The Diary of Ada Clara Lee

Summer 1893: A Victorian Holiday in London and Margate

"Why should I not publish my diary? I have often seen reminiscences of people I have never even heard of, and fail to see - because I do not happen to be a "somebody" - why my diary should not be interesting."

So wrote Charles Pooter, the comic hero of George and Weedon Grossmith's "Diary of a Nobody" which was published in 1892. We don't know if Ada Lee read it - her preference seems to have been for romantic fiction - but a year later she, just like the fictional Mr Pooter, was to keep a diary while leaving London with her family in August to visit Margate and the north Kent coast. And while the similarities thankfully end there, Ada's diary provides just as fascinating an insight into the life and recreation of a middle class family in late-Victorian England.

Whether Ada always kept a diary is not known, since only a fragment covering 3 July to 12 August 1893 has survived. In its pages she records a holiday taken that summer from her home in Liverpool to visit family in London. The trip coincided with a royal wedding, included a week's seaside vacation to Margate, and was fairly packed with musical entertainments and excursions.

In July 1893 Ada Clara Lee was 29 years old. She was unmarried, although she had admirers in Liverpool. One wrote to her a few years earlier requesting that she condescend to afford him an interview that he might enjoy a quiet walk with her in Toxteth's Princes Park: "that picturesque park, which by your beloved presence is for me transformed into a paradise on earth". Even if she had accepted that admirer's offer on that occasion, she clearly had not let him advance his suit.

Ada was the third of four children of James and Jean Lee of Toxteth Park, Liverpool. James Lee was a Customs Clerk in the port of Liverpool. He had died in 1869, when Ada was 5 years old. After that Jean Lee raised her family by working as a grocer and provision dealer from their home in Wynnstay Street, Toxteth. Although her elder sister, Lillian, became a piano teacher, Ada does not appear to have worked. She did sing in public at amateur concerts in Liverpool on occasion and, as will be seen, she mixed with a highly musical and theatrical group of friends in London.

In June of 1891 Ada's elder sister, Lillian, left home to get married, and eight months later, in February of 1892, her mother, Jean Lee, died. Around this time, her younger brother, Charley, moved to London, joining their other brother, Willie, who had been living in London for some years. It was with these two brothers that Ada spent much of this vacation.

Willie Lee, Ada's elder brother, was 30 years old, born in Toxteth, and worked as a tinfoil merchant's clerk in the city of London. He lodged in Islington with the Sondheim family. Edward Sondheim was a German-born banker and his wife Marie (neé Colle) was Belgian. In Margate, Ada and Willie visit the Sondheims at their holiday home in Dover, in the company of Mr and Mrs Colle - probably Marie's brother Victor and his wife Hettie.

Charley Lee, Ada's younger brother, was nearly 28, also born in Toxteth, and worked as a print-compositor in the city of London. Unlike his brother Willie, who was already working in London in 1891, Charley had moved to the capital from Liverpool fairly recently. Charley's friend, Frank Sword, who calls on Ada at one point, was a 21-year-old wine merchant's clerk, who had also come to London from Toxteth.

Mrs Wilson, with whom Ada stayed while in London - at 5 Kennington Oval - was Margaret Wilson, a woman of 38 years, and little Sydney was her two-year-old son. Mrs Wilson took in a number of boarders, including Ada's brother Charley. Another boarder was William Cottrell, whom Ada refers to in the diary as Mr Cottrell. He was a 24-year-old Liverpudlian, who later in life, and possibly even at this time, was a professional entertainer.

Of the other people Ada mentions, Mrs Somers was Florence Somers, mother-in-law of Richard Warner, a theatrical agent born in Bohemia, Austria. She lived with her son-in-law and daughter at 64 Clapham Road, Kennington, not far from where Ada was staying in Kennington Oval. Mrs Somers herself came from an artistic family: her brother Isaac was a musical agent and her son Jacob was in publishing. Her daughter, Amy Somers, who is referred to as performing at the music hall, was probably a chorus singer since she was not featured in the theater playbill.

Ada takes full advantage of London's nightlife, visiting the Empire and Alhambra in Leicester Square, the Pavilion and Trocadero in Shaftesbury Avenue, the Canterbury Music Hall, and the Lyceum. In Margate, she is entertained at the Hall-by-the-Sea (twice) and the Royal Assembly Rooms. Ada writes about the ballets she saw, but these were just parts of longer, variety programs that featured a repertoire of singers, comedians, and entertainers. Her evening of high culture was seeing Henry Irving's famous Shakespeare Company at the Lyceum Theatre.

Ada takes in the sights of the capital, including many that were only just completed in 1893; such as the Imperial Institute and the Brompton Oratory in South Kensington, the newly redeveloped Piccadilly Circus with its statue of Eros, and the Tate Library in Brixton. It is sobering to realize how many of the buildings Ada mentions were destroyed by bombing during the Second World War, including the Canterbury Music Hall; St Agnes, Kennington; St Alban, Holborn; and both the Convent and Carmelite churches in Kensington.

Ada's grandfather was a staunch supporter of the established church, so it is interesting she visits mainly catholic churches, in the company of her brother Charley or his friend Mr Cotterel. St Agnes, Kennington Park, was a noted high Anglican church, and St Alban the Martyr, Holborn, was a center of the nineteenth century Anglo-Catholic revival. The Brompton Oratory, Carmelite Church and Convent in South Kensington, and the Farm Street Jesuit Church in Mayfair were all Catholic churches newly built in the late-Victorian period.

Ada also experienced many technologies that we take for granted today: she writes of having her photograph taken by a friend, of listening to a phonograph on the pier at Margate, of traveling by the electric underground railway, and about going to the movies in London. All these were in the very first years of their existence.

George Eastman's "Kodak", the first commercial film camera, had been released in 1888, and made possible amateur photography for the first time, although at some expense (the mass-market would have to wait for his cheap "Brownie" camera, released in 1900). The wax-cylinder phonograph, invented by Thomas Edison some years earlier, had only started being sold by the Edison Phonograph Company in 1887. London's Tube - the electric, as opposed to steam, underground railway - had just started operation in 1890. However Ada's reference to the "movies" is unclear: while various cinematography systems had been demonstrated by 1890, London's first Kinetoscope Parlour did not open until 1894, and true cinema using the Lumiére Brothers' system was not available until 1895.

Ada writes about two novels that she is reading and one that she is given. All were romantic melodramas by best-selling women writers of the time, Marie Corelli and Ouida. While the settings and style of these books mean that they are no longer read today, the romantic formula they used was no different to any romantic fiction written today, which reminds us how similar we really are to our ancestors of a hundred years ago.

Monday, July 3

I started on my journey to London, Lily Tecury & Georgie seeing me off. At the station arriving in London, Mr Smallwood met me at Kings Cross, and having disposed of my luggage by parcels delivery, had a nice ride on top of the omnibus to Kennington Oval.

Arrived there, Charley came in from business soon after and we had tea, went for a short walk, and finished up with cards in the evening.

Although Mr Smallwood met Ada at King's Cross, her train most probably arrived at the adjacent Euston Station. The London and North West Railway (LNWR) Liverpool & London Express would have left Liverpool's Lime Street station at 8am that morning and arrived in London at Euston Station four hours later, around noon.

