by Franny Moyle
Lloyd, John (Constance’s great-grandfather), 14
Lloyd, John Horatio (Constance’s grandfather): background and career, 13–15, 17; in Lancaster Gate (London), 15; in sex scandal, 17; financial support for Constance, 25; will, 25, 76; family, 26; Constance moves into home, 28–9;; art collection and interests, 33–4, 47–8;; tour of Wales with Constance, 34; holiday in Holland with Constance, 43; and Oscar’s courtship of Constance, 46–7;; continental tours with Constance, 69; illness, 70, 76, 83–4, 86, 88; and Oscar’s engagement to Constance, 74–6;; advances capital to trust fund for Constance and Oscar, 77–8;; misses Constance’s wedding, 88; death, 100
Lloyd, Mary (Constance’s aunt) see Napier, Louisa Mary
Lloyd, Nellie (nee Hutchinson; Otho’s wife), 69, 73, 105
Lloyd, Otho (Constance’s brother) see Holland, Otho
Local Government Act (1888), 154, 158
London: Oscar moves to, 37–41;; dock strike (1889), 160–1;; women’s clubs, 161–3;; in 1893 heatwave, 208–9;; see also Tite Street
London County Council: first woman member elected, 154
Long Time Ago, A (stories), 138
Lord, Henrietta, 243, 246
Lothian, Victoria Alexandrina, Marchioness of, 284
Louÿs, Pierre, 202, 223
Low, Catherine, Lady (nee Napier), 292
Low, Sir Hugh, 191, 292
Lyceum Theatre, London, 38, 46
Mackaye, Steele, 66
Marillier, Harry, 112, 118–21, 134–5, 181
Married Women’s Property Act (1882), 62–3
Mason, Charles, 247
Mathers, Samuel Liddell (MacGregor Mathers), 168–70, 175
Maturin, Father Basil, 215, 228
Maturin, Charles: Melmoth the Wanderer, 215, 301
Maturin, Fidelia and Johanna, 228
Mavor, Sidney, 217, 262
Melba, Dame Nellie, 187
Mellor, Harold, 322–3
Melvill, Harry, 180 Menpes, Dorothy, 132
Menpes, Mortimer, 116, 131–2, 323
Meredith, George, 193
Michelle, Miss (at Delgaty Castle), 59–61
Miles, Frank, 2, 38–9, 52–3, 86
Miles, Canon R. H. W., 52–3
Molesworth, Mary Louisa, 134
Molinos, Miguel, 159
Molloy, Joseph Fitzgerald, 169
Monaco, 304
Monckton, Vere, Lady, 128
Monro, Clara, 23
Monro, Dr Henry, 23
Monte Carlo: Oscar and Bosie visit, 259–61;; see also Monaco
Montgomery, Vernon, 41–2
Moore, Revd Daniel, 23
Moore, Mary, 23
Morgan, Mr (Mrs Ainslie’s cousin), 59
Morris & Co., 32
Morris, Jane, 23, 32
Morris, May, 32, 47
Morris, William, 23, 32, 37–8, 149, 186, 233
Moulton, Louise Chandler, 129
Mount-Temple, Georgina, Lady: friendship with Constance, 8, 10–11, 185–9, 192, 196. 206, 212–13;; and Oscar’s predilection for young men, 118, 182; and Vyvyan’s upbringing, 147; and Constance’s low spirits, 161; confidence in afterlife, 176; beliefs and causes, 185; influence on Constance’s Christian socialism, 185, 188; advises Constance to moderate activities, 199; Oscar sends copy of The House of Pomegranates to, 200; and Constance’s holiday in Norfolk, 205; and Constance’s stay at Goring-on-Thames, 211; and Constance’s Pre-Raphaelitism, 212; Constance rents Babbacombe Cliff from, 213–14;; letters from Constance in Italy, 219, 221; and Constance’s stay with Burne Joneses, 226; treated by Sarah Wagstaff, 228; and Constance’s anxieties over Oscar’s health, 230; and Constance’s renewed marriage relations, 232–5;; suggests Wildes take lease on Cheyne Walk house, 236; and Wildes’ sons’ schooling, 236, 238; and Constance’s collecting material for Oscariana, 244; gives money to Constance for Speranza, 249; Constance confesses despair to, 250, 291; rebuts Constance’s suggestion to visit at Babbacombe, 251–2;; supports Constance after Oscar’s arrest, 268–9, 272; letter from Constance on photograph of kitten to Constance, 312; Watts portrait of, 323; death, 326; see also Babbacombe Cliff
