Famous Biography

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…

Catherine Hayes the opera singer is sometimes confused with the woman of the same name who was convicted of petty treason for the murder of her husband. She was sentenced to be burnt at the stake while one of her lovers who did the actual killing was hanged.

Thackeray got the two women confused and had to write an apology to Miss Hayes . In ‘Virtue and Vice’ there will be no such misunderstanding and neither will you read the often repeated but totally wrong accounts of her early life. I’m afraid the rags to riches story doesn’t bear up under investigation and there are at least three sources to prove the truth.

Earlier writers and researchers have failed to find the facts or indeed to understand the history of Ireland and Limerick in the 19c. Many appear to have been deluded into thinking that Miss Catherine Hayes was an uneducated servant girl with a natural talent for singing. The only bit that is right is that she was a naturally talented child. For the rest, ask yourselves how did she learn to read, write and speak French, Italian and perfect English as well as play the piano. I have one of her letters which would put many a modern school leaver to shame.

Catherine Hayes had an older sister called Henrietta who is seldom mentioned at all and when she is, she is portrayed as a neglected Cinderella figure. In fact she was also educated with Catherine and her knowledge of languages got her a job with Queen Amelie who was the last Queen of France living in exile in England. Possibly, she acted as an interpreter for the multitude of Royalist sympathisers from many countries who gathered at Queen Amelie’s residence near Richmond. They plotted to overthrow Napoleon III but were unsuccessful in their attempt to assassinate him.

Henrietta’s involvement with the Royalists may have been a factor which prevented Catherine from ever appearing at the Paris Opera. We know she tried to get into a production there but didn’t succeed. She too may have been a Royalist sympathiser or was suspected of being one by Napoleon’s agents.

This is the first time in history that the conventional life story of Catherine Hayes has been challenged. You are invited to send any comments, information etc. to us and, if we use the information, you will receive a free signed copy of the new sensational biography.

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.

Ladies in order of appearance: 1. Auguste Strobl 1827 2. Sofie Friedericke, Archduchess of Austria 1832 3. Irene, Countess of Arco-Steppberg, formerly Marchesa Pallavi 4. Crescentia, Princess of Oettingen and Wallerstein 1833 5. Marchesa Marianna Florenzi 1831 6. Rosalie Julie Freifrau von Bonar circa 1840 7. Josepha Conti 1846 8. Lady Emily Milbanke 1844 9. Lola Montez 1847 10. Lady Jane Elizabeth Digby Ellenborough, later El Mezrab 11. Antonia Ott, née Wallinger and more…

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Catherine Deneuve is a stunning French actress/model/singer who has lived a fascinating life, having been romantically involved with Marcello Mastroianni, Roger Vadim, and François Truffaut. Ms. Deneuve got a career boost in 1965 by playing a virgin (yeah, imagine that) in Roman Polanski’s brilliant psychological thriller titled “Repulsion”, a clip from which is featured in this video. The soundtrack is “Joy” by Isaac Hayes.

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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.