A horse-drawn omnibus on route to Kennington Oval

It was quite common at the time for trunks to be sent on ahead or delivered by Pickfords or some such firm, leaving a traveler thankfully free of baggage as they themselves took a cab, tram, or omnibus.

Tuesday, July 4

After breakfast, went with Mrs Wilson to Lambeth Walk, a place by no means aristocratic but where you can get things almost given to you.

After lunch went on the train to Brixton to see the shops with Mr Cotterell, Mr I & Mrs W. This is a very pretty part, and the shops are beautiful; after making one or two small purchases, all went in to an Italian café and had some chocolate, and then came home in the train. Did not go out in the evening; commenced a book by Marie Corelli called "Thelma".

Lambeth Walk, about a mile north of Kennington, and was the site of a well-established market with 164 costermongers' stalls. It is remembered today for the Lupino Lane song from the 1937 musical "Me and My Girl".

Electric Avenue, Brixton

Brixton, in the 1890s, was an exclusive suburb. For many years, the focus of its shopping district was Electric Avenue, a street of upscale shops fronted by cast-iron and glass canopies, and one of the first streets to be lit by electric light (in 1888). By coincidence, a century later, Electric Avenue was also made famous by a song (by Eddie Grant).

Wednesday, July 5

After breakfast, started for Buckingham Palace to see the Queen arriving from Windsor but were too late, as she had arrived by an earlier train. Saw Princess Beatrice driving from the Palace and, on the way to Marlborough House, saw the Duke of York and the King of Denmark driving towards the Palace. We walked through Piccadilly, Regent Street and Oxford Street and saw most of the decorations for the Royal Wedding (of the Duke of York & Princess Mary), which were very fine, and from there to Hyde Park and sat there for some time watching the elite out for their afternoon drive.

On reaching home, found a letter from Willie asking me to meet him to go to the Italian Opera "La Valkyrie" at Covent Garden, but it was too late then so I just went out for a short walk instead.

Princess Beatrice of Battenberg was the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria. Marlborough House was the home of the Prince and Princess of Wales. The King of Denmark, Christian IX, was the Duke of York's grandfather, being the father of his mother Princess Alexandra of Wales. The Royal Opera performance of Die Walküre started at 7.30 that evening.

Rotten Row, Hyde Park

Thursday, July 6

The Royal Wedding Day. Shortly after eleven, we made our way towards Buckingham Palace and wait there opposite the principal entrance to see the royal party coming from church. After waiting about an hour and a half, and being nearly melted with the heat, the guns fired to show the ceremony was over, and shortly after the carriages came through St James' Park to the Palace, but being all closed, we had only the satisfaction of seeing the tops of the carriages and the footmen in their powdered wigs. However, our patience was rewarded shortly after by seeing most of the wedding party come out on the balcony in front of the Palace, ie the Queen, Duke and Duchess of York, Prince and Princess of Wales, Duke and Duchess of Teck, and at one of the windows saw the Duchess of Fife with her youngest child in her arms.

The Duke of York and Princess Mary of Teck

We then made our way towards the Buckingham Palace Road, and saw several of the guests driving to the Palace to the wedding breakfast; the gentlemen all in uniform and the ladies looking lovely dressed in different colored satins and nearly covered in jewels. We then had some refreshments and went on Westminster Abbey, and were just in time for the afternoon service in honor of the happy pair; the anthem was beautiful, the title being "Oh Perfect Love", and after the service, the
Wedding March was played.

We then went through Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, but found we had no chance of seeing the procession; then went back to St James' Park and saw them pass on their way to the station; then going towards the Palace again, saw some of the Royal Family on the Balcony again. We thought we had seen quite enough for that afternoon, and feeling very tired, went home to tea.

After having only an hour's rest, Charley, Mrs Wilson and I started to see the illuminations in the city. Went by the Electric Railway to King William Street, where Mr Malcolm and Mr Reid were waiting for us; then commenced a sight I shall never forget. The streets were thronged with people, and we had to walk at a snail's pace in the middle of the road through all the principal streets, the illuminations and decorations were really beautiful - the Bank, the Mansion House, and Royal Exchange being about the prettiest - Liverpool St Station also looked very fine, but coming down towards the Mansion was worse than all I had never experienced such a crush, and hope I never shall again.

We lost Mrs W and Mr Malcolm altogether then; several people fainted close around me, and one woman and a young girl were crushed to death.

As soon as we got a little clear of the crowd, we went through some side streets, Charley, Mr Reid, and I went into a place and had some refreshment, then took a train to Vauxhall, and walked from there to the Oval. Found Mrs Wilson and Mr Malcolm had not returned; they came about an hour after, so we were glad all were safe. Mr Malcolm stayed all night but Mr Reid could not, having to be out very early in the morning.

This ends the great day of July 6th.

Queen Victoria on the balcony of Buckingham Palace

Prince George, Duke of York, second son of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) had become the heir apparent after the death of his elder brother Prince Albert, Duke of Clarence, from typhoid in 1892. Princess Victoria Mary ("Princess May") was daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck (the Duchess, Princess Mart Adelaide was Queen Victoria's cousin). Princess Mary had been engaged to marry Prince Albert until his death the previous year. She married Prince George in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace, London, on 6 July 1893.

The wedding initiated many of the traditions of the British monarchy: Queen Victoria presented the couple on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to the assembled crowd for the first time, Princess Mary wore a much-discussed English-made wedding dress, and the wedding presents were put on public display at the Imperial Institute. Numerous foreign royalty were in London for the wedding, including the Tsarevitch, later the last Tsar Nicholas II, whose close resemblance to his cousin, the Duke of York, was closely remarked upon. Other royalty included the King of Denmark, Prince Henry of Prussia, Prince Albert of Belgium, and several bejeweled Indian princes: the Maharajah of Bhavnagar, the Rajah of Kapurthala, and the Thakore Sahib of Ghondal. After the wedding, the couple left for a honeymoon at York Cottage, Sandringham.

Wedding Illuminations at the Bank of England and Royal Exchange

The Duchess of Fife was the Duke of York's sister, whose youngest child was Princess Maud, just three months old. The Times reported that the Bank of England was covered by festoons of deep-red crystal lamps along the length of Threadneedle Street; the portico columns of the Mansion House were snaked with gas-pipes whose jets were covered in ruby and white lamps; the Royal Exchange was decorated with a heart-shaped portrait of the Duke and Duchess of York, framed with lamps in the forms of white roses and may blossoms. Liverpool St Station, from which the royal couple left for their honeymoon, was decorated with ferns, palms, and red carpets. Vast crowds paraded the streets of London viewing the illuminations, after vehicular traffic was suspended at 7 o'clock; railways and tramways ran their services until the early hours of the morning.

Friday, July 7

Got up about ten. After breakfast went shopping with Mrs W; came back to lunch, wrote one or two letters, then went upstairs to watch a cricket match in the Oval. Too hot to exert oneself much, so intend to take it easy today.