Moytura House, Galway, 19
Mundella, Mrs (Constance wellwisher), 268
Murray, Alma, 113
Myers, Frederic, 176
Napier, Charles, 85
Napier, Lizzie, 80, 218, 324
Napier, Louisa Mary (nee Lloyd; Constance’s Aunt Mary): marriage, 26; kindness and hospitality to Constance, 27–8, 81; holds dance, 48; financial settlement from father, 77; visits Wildes at home, 128; attends Lady Windermere’s Fan, 202; Constance visits in Italy, 216, 218; and Constance’s immobility, 259–60;; supports Oscar in libel case, 262; Constance stays with, 266, 274; and Constance’s distress at Oscar’s arrest, 267; reaction to Constance’s death, 319; cares for Constance’s sons after death, 324
Napier, William, 26–7
Neilson, Julia, 12
Nervi (Italy), 283–4, 290, 302–3, 305, 308
Nesbit, Edith, 134
Nettleship, Adeline, 85–6, 92–4, 110–11
Nettleship, John Trivett, 85–6
Nevill, Maud Augusta, Viscountess, 128
New Somerville Club, London, 162–3
New York Times, 238
Newcastle, Henry Pelham, 7th Duke of, 307
Nister, Ernest (publisher), 133–4, 138
North Wales Chronicle, 89
Norwood, 25–6
O’Brien, William, 149
occult, the: Victorians’ interest in, 165–71;; Constance’s interest in, 171–6
Oliphant, Alice, 188
Oliphant, Laurence, 188
Orde, Charles (‘Tardy’), 39–40
Orme, Eliza, 62
Oxford Union Society: declines Oscar’s volume of poetry, 51
Oxford University: Oscar attends, 21, 36–7
Pall Mall Gazette: Constance’s letter in, 109; Oscar contributes to, 111; on Constance’s views on teaching children to oppose war, 150; on Bedales school, 238; on Oscar and Bosie in Monte Carlo, 260; disparages Oscar after arrest, 267
Palmer, Jean, 147, 192, 195, 197, 203, 225
Paris: Oscar and Constance honeymoon in, 88, 90–1;; Oscar visits, 192, 195–7, 202, 217; Oscar meets Bosie in, 235–7;; Oscar settles in, 313–16, 322–3
Park Street, London, 55, 66–7
Parker, Charles, 262
Parnell, Charles Stewart, 194
Pater, Walter, 127, 131, 191; Studies in the History of the Renaissance, 36
Pentonville prison, 276–7, 301
Pfeiffer, Emily J., 131
Pinero, Arthur Wing: The Second Mrs Tanqueray, 92
Pioneer Club, London, 162–3
Pope Hennessy, Sir John, 191
Portsmouth, Eveline, Countess of, 140
Powell & Sons (glass manufacturers), 53
Pre-Raphaelitism: style and dress, 23–4;; influence on Oscar, 36; at Babbacombe, 186; Constance revives interest in, 212; see also Aestheticism
Prescott, Marie, 66
Prince’s Hall, Piccadilly, 110
Punch (magazine), 79, 114, 158, 250–1
Queensberry, John Sholto Douglas, 8th Marquess of: threats against Bosie and Oscar, 237–40;; Oscar seeks restraining order on, 240, 254; harasses Oscar, 246; and satirizing of Oscar, 251; Oscar sues for libel, 253, 256, 258–9, 261–2;; attends first night of Importance of Being Earnest, 254; presents calling card to Oscar as ‘somdomite’, 255; arrested and bailed, 257–8;; names Oscar’s male lovers in defence, 262, 266; trial, 266; bankrupts Oscar by recouping court costs, 287; death, 326
Queensberry, Sybil, Marchioness of: Oscar writes to on Bosie’s behaviour, 232; sends Bosie to Italy, 239
Radley College, 324–5
Rae, Henrietta, 30
Raffalovich, Andre, 181
Ransome, Arthur, 326
Rational Dress Society, 109–11, 142–5, 198; Gazette, 142–4, 241
Reading gaol, 288
Reid, Thomas Wemys
s, 125
Richmond, Sir William Blake, 127
