Rose Massey (c.1845 in England – 23 July 1883 in New York City) was a 19th-century British stage actress. She was the mother of the also actress

Blanche Massey Ellen Mary Blanche Henderson Massey (16 April 1868 – 27 September 1929) was a British actress and a Gaiety Girl best known for her stage appearances in London and the United States in the 1890s. Among her appearances in many productions with ...

Biography

Rose Mary Massey was born around 1845 in England, daughter of Mary and Robert Massey. Massey first appeared at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre in Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in July 1867, playing the role of Mary Meredith in ''

Our American Cousin ''Our American Cousin'' is a three-act play by English playwright Tom Taylor. It is a farce featuring awkward, boorish American Asa Trenchard, who is introduced to his aristocratic English relatives when he goes to England to claim the family e ...

'', but later gained attention in her 1871 performance as Fatima in ''Blue Beard'' at the

Covent Garden Theatre The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

.Pascoe, Charles, E
The Dramatic List
p. 259-60 (1880) Her

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

debut was in February 1869, in ''The Field of the Cloth of Gold'' at Wood's Museum.Hutton, Lawrence
Curiosities of the American stage
p. 178 (1891) Massey had a relationship with the artist agent Alexander "Alex" Henderson (1828-1886) (father of writer

Effie Adelaide Rowlands Effie Adelaide Maria Henderson (later Rowlands and Albanesi; c.1859 – 16 October 1936) was a British novelist, better known under the pen names Effie Adelaide Rowlands, E. Maria Albanesi and Madame Albanesi. She was the author of more than 1 ...

and later spouse of

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

producer

Lydia Thompson Lydia Thompson (born Eliza Thompson; 19 February 1838 – 17 November 1908), was an English dancer, comedian, actor and theatrical producer. From 1852, as a teenager, she danced and performed in pantomimes, in the UK and then in Europe and so ...

). That relationship produced a daughter, Ellen

(1868-1929), also an actress.(7 October 1894)
Personal and Other Jottings
''The Morning Call'' Massey played a number of roles opposite actor Henry James Montague, whom she followed to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and later sued in 1875 for

breach of promise Breach of promise is a common-law tort, abolished in many jurisdictions. It was also called breach of contract to marry,N.Y. Civil Rights Act article 8, §§ 80-A to 84. and the remedy awarded was known as heart balm. From at least the Middle ...

to marry. She claimed to have a son fathered by Montague, and it made a stir when Massey also released "sappy" letters to her from Montague.(7 September 1878)
Actor Montague (Obituary), ''Fort Wayne Daily Sentinel''
/ref> That case ended, however, when Montague died in 1878.Brown, T. Allston
A history of the New York stage, Vol. II
(1903)Gänzl, Kurt
Lydia Thompson, queen of burlesque
(2002)The Rialto A Generation Ago
''Theatre Magazine'' (August 1912, p. 58-60)(17 July 1875)
Odds and Ends
''Otago Witness'' Massey died of

consumption Consumption may refer to: * Eating *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically known as consumption * Consumer (food chain), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of n ...

in New York on July 23, 1883 and is buried at

Green-Wood Cemetery Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope, Brooklyn, South Slope/Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn, Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, Win ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

References

External links

* * Year of birth uncertain 1840s births 1883 deaths 19th-century English actresses English stage actresses 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in New York (state) {{US-theat-actor-1850s-stub