The cricket match was the second day of a 3-day Gentlemen v Players game. Despite the heat, which reached 89°F, only a small crowd of 2000 attended. The Gentlemen's team included many famous players, such as the captain, W G Grace, and batsmen C B Fry and K S Ranjitsinhji. The match was dogged by injuries: Shrewsbury was hit in the face, Storer, the Player's wicket-keeper, dislocated a finger, and Grace suffered a bruised foot. At close of play Friday, the Gentlemen's second innings stood at 111 for 6, with Grace on 55 and Fry on 12. Dr Grace lead his team's scoring throughout, finishing the innings with a total of 68, including six 4s, after batting for 185 minutes (taking his personal year-total over 1000 runs). However, the Players won the match by a narrow margin of 8 runs. Ada was watching the game from the other side of the ground, from the houses to the left of the white building next to the gasometer.

Saturday, July 8

Left the house about 12 o'clock. Walked across Vauxhall Bridge, then took the train to Victoria, went through Buckingham Palace Road and through Constitution Hill to Hyde Park, where I sat on one of the chairs and waited for Charley coming from business. He arrived soon after. We went along Piccadilly and turned down St James' Street; this street looked beautifully cool with all the garlands of green leaves and flowers hanging from one side to the other.

We then came to the front entrance of Marlborough House, and were just in time to see some of the Royal Family returning from visiting the Lord Mayor at the Mansion House. The Prince and Princess of Wales, and King and Queen of Denmark were in the first carriage. We also saw the Duke and Duchess of Teck, Prince Henry of Battenberg, and Duke of Connaught, and several Indian Princes. We had a splendid view of them being quite close.

We then made our way home to tea. In the evening, Charley took Mrs Wilson and I to the Empire to see "Katrina" and "Round the Town". I don't think I enjoyed anything so much; it was simply delightful. We arrived home at nearly one o'clock feeling very tired.

The Empire Theatre of Varieties in Leicester Square opened in 1887, and specialized in spectacular ballets, rivaling those of the Alhambra, such as Katrina and Around the Town. Prices ranged from 1-3 guineas for a box, through 3 shillings in the grand circle, down to only sixpence for entry to the gallery, which was infamous as a "haunt of vice".

Their program commenced at 8pm with a musical selection, followed at 8:05 by Sebaldus Schaffer, equilibrist [tight-rope walker], before starting the ballet Katrina at 8:17. At 9:15 interludes were provided by Segomar, imitator of animals and shadowgraphist, followed at 9:25 by Charles Tilbury, vocalist, at 9:30 by a Grand Wedding March, at 9:38 by The Craggs, acrobats, then at 9:48 The Armaninis, mandolinists, and at 10:02 Tscherenoff’s Wonderful Troupe of Performing Dogs. At 10:18 Clara Wieland, Vaudeville Artiste, danced before the second ballet Around the Town at 10:28. The Tissots, marionettes ended the night at 11:38.

On July 8, in honor of the royal wedding, the Empire had engaged Miss Clara Wieland, creator of an "entirely new and original Prismatic Serpentine Dance", in which the dancer was lit from below and while dancing with swirling skirts. They incorporated a specially-composed Grand Wedding March by Monsieur Leopold Wenzel, to be performed by an "augmented orchestra of 60 performers". And decorated the building with "a huge arch of serpentine crystal, from the top of which depends a star and portrait of the royal pair in a heart-shaped frame of roses and may blossom ... one of the most striking displays in London."

Program from the Empire, Leicester Square

Sunday, July 9

Charley and I went to St Agnes Church in the morning; we go through Kennington Park to it. It was very high, but all the churches are the same here; the singing was very good.

In the afternoon, Mr Malcolm came and had tea with us, and at about 7 o'clock, Charley, Mr Cotterell, Mr Smallwood, Mr Malcolm and I started out, took a bus to Victoria and walked through some of the squares towards the Brompton Oratory; went in for a short time, then went through South Kensington.

This is a part I had not seen before, but Oh Dear, how envious it makes one feel to see all the grandeur and the beautiful houses. We passed a lot of beautiful buildings, also the Imperial Institute (where the wedding presents of the Duke and Duchess of York are exhibited); this is a very imposing building and has not been long opened.

We then got into Queens Gate; this is a lovely part, and leads right into Kensington Gardens. We walked through there, saw the Albert Memorial and Albert Hall, then walked on into Hyde Park. We then came in front of the Wellington Barracks, where crowds of people were standing listening to the Band of the Horse Guards Blue, playing selections while the officers were at dinner. We, of course, waited and listened also. Then on a little further, another band was playing in the Park but, as it was getting late, we got a bus at Hyde Park Corner, and arrived home about eleven there, to find Mr Reid having been waiting for two or three hours. We then had supper and the gentlemen (that is three of them) arranged to take us to the theatre tonight, so Mrs W and I are to meet Charley, Mr Malcolm, and Mr Reid at Charing Cross at 7.30.

The Imperial Institute, Knightsbridge

This morning I was surprised to see Frank Sword; he called and stayed a short time. I stayed in all afternoon resting and, in the evening, Mrs W and I went to Charing Cross, met our three gentlemen, then went on to the Lyceum to see "King Henry the Eighth". I never enjoyed anything so much, and the great treat was seeing Sir Henry Irving in his character of the Cardinal. The scenery and costumes were perfect, and the whole piece very brilliant. We came away quite satisfied; coming home on the bus we passed Big Ben just striking the hour of 12.

St Agnes, Kennington Park, was established as a center for Anglo-Catholic worship in 1874, under Fr Thomas Birkett Dover, who was still officiating in 1893. The building, by George Gilbert Scott and regarded as his masterpiece, was greatly damaged by bombs in WWII and later demolished.

The Imperial Institute, Knightsbridge, built to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, was completed in 1893. Designed in extravagant Renaissance style, by Thomas Collcutt, architect of the Wigmore Hall and Savoy Hotel, only the tower remains today, as a part of Imperial College.

Henry Irving, actor-manager of the Lyceum Theatre, played one of his great roles as Cardinal Wolsey in this production of Shakespeare's Henry the Eighth. First performed in January 1892, when Ellen Terry played Queen Katherine; in the July 1893 performances, the Queen's part was taken by Genevieve Ward. The production, which cost £12,000 to stage, was praised for its historical correctness, fine costumes by Seymour Lucas, Tudor scenery painted by Hawes Craven and Joe Harker, and specially-composed music by Edward German. Irving was highly praised for portraying Wolsey with the "assured pride of a crafty cardinal at the height of his power". The critic for the Saturday Review wrote that "Mr Irving depicts with surpassing effectiveness the soul struggle which rends the heart and intellect of the great statesman who now, in his disgrace, remembers perhaps for the first time that he is a christian priest".

Herny Irving as Cardinal Wolsey_edited.jpg

Henry Irving as Cardinal Wolsey

Monday, July 10

St Savious

This morning I accepted a kind invitation from Mr Cotterell to go with him to the City. We went by the Electric Railway to Boro station, close to; we went into St Saviour's Church, Southwark. It is very ancient, being over 600 years old; signed our names in the visitor's book and admired all there was to the admired, then came out. Walked across London Bridge and through the City to Willie's office. He was in, and came out with us, and we had a nice chat together in a place close by.

On leaving him, he arranged with us to go to the Alhambra on Thursday evening. We then went on to Poultry, where Mr C had ordered some books. He very kindly bought me "Moths" by Ouida, then went and had some tea; after that we came home again by the Electric just in time to go shopping with Mrs W in Brixton. We went by the train which goes by electricity; on the way saw the Lord Mayor's carriage pass, with his lordship inside. It is a very grand turnout, all gold and black, with footmen standing up behind in their powered wigs.