Ricketts, Charles, 254
Robertson, Graham, 180
Robinson, Mrs (fortune-teller), 261, 272
Roller, Eva, 269, 276
Rosebery, Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of, 277
Rosicrucianism, 168
Ross, Alec, 120
Ross, Robert Baldwin: letter from Constance requesting booking for The Importance, 10; friendship with Wildes, 120–1;; homosexuality, 121, 180; relations with Oscar, 121, 123, 180; helps Oscar with’The Portrait of Mr W. H.’, 179; praises Dorian Gray, 190; at first night of Lady Windermere’s Fan, 203; visits Babbacombe, 216; letter from Bosie in Worthing, 247; and Oscar’s suing Queensberry, 255; as go-between for Constance and Oscar, 259–60, 266, 313–14;; attempts Oscar’s release from remand, 269; bids at auction of Tite Street contents, 273; moves abroad during Oscar’s trial, 274; and Oscar’s consideration for children’s support, 289; and Oscar’s claim on Constance’s life interest, 293, 299; Oscar rebukes for bad advice, 300; and Constance’s failing to meet Oscar, 307; and Oscar’s staying with Bosie in Naples, 310–11;; letter from Oscar on visiting Constance’s grave, 321; devotion to Oscar in last years, 322, 324; befriends Cyril and Vyvyan after Hope’s death, 325; sends flowers to Oscar’s funeral for Cyril and Vyvyan, 325; as Oscar’s literary executor, 326–7;; repays Oscar’s debts, 326; sues Bosie for criminal libel, 327; death, 327
Rossetti, Christina, 9
Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, 21, 23, 36–8
Rothschild, Alfred, 223
Rottingdean, 226–7, 324
Royal Literary Fund, 157
Royal School of Art Needlework, 32
Ruskin, John, 38, 116, 228, 253, 283; Mornings in Florence, 222
Russell, James Cholmeley, 23
Russell, Lucy, 23, 28
Russell, Mr (solicitor), 258
St James Gazette, 190
St James’s Place, 234
Stjames’s Theatre, London, 8, 82, 195, 263–4, 267
St John’s Wood School of Art, 58, 61
St John’s Wood Sketch Club, 58–9
Salles, Lucia Moreira, 136
Salm-Salm, Princess (nee Agnes Joy), 312
Sandhurst, Margaret, Dowager Lady, 153–9, 162
Sanitary Wood Wool Company, Hatton Garden, London, 169–70
Sarasate, Pablo de, 152
Sargent, John Singer, 90
Saturday Review: on Oscar’s poems, 51
Savoy Hotel, London, 13
Scarfe, Ernest, 262
Schreiner, Olive, 129
Schuster, Adela, 294–6
Schuwer, Mile, 274, 280
Schwabe, Maurice, 216–17, 262
Segre, Maria, 317
Shakespeare, William: Love’s Labour’s Lost, 233; Macbeth, 90; Measure for Measure, 233; The Merchant of Venice, 130; Othello, 4–7
Shakespearean Story Book, The, 99
Shand, Alexander (Alec), 23, 35–6, 44
Shand, Bessie, 23, 35–6, 218
Shannon, Charles, 254
Sharp (Chelsea builder), 100
Shaw, George Bernard, 169
Shelley, Edward, 203, 262
Sherard, Robert: friendship with Oscar, 66, 79–80;; and Constance’s wedding dress, 85; in Paris, 90–1;; visits Oscar in gaol, 278, 280; and Constance’s visit to Oscar in Wandsworth, 281
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley: School for Scandal, 233
Shimada, Mr (editor of Daily News), 144
Shorthouse, J. H.: Golden Thoughts, 159
Sickert, Eleanor, 83
Sickert, Helena, 129
Sickert, Walter, 83
Siddal, Elizabeth, 23
Simmons, Gertrude, 224–5, 243
Simon, John and Jane, 319–20
Sinnett, Alfred Percy, 167–8
Skirrow, Mrs (socialite), 151
Smith, W. H. (booksellers), 190
Snowden, Mr (headmaster), 239
Society of Painters in Water Colours, 48
Society for Promoting the Return of Women as County Councillors, 154
Society for Psychical Research, 176, 250
Society of St John the Evangelist, 228
