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Original, vintage, c1880, albumen carte de visite photograph of the actress The Countess of Clancarty,Belle Bilton,(1866-1906), see below.
Photograph by Alex Bassano, 25 Old Bond Street, England.
Size is 11cm x 16.5cm approx.
Condition is good for its age, (please see scans).
Pleasenote, the ‘mementoes’ logo is not on the actual item.
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IsabelMaud Penrice, Countess of Clancarty (née Bilton; 26 October 1866 – 31 December1906), known as Belle Bilton, was anEnglish music hall and pantomime actress. She performed at a number of venuesand modelled for photography studios. She also formed a duo with her sister FloBilton. She gained further media attention for her marriage to William Trench,Viscount Dunlo.
Isabel MaudPenrice Bilton was the middle daughter of John George Bilton, a member of theRoyal Engineers, and Kate Maude (née Penrice). She and her younger sisterFlorence (born 1868) got their start performing at the local Woolwich Barracksnear their home in Charlton. At the time of her wedding, Bilton was recordedliving in St John\'s Wood with her older sister Violet (born 1865).
Bilton began hertheatre career at age 14. In 1883, Bilton\'s earnings on the stage were\"five and thirty shillings\". As early as 1886, Bilton and her sisterFlo were referred to as the Sisters Bilton in press billings, performing attheatres including the \"London Pavilion, the Oxford, the Holborn, theParagon\". They earned publicity through photographs taken by the likes ofBassano Studios and W. & D. Downey.
Bilton featuredin Babes in the Wood alongside her sister in December 1889 at the Prince\'sTheatre, Manchester and starred as the titular role of Venus at the TheatreRoyal, Plymouth in 1890. At the end of 1890 and start of 1891, she featuredwith Vesta Tilley and Dan Leno in Augustus Harris\' pantomime Beauty and theBeast at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. She also appeared in Blue Beard at theTheatre Royal, Glasgow.
In addition toacting, Bilton became an oil painter and had her work exhibited at BondStreet\'s Continental Gallery.
In July 1888,Bilton had a son out of wedlock at Maidenhead with an American-born man namedAlden Carter Weston. Weston had unsuccessfully attempted to divorce his wifeCharlotte (née Campbell) around 1887 and went to prison twice. Bilton came torely on the support of art dealer Isidor Emanuel Wertheimer. She, her sisterViolet and brother-in-law William Roberts subsequently moved into St John\'sWood while the child was fostered elsewhere.
At theCorinthian club in May 1889, Bilton caught the eye of the William Trench,Viscount Dunlo, the Irish heir to the earldom of Clancarty. They eloped inHampstead on 10 July 1889. She was 22, while he was 20. His father RichardTrench, 4th Earl of Clancarty disapproved of the match, finding the nature ofBilton\'s career and past scandalous. He responded by sending Dunlo abroad toAustralia on threat of his allowance, leaving Bilton penniless.
In her husband\'sabsence, Bilton continued to act and despite the scandal, her popularity andsympathy from the public did not wane. After discovering her connection toWertheimer, Dunlo\'s father coerced him into filing for divorce via affidavit inMarch 1890 on adultery charges, with the trial beginning in July. No evidencewas found for the charges, and Dunlo declared his belief his wife innocent.Dunlo was subsequently cut off from his father\'s allowance, and the couplelived off of the earnings from Bilton\'s theatre career.
In May 1891,Dunlo inherited the earldom upon his father\'s death, and Bilton became Countessof Clancarty. The couple had five children.
Bilton fell illin 1904 and died from cancer at the end of 1906 at Garbally Park inBallinasloe, Ireland.