We finished our shopping, and just got back in time for dinner at seven o'clock. Charley got in soon after; we stayed in all evening as it turned out a miserable wet night; we expected Frank Sword to spend the evening, but I suppose the rain prevented him from coming.

St Saviour's Church, Southwark

St Saviour's church in Borough High Street is London's oldest gothic building, dating from 1215. Founded as a priory by St Swithun, it became the parish church of Southwark after the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. Shakespeare's brother Edmund is buried there (the Globe Theater is nearby), and John Harvard, founder of the University, was baptized there.

Ouida was pen-name of the novelist Marie Louise de la Ramee, born in Bury St Edmunds to a French father and English mother. Between 1860 and her death in 1908, she wrote 45 books, mostly extravagant melodramas of fashionable life. Moths was one of her most successful novels, and a dramatized version played in London for some time. It is the story of a young girl, Vere, who falls for an operatic tenor, Corrèze, whom her unscrupulous mother, Lady Dolly Vanderdecken, had planned to ensnare for herself. Lady Dolly marries Vere off to Prince Zouroff, a sadistic Russian to whom she owed money. Zouroff locks Vere up in a Polish castle, until eventually he and Corrèze fight a duel, in which Corrèze is shot in the throat, never to sing again. Eventually, Vere obtains a divorce, marries Corrèze, and lives out her life with him quietly in the country, shunning high society. These are the opening lines:

"Lady Dolly ought to have been perfectly happy. She had everything that can constitute the joys of a woman of her epoch. She was at Trouville. She had won heaps of money at play. She had made a correct book on the races. She had seen her chief rival looking bilious in an unbecoming gown. She had a letter from her husband to say he was going away to Java or Jupiter or somewhere indefinitely. She wore a costume which had cost a great tailor twenty hours of anxious and continuous reflection ... She had dined the night before at the Maison Persanne and would dine this night at the Maison Normande. She had been told a state secret by a minister which she knew was shameful of him to have been coaxed and chaffed into revealing ... Above all, she was at Trouville, having left half a million of debts behind her strewn about in all directions, and standing free as air in gossamer garments on the planks in the summer sunshine ... She had floated and bobbed and swum and splashed semi-nude, with all the other mermaids à la mode, and had shown that she must still be a pretty woman, pretty even in the daylight, or the men would not have looked at her so: and yet it with all this she was not enjoying herself..."

Thursday, July 20

Have been very lazy at writing, not having touched my diary since last week. Last Thursday, we went to the Alhambra - Willie, Charley, two friends of Willie's, and I enjoyed it very much. The ballets were "Chicago" and "Fidelio".

On Saturday evening Mr Malcolm came here, and we went to the Pavilion. Mr Cotterell, Charley, Mr M, and I after coming out, we all went to the Movies, had supper. We missed our last bus, and Mr M his last train, so he had to come and stay all night at No 5; Mr M and Charley walked home and Mr C took me home in a hansom.

Sunday was wet and not fit to go out, so we had to amuse ourselves in the house all day; in fact it has been wet all this week, and not fit to go sightseeing.

Last night we promised to meet Mr M at Charing Cross Station to go to the Shaftesbury Theatre to see "Morocco Bound", but it was such a dreadful night, wet and miserable, we all stayed at home and disappointed him.

The Alhambra's distinctive Moorish architecture dominated the east side of Leicester Square for over 80 years. Opened in 1854 as exhibition center, when it re-opened as a theater in 1860, it could seat 3,500 people on 4 tiers.

The period 1890-1910 was its heyday as a music hall, during which it staged over 100 spectacular ballets, written by Georges Jacobi, including Chicago and Fidelio. It was demolished in 1936, and the Odeon cinema was built on the site.

Chicago, by Agoust, Gredelne, and Jacobi, starred Mlle Pollini, supported by Ms Hooton, Henri Agoust, the Almoutis, and the Corps de Ballet. Fidelia, a "new grand romantic ballet in four tableaux" by Gredelne and Jacobi, had scenery by Ryan, Perking, and Harker, costumes by Alias, and starred Mlle.s Pollini, Ponro, Carmani, Paganini Redivivus, and George Lupino.

As an interlude between the two ballets, Mlle Mealy and M. Fugere of the Paris Gaite sang a selection from new Planquette's opera Le Talisman, followed by a number of variety acts.

Alhambra Theater, Leicester Square

Friday, July 21

For a wonder it is fine, about the first fine day this week. After a late breakfast, Mrs W and I go to the dressmaker in Kennington Lane for a new dress and shawl she had been having made and, after getting back and having lunch we have a very enjoyable afternoon at Clapham Common.

I had no idea Clapham was such a nice and fashionable part of London. We went on top of the tram, passed some lovely houses with large gardens, also some beautiful shops. After getting off the tram, we made our way to the Common, which is more like a beautiful park; there are two or three lakes in different parts of it, and some beautiful old oaks. One had been planted by Captain Cooke about 130 years ago. There was a nice refreshment room close by where we had tea.

I looked for the Grammar School where Pa was educated, saw several Gentlemen's Schools, but could not find out which one it was. We came from the Common, had a good look at all the shops about, then came home on the tram, just in time for another tea.

Clapham Common

The story of the oak tree planted by Captain James Cook is a local legend: although his widow lived in the High Street until 1835, she did not move to Clapham until nine years after her husband's death in Hawaii in 1779. Ada did not find the Grammar School - which was located in Clapham High Street, opposite Manor Street - because it had closed ten years earlier in 1882. It became a furniture depository for the company of Rugg & Sons. The Lee family had lived in Clapham in the 1850s, after Ada's grandfather, William Lee, moved there from Sheffield in 1848, when he became one of the first inspectors at the General Board of Health. Ada's father, James Lee, would have attended Clapham Grammar School until about 1854.

The Grammar School was headed from 1834-62 by the noted educational reformer Charles Pritchard. He pioneered teaching designed to develop a "habit of thinking" and also provide resources for "the leisure hours of the maturer life". He was a talented and enthusiastic teacher, and one of the first to make use of a blackboard. In addition to Latin and Greek, mathematics, geometry, and religion, his curriculum introduced instruction in science, music and, as a recreation, swimming. The School admitted boys of between ten and twelve, and educated them until the age of sixteen, for an annual tuition fee of 20 guineas. Many famous men sent their sons there; including Charles Darwin and the astronomers John Herschel and George Airy. Many famous men were educated there; including George Grove, director of the Royal College of Music, C P Scott, editor of the Manchester Guardian for over 50 years, as well as numerous distinguished scientists.

Saturday, July 22

Did not go out in the morning, but about one o'clock went to meet Charley at Hyde Park Corner (on his way home from business). I took the halfpenny tram part of the way, and walked the rest. Arrived there too soon so took a seat and waited, he arrived to time.

We walked through Piccadilly and went through the Burlington Arcade, a place where the shops are a perfect dream, and where royalty and all the most fashionable people do their shopping.

Went through Bond Street and several of the principal streets, then took the bus to St Paul's, where just in time for the four o'clock service. After coming from there, we went into an Italian café and had some refreshments, chocolate, etc.