Sophocles: Helen in Troas, 112–13
spiritualism: Constance’s interest in, 12–13, 175–6;; in late Victorian society, 165–6
Sprengel, Fraulein, 169
Stanhope, Edward, 108
Stanhope, John Rodham Spenser, 218
Stead, William Thomas, 176
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 9
Stoker, Bram, 39, 128; see also Balcombe, Florence
Stoker and Hansell (solicitors), 298
Stonyhurst College, 324
Stopes, Charlotte, 154–7
Stopes, Marie, 155
Story, Waldo, 128
Strauss, Richard: Salome (opera), 326
Sumner, Frank, 189
Susie (Irish relative), 270, 274
Sussex Gardens, London, 15
Swan and Edgar (London department store), 117
Swinburne, Algernon Charles, 36, 38, 52
Swinburne-King, Adelaide Barbara (nee Atkinson; then Lloyd; Constance’s mother; ‘Ada’): background and marriage, 13–14, 25; relations with Constance, 13–14;; abuses Constance, 19–20;; remarries (Swinburne-King), 21–2, 25–6;; financial position, 25; moves to Devonshire Terrace, 28; calls on Lady Wilde in London, 55; Oscar writes to on engagement, 74; consents to Oscar-Constance engagement, 75; attends Oscar–Constance wedding, 87; attends Constance’s party, 128; abandoned by Swinburne-King, 159
Swinburne-King, Eliza (‘Tizey’), 22
Swinburne-King, George: courts
Constance’s mother Ada, 21–2;; marriage to Ada, 26; moves to Devonshire Terrace, 28; sends poem to Constance, 54–5;; attends Fisheries exhibition, 68; consents to Oscar–Constance engagement, 75; leaves Ada, 159
Switzerland: Otho in, 146, 193, 256, 281, 303, 308; Constance and sons in, 274–82
Symons, Arthur, 314
Tankard, Herbert, 262
Taylor, Alfred, 216–17, 247
Temple, Juliet Latour see Deschamps, Juliet
Terry, Dame Ellen, 37–8, 46–7, 160, 268
Thackeray, Annie (later Lady Ritchie), 139
Theosophical Society, 165–8
Theosophy, 166–7, 174
Thursfield, Emily, 160, 185, 192, 228, 282, 284
Thursfield, James, 160, 228 Tite Street, Chelsea: Wildes’ home in (No. 16), 1–3, 7, 86, 99, 102; Oscar first moves to (Keats House), 52–3;; Constance and Otho visit, 67; decor and renovations, 99–103;; Constance entertains in, 126–8;; house burgled, 193, 220; house contents auctioned and stolen, 273
To-Day (magazine), 251
Tolstoy, Count Leo: The Kreutzer Sonata, 177–8;; Work While We Have the Light, 161
Tomalin, Lewis, 141
Torquay, 10–12, 61, 66, 236–7, 272; see also Babbacombe Cliff
Travers, Mary Josephine, 18
Travers, Dr Robert, 18
Tree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm, 40, 114, 224
Tree, Maud, Lady (Maud Holt), 114
Troubridge, Laura see Hope, Laura Tuer, Andrew, 131
Turner, Reginald, 300, 324
United Ireland (newspaper), 149
United States of America: Oscar’s 1881 lecture tour in, 49–51, 56, 58, 66; Oscar revisits, 69–70
University Club for Ladies, London, 161 Utopianism, 188
Vanity Fair (magazine), 31
Victoria, Queen: diamond jubilee (1897), 302–3
Vivian, Ethel (i.e. Wilmore), 41–2
Vivian, Herbert: Reminiscences of a Short Life, 178–9
Wagstaff, Sarah, 228
Walker, Mrs (nee Maturin; Oscar’s cousin), 215–16
Walton, Aglaia, 48
Wandsworth gaol, 277, 281
Ward, Mary (Mrs Humphry Ward), 36
Watts, George Frederic, 212–13, 275, 323
Watts, Theodore, 127
Waugh, Ruth, 268
Weekly Ir
ish Times, 138
Weldon, Georgina, 130
Westcott, Dr William Wynne, 168–70;; The Historic Lecture for Neophytes, 173
Where’s the Cat? (satirical play), 40
