My Brush With The Bard - Part Three - Marie Corelli

 I have a great fondness for eccentric folk, most especially women. Discovering the Mitford sisters many years ago was a great joy. One that led me eventually to a move to Derbyshire, where during the late 20th century the baby of the family, Deborah became the Duchess of Devonshire. What an absolutely fabulous life she led.

I was therefore, delighted when our Stratford Upon Avon tour guide Owen, not a stranger to flamboyance and eccentricty himself, told us all about a famous local lady who was kind and eccentric in equal measure.

Marie Corelli as she was known locally was in fact born Mary Mackay in 1855, she moved to SUA in 1899. She was a very successful writer of romantic novels and earned a huge fortune in the process. Marie by all accounts a diminutive figure lived with her companion of forty years Bertha Vyver who towered above her. When Marie died she left everything she owned to Bertha.

I think these two pics of Marie are quite charming revealing her artistic nature. She seemed to have a happy and fulfilled life and set her sights on spreading the love.

She was a conservationist long before it was a recognised thing and indeed a great philanthropist. She did so much for SUA to conserve and protect it using her own funds and she was instrumental in setting up organisations to sustain her good works. The local children also benefited from her generosity as she paid for 1000s of outings and trips to the circus, theatre and parks for them.

She lived a big life, she even had her own mini gondola made, complete with authentic gondolier, so she could cruise the local waterways in style. Owen showed us the secret tunnel she had in the local park, that saved her from prying eyes when she and said gondolier forayed forth.

What a kind and wonderfully eccentric lady.

If you want to read more about Marie click here.