Then made our way home, had tea, and started for the Canterbury Music Hall - where Amy Somers is performing. There was a good program and we enjoyed it fairly well - got home in good time, the Hall being only about a quarter of an hour's walk from home.

Burlington Arcade has been a covered shopping arcade in the continental style ever since it was built in 1819. The shops always catered to the rich and aristocratic; many foreign-owned and dealing in hosiery, bonnets, ladies boots, walking canes, Paris fashions, and "knick-knackery".

The Canterbury, in Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth, was London's oldest music hall. Opened on the site of the skittle alley of the Canterbury Tavern, by 1876 it was a 1500-seat, 3-tier theater. It was patronized by royalty such as the Prince of Wales, and its bar was a favorite hangout of music-hall performers. It was destroyed by German bombing in 1942. That night featured "the wonderful Flying Eugenes in the marvelous aerial performance, in which the renowned Tom Eugene will accomplish his great head dive through the sliding roof, a distance of over 75, an act justly termed "the Surrey-side

sensation". An entirely new pantomime, The Keyhole by Paul Martinetti, and a screaming farce entitled All Mixed Up.

Sunday, July 23

In the morning we go to St Alban's, the church which Charley attends. It is very high - the singing was grand, the leading treble boy sang a solo. I never heard such a lovely voice in a boy. I could have listened to it all day. The preacher was Father Stanton.

We came along the Strand, through Whitehall, across Westminster Bridge, then got a tram the rest of the way home. The afternoon and evening turned out wet, otherwise we intended all going to Hyde Park to hear the band.

In the morning I wrote a few letters, and in the afternoon Mr Cotterell took me to South Kensington. This is a very fashionable district. We went to service at the Convent, which only lasted twenty minutes. The choir consisted of hymns and the singing was very solemn; after coming from there, we went into the Carmelite Church, another very beautiful edifice. We came from there, had a look at the fine shops, then went into an Italian café and had chocolate and French pastry, which we both did full justice to.

Then got a bus to Hyde Park Corner and walked up Park Lane to Farm St Jesuit Church; this is also a very beautiful church. It was then about eight o'clock as we hurried from there, got a bus in Constitution Hill to Victoria, then took another bus right home to the Oval. Found Charley at home wondering where we had got to.

St Alban the Martyr, Holborn

St Alban the Martyr, Holborn, was the church of a new parish established in 1863 (and largely destroyed by German bombs in 1941). Under its first vicar, Father Mackonochie, and curate of 50 years, Arthur Henry Stanton, St Alban's became a center of the Victorian Anglo-Catholic revival. Lord Shaftesbury described the service as "intoned and sung by priests with white surplices and green stripes ... clouds upon clouds of incense ... a scene as I never saw before even in a Romish Temple." To adherents, the attraction of its services was the a mixture of ritual, pure Gregorian music, evangelical hymns, with the fiery preaching of Fr Stanton.

"The congregation" wrote the Times was "by no means composed of humble persons, even though the church is situated in a poor neighbourhood. Some evidently belong to fashionable society, while scarcely any are below a respectable middle class." The paper also remarked on the prevalence in the congregation of "young men of 19 or 20 years of age" - city workers like Charlie Lee - who seemed "to have the intricacies of Ritualism at their fingers' ends".

Monday, July 24

It being a busy day in the house in the morning, I took little Sydney out for a walk. I had one or two shops to call at; just as I got out met Mrs Somers, so went with her a good way along Clapham Road. Then after leaving her, went into Kennington Park. It is a very pretty park; the flowers are arranged beautifully. A band also plays here every Sunday evening.

We got back home in time for lunch. In the afternoon did some sewing and in the evening, when all the gentlemen were in, went out, but I must not say where...

Tuesday, July 25

Stayed in nearly all day, only went as far as Kennington Park Road to the jewelers and back - was busy sewing.

Friday, July 28

Did not write up my diary the three days between this and the last date; felt lazy at writing and in fact forgotten a lot that has happened as I have neglected it for nearly a fortnight, but I have been to Margate for a week since then it is quite excusable. On this date, Willie wrote asking me to meet him at his office, so I went by the Electric and, on arriving at the office, he proposed as he was taking his holidays the next day Saturday, I should go with him to Margate for the weekend; also Charley if he wished. I was only too delighted as I had often wished to see the place.

We had a talk over, then he came on to the Oval with me - had tea and arranged with Charley and I to meet him next day at his office, which we did. Took a cab to Fenchurch St Station and went by tram to Tilbury, and from there by steamer, which takes three hours to Margate. We enjoyed the sail immensely, and dinner on board in the Saloon; it was grand, there was also a band on board.

A friend of Willie's was there to meet us - but I forgot some friends of his traveled with us, stayed at the same hotel, the Queen's Arms. Arriving there and having some refreshments, we spent the evening at the Hall-by-the-Sea - a splendid place, something like Derby Castle, Isle of Man, only much better. There is a variety entertainment before the dancing commences. I enjoyed a good waltz, then we went into the grounds. They are very pretty, all fairy lamps and fountains; then we were interested in seeing the animals - quite a menagerie in the grounds, of course, enclosed in.

After this, we all went back to the hotel to supper.

Steamers arriving at Margate Jetty

Steamers from London docked at the iron Jetty in Margate, which was built in 1855 and was in use up until 1978 when it was destroyed in a storm. In the above picture, the steamer Royal Sovereign is arriving from the left just as the Koh-i-Noor is leaving for Ramsgate (on the right). The Queen's Arms was a well-established hotel located in Market Street, just off Margate's Promenade. The hotel's owner, Frederick Lilley, advertised it as a family and commercial hotel, with billiards, catering for large parties, livery, and bait stables.

The Hall-by-the-Sea and Zoological Gardens was owned by the famous circus-proprietor "Lord" George Sanger. It was housed in a huge building that had been the terminus of the South Eastern Railway, which Sanger had enclosed in cement walls to give it the appearance of an old abbey. The old booking-hall provided a large concert hall-cum-ballroom, whose bar boasted no fewer than 48 beer pumps. The gardens had white statuary, including one of David with his sling 30' high, fountains, colored fairy lights strung between the trees, and a caged menagerie of curious and rare animals that were either sick or superfluous for Sanger's traveling circus.

Sunday, July 30

A lovely morning; Willie, Charley, and I got out for a row. It was really delightful; the rest would not go; they were afraid. We stayed on the water some time, then landed and met our friends; had a walk on the pier, then back to dinner.

We were awfully sorry Charley had to return to London by boat, leaving Margate 4.30. He had to be at business on the Monday morning, so was obliged to go; we all saw him off. After this, we all went by one of the Brakes to Ramsgate; this is also a very pretty seaside place, but I much prefer Margate. We wandered about, then went into a café on the Parade, and had tea. A storm had been threatening, and we had not been inside many minutes, when the rain came down in torrents. We also had thunder and lightening. We thought it best to return by train and, as the station was quite near, we were fortunate to escape without getting wet.

It was fine when we arrived in Margate, so we went for a walk on the Jetty before going home.

The Jetty, Margate

Monday, July 31

Willie and I went down to the Pier before breakfast; had a look through his telescope at the different steamers in the distance and, after having a good blow, went back to the hotel.