Whistler, James McNeill: house in Tite Street, 2, 52; Oscar owns prints, 3; paints Grosvenor Gallery ceiling, 30; friendship with Frank Miles, 38; invites Constance to breakfast, 82; late for Wildes’ wedding, 87; paintings exhibited, 90; lectures, 97; paints dragons on ceiling of Wildes’ Tite Street house, 101; on Oscar as bourgeois, 124; signs Constance’s autograph book, 127; illustrates Emily J. Pfeiffer, 131; Constance’s pictures sold, 323
Wilde, Constance (nee Lloyd; later Holland): Aestheticism, 3, 6–7, 23–4, 30–2, 37, 52, 56, 99–100;; appearance, dress and style, 5–7, 21, 23–4, 92–9, 104, 109, 128, 151–2, 241; friendship with and dependence on Georgina Mount-Temple, 8, 10–11, 185–9, 192 196; iU health as child, 10; visits Torquay, 10–12;; birth, 14; upbringing and education, 15–16;; abused by mother, 19–20;; and father’s death, 19; interest in spiritualism and mesmerism, 22–3, 175–6;; expectations of inheritance from grandfather Lloyd, 25, 76–7;; financial independence, 25; and mother’s remarriage, 26–7;; marriage prospects, 27–8;; moves into grandfather’s Lancaster Gate house, 28–30;; art interests, 30–5, 47~8, 57, 61; embroidery, 32–3;; on Otho’s exam failures, 42–3;; declines suitors’ proposals of marriage, 43–4;; romantic interest in Oscar, 44–8, 68–72;; and Oscar’s absence on American lecture tour, 49–51, 56; accepts bohemian lifestyle, 53–4;; collects blue and white china, 56; pottery and art classes, 57–8;; visits Delgaty Castle, 58–61;; sexual attractiveness and flirtatiousness, 59–61;; career ambitions, 62, 108, 129–30;; and women’s rights, 62–3;; disagrees with Oscar on nature of art, 71; engagement to Oscar, 72–7, 81–3;; marriage settlement from grandfather Lloyd, 77–8;; devotion to Oscar, 78, 80; pet marmoset, 83–4;; clumsiness and impracticality, 84, 133, 260–1;; public image and celebrity, 85, 89–90, 93; wedding, 85–8;; acquires Tite Street house on marriage, 86; view of married life, 91–2;; renovation and decor of Tite Street house, 99–101, 103; inheritance on grandfather’s death, 100; early married life, 102–4;; joins London clubs and societies, 102; Oscar gives puppy to, 103, 105; visits exhibitions, 104–5;; pregnancies and children, 105–7, 114–16;; devotion to Cyril, 108; writings and journalism, 108–9, 111, 129–30, 139–42, 241; views on women’s dress, 109–10;; acting, 112–15;; Oscar’s declining sexual interest in, 115, 119, 123; and Oscar’s attraction to young men, 118, 120, 124, 181–2;; developing jealousy of Oscar’s infidelities, 122, 181–2;; and brother Otho’s broken marriage, 123; money problems and debts, 124; entertaining, 126–9, 251, 263; children’s stories, 130–1, 133–4, 136–9, 227; portrait, 130; assists Oscar with writings, 135–7;; edits Rational Dress Society gazette, 142–5;; holiday in Worthing, 143–7;; political campaigning, 145, 148–51, 154–7, 161; parenting, 146–7, 197–8;; treatment of Vyvyan, 147, 197, 225; carries walking stick, 151–2;; public speaking, 151; portrayed by Marie Corelli, 152–3;; devotion to mother-in-law, 153; satirized by Punch, 158–9;; illness and recovery (1889), 159–60;; practises spiritual quietism, 159–60;; theatre-going, 160, 233; embraces Christian morality, 161; enthusiasm for Theosophy, 166–7, ‘74; joins Golden Dawn order, 170–5;; joins Society for Psychical Research, 176; leaves Golden Dawn, 175–6;; deteriorating marriage relations, 176–8, 182; and portrayal of Cyril by Herbert Vivian, 178–9;; fads and crazes, 184–5;; Christian socialism and welfare, 185, 188–9, 244; ar Jd Oscar’s absences from home, 187, 