stage careers for women. She left Dublin for Paris in October 1842 to study under Manuel Garcia.

Rosenberg tells us in some detail of the evening he spent with Catherine and Mary Hayes at the home of Bowes and his wife ‘just off the Champs Elysee going towards the Arc de Triomphe’. Garcia was also there. After dinner, Rosenberg and Garcia accompanied the ladies home. They left them ‘at their door’ and proceeded past the Madeleine and along to Boulevard des Italiens. His original description of that meeting is important as it proves that Catherine had set up a household if her own in Paris and didn’t live with the Osborne family as others claim.

We don’t know much about Catherine’s life in Paris between October 1842 and April 1844 when she left for Milan. Garcia didn’t allow his pupils to sing in public but we now know that she did so on at least two occasions. Bishop Knox must have continued to support them as usual and was probably a regular visitor to their home. We know that he favoured life on the Continent and in France in particular and that he left Ireland in 1842 never to return to his See. He had a very high income from his Bishopric and his lands and could well afford to live where he choose.

In 1844, Lola Montez arrived and stayed at 24 Rue de la Victoire quite close to where Miss Hayes lived. At that time, Lola was Liszt’s mistress and he’d sent her on ahead to await him in Paris. She said she was there to improve her dancing and actually appeared at the famous Paris Opera dancing in “Le Bal de Don Juan” . Her numbers were entitled ‘Lolita’ and ‘Los Boleros de Cadiz’. She was only allowed to give a couple of performance because there were protests from some who said she was below the standard they expected at the Opera.

Life in Paris was anything but dull for the artistic set. Lola got her share of publicity by her usual outrageous behaviour but Kate kept a low profile. Her mother’s presence will have helped her to remain discreet. In 1844, Garcia and Kate appear to annoy each other more than usual and she decides to complete her studies in Milan. She was a difficult pupil at times. Witness the incident at Bowes’ house when she insisted on singing an Irish ballad much to Garcia’s disgust. No doubt there were other occasions when she kicked over the traces apart from the concerts mentioned above.

Note: Catherine Hayes made a fortune only to lose most of it on her death bed to criminals who forged her will. Click here for an article on her Will Forgery.