At 12.30, Mr and Mrs Colle, Willie and I started by train for Dover. It is an hour and a half's ride. I was rather disappointed in the place. There is not much to see, but it is very pleasant on the Parade; of course we were visiting friends. The Sondheims have a furnished house there for six weeks; the house is beautifully situated, being right in front of the sea. We intended, while there, having a row but the boatman very kindly informed us it would be squally, so we decided to forego that pleasure.

Willie and I left the Colles with their relations and got back by an early train. Both of us not being very sorry to see the last of Dover, with its chalk cliffs. We called at Willie's friends, the Townleys, but they were out, so we had a walk round, then went on to the Extension and heard the band play. After coming off, had a look at the shops and Willie bought me some silver bangles for a present.

Marine Parade, Dover

Tuesday, August 1

After breakfast called for the Townleys and all made our way to the fort, and from there on to the shore and, as Mr Townley is an Amateur Photographer and had his camera with him, we all had our photos taken three times - once all in a group sitting on the sand, then Will and I taken together standing, and the last was taken all leaning over a bridge over what they call the new cutting leading to the sands.

Afterwards we went to the other side of the jetty on the sands and had our photos took as a group for a shilling - not so bad, but I was laughing too much in mine.

After dinner the gentlemen hired an open conveyance and we had a lovely drive to the North Foreland Lighthouse. It is very interesting as you can see through powerful glasses all over the country and out to sea.

We drove back and after tea, went to the Assembly Rooms, where there was a grand concert and ball afterwards. This is an awfully grand place; everything is done in style, waiters with powered hair and knee breeches, and the retiring rooms were simple grand.

The North Foreland Lighthouse marks the southern entrance to the river Thames and warns shipping of the hazards of Margate Roads. It is the oldest working lighthouse in England; the first light having been erected in 1499, and the present structure built in 1691. The light stands 78' above the ground and 188' above sea level, and its beam is visible thirty miles away at the Nore.

North Foreland Lighthouse

Wednesday, August 2

Stayed in Margate as one of the party was leaving for London in the evening. We were out the whole day, went to the Fort, stopped and listened to several things through the Phonograph, one an amusing dialog between husband and wife, another a song by Arthur Roberts, a piccolo solos, cornet solo, and a band playing: they were all very good. Went further on and had some refreshments.

In the evening, we all went to the station to see Mr Townley off, and finished up by going to the Hall-by-the-Sea, where they had a change of programs.

Arthur Roberts (1852-1933) enjoyed a long career as a Music Hall comedian and entertainer. He was in his prime in the 1890s, and often played before the Prince of Wales. On the evening of the Royal Wedding, a month earlier, Roberts headlined the program at London's Gaiety Theatre with his hit song: "Daddy wouldn't buy me a bow-wow". Arthur Roberts was also originator of the word "spoof"; it being the name of a card game involving nonsense and trickery that he invented in the 1880s.

Arthur Roberts in character

Thursday, August 3

In the morning Mrs Townley and I go out for a long walk before breakfast.

Also after breakfast, we all meet and go out somewhere, then early in the afternoon, we go by one of the Brakes to Broadstairs. This is a very pretty little place indeed. (Dickens) Bleak House stands very high facing the sea. We wander about and had a good look over the place, then returning by train home to Margate.

Have a late tea and then go on to the Extensions to hear the band play. This is very enjoyable, as you hear good music and see so many people promenading up and down. There is also a splendid refreshment room close by, which we patronized. The band finished at about 10 o'clock every evening - so we had plenty of time for another walk before bedtime.

Bleak House was known as Fort House when it was built as a fort in 1790. It was Charles Dickens' summer home from 1851 until his death in 1870. In the study overlooking the North Sea, Dickens completed David Copperfield and the outline for the book which gave the house its name.

Bleak House, Broadstairs

Friday, August 4

Fort Bandstand, Margate

Went out first thing to get an appetite for breakfast. The air is really lovely in Margate, so bracing and fresh.

Then afterwards we all set out to go into the town to the shops, but when on our way we were caught in a dreadful downpour of rain. Had to take shelter in an hotel, where we stay about an hour and during that time get quite chummy with the people in the hotel. After the storm cleared off, we went to the Arcade as I wanted to get one or two little presents to take back to London with me the following day.

In the afternoon we walk along the Parade, have a look at the niggers on the sands; they are very amusing and were having the funeral of Poor Cock Robin, with a procession of children and the band playing the death march. We thought of driving to Westgate but changed our minds.

In the evening, went to hear the band playing on the Fort. Margate is well off for bands. There is also what they call the Town Band.

The Illustrated London News of 1885 praised Margate's air above its supposed vulgarity: "the sea air of Margate is certainly more bracing than that of the other coasts of Kent, and much more than anywhere on the Sussex coast. The aspect of the town is rather north-west; it occupies a valley and the hills at each side, the cliffs extending grandly to the east, with fine breezy downs, to Kingsgate and the North Foreland. As a "Gate of Health" no place can be better, and the finest possible sea air, if health be the object, is worth a little sacrifice of genteel exclusiveness."

When Ada refers to the "niggers" on the sands, she means dark (ie deeply sun-tanned), and probably poor children. The ancient nursery rhyme Who Killed Cock Robin? is believed to be either an allegory of the death of Robin Hood or, in a later version, of the fall of prime minister Robert Walpole's government in 1742: "all the birds of the air fell a-sighing and a-sobbing, when they heard the bell toll for poor Cock Robin".

Saturday, August 5

My last day in Margate. Willie and I go out by ourselves in the morning, and walk along the fort a good way past the flagstaff. He had his telescope and we were looking for the different vessels out at sea. Arriving back, we had dinner and I got my things together. Willie proposed for me to stay until the following Tuesday, as he had holiday until then, but as he was going to Dover by boat on the Saturday and would possibly not be in Margate all the while, I thought I would return to London, as the following Monday was Bank Holiday and Charley would be at home. They all saw me off by boat. I felt a bit nervous at traveling alone.

I came by the "Royal Sovereign", a splendid steamer: the saloon is fitted up beautifully. Fortunately a very nice young lady spoke to me almost as soon as I got on deck, and we kept together until the end of the journey. We got to Tilbury about 7.30 - about three hours sail, then took train to Fenchurch Street; there Charley and Smallwood met me and escorted me home. I don't know when I enjoyed a week's holiday so much. Mrs Wilson was pleased to see me back and had a nice supper waiting for me.

The 900 ton paddle-steamer Royal Sovereign, known as "London's favorite steamer", operated from the Old Swan Pier, at London Bridge. From there, the conductor could be heard calling: "This wye for the Sovering - the Royal Sovering! Passengers for Southend pass on to the houter boat. Passengers for Margit and Ramsgit on the Sovering - the Royal Sovereign! Show your tickets, please! This wye for Margit!" From London, she steamed down river to Southend, Margate and Ramsgate. Newly-built in 1893, the Royal Sovereign featured retractable funnels and a hinged mast that allowed her to sail under London Bridge, as well as a barber, shops, and numerous facilities on board for saloon passengers.