191–2, 194–6;; quest for moral purpose, 188; admires Oscar’s work, 191; social visits without Oscar, 192–3;; loses possessions in burglary, 193; replaces stolen items, 195; depressions, 196, 217, 291; suffers from ‘rheumatism’, 196, 218; visits aunt Emily in St Leonards, 196–7;; Oscar dedicates The House of Pomegranates to, 199–200;; holiday with Oscar in Felbrigg, near Cromer, 201, 204–6, 211–12;; stays at Goring-on-Thames cottage, 209–11;; legacies from aunts, 210; Oscar’s rudeness to, 211; adopts new social circle, 212; repays debts, 212; photography, 213, 218–19, 282, 284, 306, 308, 311; rents Babbacombe for short term, 213–16;; seeks larger house in Chelsea, 215–16, 234; visit to Italy (1893), 216–19, 221–2;; Bosie alienates Oscar from, 221–4, 226–7;; stays at Goring with Oscar and Bosie, 224; becomes aware of Oscar’s behaviour, 225; religious retreat at Clewer convent, 228; attracted to Catholicism, 229; awareness of Oscar’s homosexual practices, 229; hopes for cure for Oscar’s homosexuality, 231; reorganizes home and relations with Oscar, 232–5;; translates Dutch review of Oscar’s Salome, 233; agrees to Oscar meeting Bosie in Paris, 235–6;; and sons’ early education, 236, 238; affair with Arthur Humphreys, 241–3, 250; compiles Oscariana, 241, 244, 248; acquires house in Worthing, 243–4;; despair at attacks on Oscar, 250; ill health and fall down stairs, 252–3, 259; and Oscar’s decision to sue Queensberry, 255–8;; absent from Oscar’s court case against Queensberry, 259; supports Oscar in libel case, 262; accompanies Oscar to The Importance of Being Earnest, 263–5;; and Oscar’s arrest, 266; public support for after Oscar’s arrest, 267–9;; protects sons during Oscar’s conviction, 269–70;; pursued by Oscar’s creditors, 271; changes name to Holland, 273, 284; homelessness and nomadic life, 274; in Switzerland following Oscar’s prison sentence, 275–8;; visits Oscar on bail, 275; seeks divorce, 276–8;; considers abandoning divorce, 278–80;; love and devotion for Oscar after conviction, 278, 282; visits Oscar in gaol, 280, 282, 288–9, 298; deteriorating health and immobility, 283–4, 292; moves to Nervi (Italy), 283–4;; operation to treat mobility problems, 285–6;; reconsiders divorce, 286–7, 295; and Oscar’s claims on annuity, 287, 289, 293–8;; courage in facing world, 288–9;; will leaving whole estate to Adrian Hope, 289; settles in Hotel Nervi, 290; moves to Heidelberg, 291–3;; anxiety over custody of sons, 294, 299; legal separation from Oscar, 299–300; settles Oscar’s immediate expenses on release from prison, 300; exchange of letters with Oscar on release from prison, 301; stays with Ranee Brooke in Nervi, 302; handwriting analysed, 303–4;; growing appreciation of Vyvyan, 305; failure to meet Oscar in Dieppe, 306–7;; growing difficulty with writing, 306; holiday with sons in Black Forest, 308; occupies Villa Elvira, Bogliasco, 308–9, 311; and Oscar’s proposed visit to meet in Italy, 309; fury at Oscar’s staying with Bosie in Naples, 310; learns macrame, 311; rejects Oscar, 311; uses typewriter, 311; continuing interest in Oscar, 313; sends money to Oscar, 313–14;; death and burial, 316–20;; gravestone inscription, 318; 321, 328; Oscar visits grave, 321–2;; pictures sold, 323; ‘Children’s Dress in this Century’ (article), 140–2;; ‘The Little Swallow’ (story), 138, 227; There Once Was (children’s book), 133–4, 137; ‘Was It a Dream?’ (story), 130–3, 137–8