Paddle Steamer "Royal Sovereign"

Sunday, August 6

In the morning I go with Charley to St Alban's; it is a good distance as we take the train from Kennington Park and then take the Halfpenny Bus and even then have a good distance to walk. In the afternoon, Mr Malcolm and his mother (who is in London for a few days) come to tea, and in the evening we all go to the Brompton Oratory. It is very enjoyable as the singing is grand and the building so fine. The alters are inlaid marble of different colors, the candlesticks real gold, and the altar cloths are trimmed with priceless lace. After coming from there, we take the train from South Kensington home.

Finally completed in 1893, the Brompton Oratory in Kensington, was the first Catholic church to be built in London since the Reformation. Officially it is the Oratory of St Philip Neri; the Oratorians being an order brought to England by Cardinal Newman after his conversion in 1845.

The building purposefully used ornate Italian baroque style to create a Roman atmosphere, with marble columns, Venetian mosaics, carved wood, alters inlaid with precious stones, and ancient statues from Sienna. It is still renowned for its music and singing today.

Brompton Oratory

Monday, August 7

Being the Bank Holiday and a grand Cricket Match on at the Oval, we do not go out anywhere, but watch the match. The day was intensely hot and I was sorry to be indoors. In the evening, we all go to Paddington Station to see Mrs Wilson and Sydney off to Swansea.

The cricket match was Surrey playing Nottinghamshire in the County Championship; the first day of a two-day game. It was Surrey's last home game of the 1893 season, attended by a standing-room only crowd of 24,000. Surrey won by 10 wickets, thanks largely to the bowling of WH Lockwood, who took 5 wickets for an average of 9 runs each. Notts, who won the toss, scored just 120 in their first innings and were dismissed in under two hours. By close of play Monday, Surrey had reached 190 for 5. That year was the only year between 1887 and 1895 that Surrey did not win the Championship. A week later, from 14-16 August, the Oval hosted the 2nd Test Match of 1893's Ashes series, in which England, captained by WG Grace and including Lockwood, beat the Australians.

Mrs Wilson was returning to her hometown of Porthcawl, near Swansea.

Surrey County Cricket Club (Lockwood is back row, left)

Tuesday, August 8

In the morning, go out myself to Kennington Park Road to do a little shopping. Stay in during the afternoon, the heat is so great, but in the evening Charley and I go for a walk towards Clapham.

Wednesday, August 9

Mrs Somers called in the morning and the afternoon Charley and I go to Streatham Common. This is a very pretty place; one would almost forget they were in London, it is so open and countrified. We walk from here to Brixton and go in to see a new Library and Reading Room given by Henry Tate, then take train to Streatham after resting a while and enjoying the fresh air, we return home, first taking the bus, then the train.

The Tate Library, Brixton

The Tate Library, Brixton, opened in 1893 and is still in use today. It was one of several free libraries donated to the boroughs of Battersea, Brixton, and Streatham by Henry Tate, the sugar magnate and philanthropist. The gardens in front of the library were given to Brixton by Tate's widow some years later, but as recently as 1892 the land still had sheep grazing on it. The tower on the left belonged to the Brixton Theatre - still under construction in 1893 - which was destroyed by bombing in WWII.

Tate, inventor of the sugar cube, lived nearby at Park Hill in Streatham Common. His most famous gift was of his art collection to the nation, along with money for the construction of the Tate Gallery at Millbank.

Thursday, August 10

I go to Clapham Road in the afternoon to see Mrs Somers and Amy. She gave me a pass to go that evening to the Trocadero to see her perform, so Charley and I go and enjoy it very much. The Hall is very prettily got up, all blue plush and white enamel. We occupy two plush chairs close to the orchestra.

The Trocadero Music Hall was on the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Great Windmill Street, just off Piccadilly Circus. It had originally opened as the Argyle Rooms back in 1849. During August 1893, it advertised a "special engagement of a most varied and talented company" every evening at 7:30 pm. Today, the "Pepsi Trocadero" claims to be the largest indoor entertainment park in Europe.

On the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Coventry Street is the Pavilion theater, which Ada visited on 15 July with Mr Malcolm. The now-famous statue of Eros in the center of Piccadilly Circus by Alfred Gilbert, R.A., erected in memory of the great social reformer Lord Shaftesbury, had only recently been unveiled at the end of June 1893.

Piccadilly Circus (Trocadero is at the left of the Pavilion)

Friday, August 11

Another hot day. Just go out for a short walk in the morning but do not intend going out again until the evening when it is cooler. It seems almost too great a bore to more about. Finished my second book since being in London, called "The Soul of Lilith" by Marie Corelli.

Marie Corelli was the most popular author of the 1890s. Her novels of the supernatural and romance were a favorite of Queen Victoria and the Duke of York who, she boasted, had once invited her to dine with him. Henry Irving and other artists of the day were among her friends.

The Soul of Lilith, published in 1892, was one of Corelli's most famous novels. An Arabian, El-Rami, possessed of the powers of an Indian fakir, injects fluid into the veins of a newly-dead Egyptian baby, Lilith. This brings her back to life, and she grows up a docile entirely subject to his will. El-Rami boasts of this to a monk, Heliobas, who warns that even if he has kept her body alive, he has no control over her soul. El-Rami claims he can master her soul but, in the process, falls in love with her. When he declares his passion, Lilith crumbles to dust before his eyes, leaving him to spend his days a hopeless lunatic in a monastery in Cyprus.

In the earlier Corelli book that Ada read, Thelma, a 600-page novel published in 1887, the heroine, a Norwegian peasant girl, meets Sir Philip Bruce-Errington, a rich Englishman cruising the fjords in his yacht. After a stormy romance, Errington takes Thelma on a grand tour of Europe, before bringing her to England, where she suffers a delusions, ending with her fleeing back to Norway, convinced her husband has betrayed her with a third-rate actress. This turns out to be untrue, and after many twists, the couple are reunited and live happily ever after. Here is a sample of what Ada was reading from Thelma:

Marie Corelli

Thelma: "I felt a little sad"

"Thelma's lips quivered. ''I - I am not well, Britta" she murmured, and suddenly he self-control gave way, and she broke into tears. In an instant Britta was kneeling by her, coaxing and caressing her, and calling her by every endearing name she could think of, while she wisely forbore from asking any more questions. Presently her sobs grew calmer - she rested her fair head against Britta's shoulder and smiled faintly.

At that moment a light tap was heard outside, and a voice called: "Thelma! Are you there?". Britta opened the door, and Sir Philip entered hurriedly and smiling - but stopped short to survey his wife in dismay. "Why, my darling!" he exclaimed distressfully. "Have you been crying?"

Here the discreet Britta retired. Thelma sprang to her husband and nestled in his arms. "Philip, do not mind it" she murmured. "I felt a little sad - it is nothing! But tell me - you do love me? You will never tire of me? You have always loved me, I am sure?

He raised her face gently with one hand, and looked at her in surprise. "Thelma - what strange questions from you! Love you? Is not every beat of my heart for you? Are you not my life, my joy - my everything in this world?" And he pressed her passionately in his arms and kissed her. "You have never loved any one else so much?" she whispered, half abashed

"Never!" he answered readily. "What makes you ask such a thing?" She was silent. He looked down at her flushing cheeks and tear-wet lashes attentively. "You are fanciful today, my pet" he said at last. "You have been tiring yourself too much. You must rest. You'd better not go to the Brilliant Theatre tonight - it's only a burlesque, and is sure to be vulgar and noisy. We'll stop at home and spend a quiet evening together."

Saturday, August 12

Do not go out in the morning, but about 2 o'clock Charley and I go by Electric Railway to Willie's office; there make arrangements for him to spend the following Monday evening...

The Oval was the last station before the terminus of the City & South London Railway at Stockwell. The C&SLR (now part of the Northern Line) ran just over 3 miles, north from Stockwell and under the river Thames to King William Street in the City of London (a now-disused station near the current Bank station). Ada mentions taking it on several occasions.

Originally destined to have cable haulage, like that used by San Francisco cable cars, the C&SLR opened in 1890 as the world's first deep electric railway. Excavated by tunneling rather than the "cut and cover" method of earlier steam railways, it soon became known as the "Tube". The route was popular with the public, though never a commercial success due to limited capacity (96 people) and a lack of power that led to blackouts. The first carriages were narrow, with high-backed, cushioned seats and no windows - causing Londoners to refer to them as "padded cells".

London's Electric Railway

The Diary ends ...

Almost exactly two years later, on 20 July 1895, Ada was married at St Mark's Church, Kennington, to Arthur Hanham, a pharmacist. At the time, they were both boarding with Mrs Wilson at 5 Kennington Oval.

Over years to come, as they started to raise a family of four girls, they continued living in Kennington. Around 1900 they moved to Dulwich, and again in the 1920's to Forest Hill. Ada and Arthur lived in that area for South London for the rest of their lives. Ada died in Lee on 30 July 1943, aged 79, two years after her husband.

Primary Sources:

Diary of Ada Clara Lee, 3 Jul-12 Aug 1893 (family document)
Letter to Ada Clara Lee from an admirer, "Willie", 28 January 1885 (family document)

Secondary Sources:

1891 and 1901 censuses [Public Record Office, London]
Kelly's Directory of Kent: 1882 & 1903, Digital Library of Historical Directories
Bradshaw's Railway Guide: April 1910, reprinted by Augustus M Kelley, New York, 1968
The Illustrated London News: 22 Aug 1885 [San Francisco Public Library]
The Daily Telegraph: July 3-August 12 1893 [British Library Newspaper Library, Colindale]
The Times: 7 July 1893 [San Francisco Public Library]
The Stage: July 1893 [British Library Newspaper Library, Colindale]
The Diary of a Nobody, George and Weedon Grossmith, London, 1892
Henry Irving: the Actor and his World, Laurence Irving, New York, 1952
The Life of Henry Irving, Austin Brereton, London, 1908
Thelma, Marie Corelli, London, 1887
The Soul of Lilith, Marie Corelli, London, 1892
Marie Corelli: the woman and the legend, Eileen Bigland, London, 1953
Moths, Ouida, London, 1880
The Fine and the Wicked: the life and times of Ouida, Monica Stirling, New York, 1958
The Story of Southwark Cathedral, Horace Monroe, London, 1933
Saint Alban the Martyr, Holborn: a History of Fifty Years, George W E Russell, London, 1912
London At Play: on Margate Sands, Elizabeth Robins Pennell in Century Magazine, Aug 1897, vol 54, #4
The Sanger Story, John Lukens and George Sanger Coleman, London, 1956
Fifty Years of Spoof, Arthur Roberts, London, 1927
First-Class Cricket Matches: 1893, Association of Cricket Statisticians, Nottingham
A Souvenir of the Centenary of Surrey Cricket: 1845-1945, Surrey County Cricket Club, Croydon, 1945
Ideal Homes: suburbia in focus: Lambeth
Clapham, Eric E F Smith, Lambeth, 1976
Annals of Our School Life, Charles Pritchard, DD, FRS, Oxford (for private distribution), 1886
Oxford Companion to the Theatre, ed. Phyllis Hartnoll, Oxford, 1983
Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, ed. Iona and Peter Opie, Oxford, 1997
Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford, 1989
Edison National Historic Site
National Museum of Photography, Film & Television
London's Transport Museum

Acknowledgements:

David Ainsworth at the Wandsworth Local History Service, Battersea, London for information about Clapham.

Illustrations:

Ada Clara Lee (family photograph)
Ada's brother, Charley Lee (family photograph)
The Kodak advertisement (Illustrated London News, 6 July 1889)
London General Omnibus Company Horse Bus, 1906 (postcard: Pamlin Prints, Croydon)
Electric Avenue, Brixton (postcard: Stengel & Co, London, c1904)
Rotten Row, Hyde Park (postcard: S Hildesheimer & Co, London, c1904)
The Duke of York and Princess Mary (Yorkshire Weekly Post, 13 May 1893)
The Royal Family on Buckingham Palace Balcony (Illustrated London News, 10 July 1893)
Wedding Illuminations at the Bank of England and Royal Exchange (Illustrated London News, 10 July 1893)
Kennington Oval: Surrey v Australians, May 29-30, 1893 (print from photo by E Hawkins & Co, Brighton)
Program from the Empire, Leicester Square (2 Sep 1895)
The Imperial Institute, Knightsbridge (postcard: Raphael Tuck: Silverette, London Series IV, #1808, c1910)
Henry Irving as Cardinal Wolsey (tradecard: Felix Potin Chocolates, France, 1920, from photo by W&D Downey)
St Saviour's Church, Southwark (from Story of Southwark Cathedral...)
Alhambra Theater: "New Garden in Leicester Square, opened Thursday" (Illustrated London News, 1874)
Clapham Common (postcard: Rush & Warwick, Bedford, c1905)
Burlington Arcade (postcard: Raphael Tuck's View Series, c1904)
St Alban the Martyr, Holborn (from Saint Alban the Martyr...)
Margate Jetty (Illustrated London News, Aug 22, 1885)
Steamers arriving at Margate Jetty (postcard: Hartmann, c1903)
The Jetty, Margate (postcard: Wellington Series, G&P Ltd, c1907)
Marine Parade, Dover (postcard: Valentine's Series, c1900)
North Foreland Lighthouse (Illustrated London News, 22 Aug 1885)
Some of Arthur Roberts' Characters (from Fifty Years of Spoof...)
Bleak House, Broadstairs (postcard: Frith's Series, c1903)
Fort Bandstand, Margate (postcard: R Robinson & Co, Margate, c1900)
Paddle Steamer "Royal Sovereign" (postcard: New Palace Steamers Ltd, London, c1906)
Brompton Oratory (postcard: Hartmann, c1905)
Surrey Cricket Club, 1895 (from Centenary of Surrey Cricket...)
The Tate Library, Brixton (postcard: c1900)
Piccadilly Circus (postcard, c1909)
Marie Corelli (from her novel The Secret Power, 3rd Ed., London, 1921)
Thelma: I felt a little sad (illustration by W.E.B Starkweather from edition by RF Fenno & Co, New York, 1902)
London's Electric Railway (postcard: Underground at Piccadilly, 1906)
St Mark's Church, Kennington (postcard: AFC Series, c1907)

Roger Williams

The Diary of Ada Clara Lee

The Diary of Ada Clara Lee

Summer 1893: A Victorian Holiday in London and Margate

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