Edith Ostlere

Edith Ostlere
A white woman photographed in profile, in an oval frame
Edith Ostlere, from a 1908 publication
Born
Edith Elizabeth Bury

12 August 1871
Surbiton, Surrey, England, U.K.
Died12 September 1931
London, England, U.K.
Other namesRobert Ord (pseudonym), Edith Lapthorne, Edith Gayer Mackay
Occupation(s)Actress, playwright
SpouseW. Gayer Mackay

Edith Elizabeth Bury Gayer Mackay (12 August 1871[1] – 12 September 1931[2]), known as Edith Ostlere, was a British actress, writer, and playwright. She used the pseudonym Robert Ord.

Career

Ostlere's stage credits in Great Britain included roles in The Double Marriage (1888),[3] Paul Kauvar (1894),[4] A Gaiety Girl (1895),[5] One of the Best (1895–1896),[6] A Bunch of Violets (1896–1897),[7] The Seats of the Mighty (1896–1897),[8] The Baron's Wager (1897),[9] More than Ever (1897),[9] The King's Outcast (1899),[10] The Man in the Iron Mask (1899)[11] Kenyon's Widow, The Squire, A Fool's Paradise,[12] and Dr. Wake's Patient (1905–1906).[13]

Ostlere was also a writer. She wrote short stories, contributed a chapter to a collaborative novel in 1892,[14] and co-wrote a time-travel story, "The Heat Wave" (1929).[15] Using her pseudonym Robert Ord, she co-wrote several plays, including Dr. Wake's Patient (1904),[13] Barry Doyle's Rest Cure (1907),[16] The Port Arms (1909), A Midnight Visitor (1911), A Thief (1914), and The Prize (1915),[17] and co-adapted Gertrude Page's novel Paddy the Next Best Thing (1908) for the stage, with her husband, W. Gayer Mackay.[18][19]

Works

  • A 'Novel' Novel: A Strange Story. Twenty Chapters by Twenty Authors (1892, contributor)[20][14]
  • From Seven Dials (1898, short stories)[21]
  • "The Perfidious Frenchman" (1902, short story)[22]
  • Dr. Wake's Patient (1904, play, with W. Gayer Mackay)[13][17][23]
  • The Knees of the Gods (1905, one-act play)[12]
  • The Port Arms (1909, play, with W. Gayer Mackay)[17]
  • A Midnight Visitor (1911, play, with W. Gayer Mackay)[17]
  • A Thief (1914, play, with W. Gayer Mackay)[17]
  • The Prize (1915, play, with W. Gayer Mackay)[17]
  • "The Heat Wave: A Strange Story of Ancient Rome and Modern New York" (1929, story, with Marion Ryan)[15][24]

Personal life

Ostlere was born Edith Elizabeth Bury in Surbiton, Surrey, the daughter of Henry Cox Bury and Catherine Blanche Mousley Bury.[1] She married actor William Thomas Lapthorne in 1891.[25] They separated in 1897,[26] and divorced in 1906.[27] She married her writing partner, actor and playwright William Gayer Starbuck Mackay, in July 1907. He died in 1920,[28] and she died in 1931, in her sixties, in London.[2][29]

References

  1. ^ a b Howard, Joseph Jackson; Crisp, Frederick Arthur; College of Arms (Great Britain) (1893). Visitation of England and Wales. University of Michigan. [London] Priv. print. p. 115.
  2. ^ a b "East Kent News: Death of Mrs. Mackay". Dover Express. 1931-09-18. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-08-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ de Mensiaux, Marie. "The Double Marriage" (review), The Theatre (1 August 1888): 92-93.
  4. ^ "Playbill advertising Mr Walter Sealby's company in 'Paul Kauvar'". Canfod, Glamorgan Archives UK. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  5. ^ "Gaiety Girl 1895, Tour". Opera Scotland. Archived from the original on 2025-05-21. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  6. ^ "Calendar for 1895-1896". The Adelphi Theatre Project. Archived from the original on 2025-04-28. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  7. ^ "Edith Ostlere". Theatricalia. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  8. ^ Parker, Gilbert (1986). Gilbert Parker and Herbert Beerbohm Tree stage " The seats of the mighty". Internet Archive. Toronto : Simon & Pierre. pp. 18–19. ISBN 978-0-88924-113-8 – via Internet Archive.
  9. ^ a b J.P. Wearing (1976). The London Stage 1890-1899 : A Calendar of Plays and Players. Internet Archive. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 691, 697.
  10. ^ Grein, Jack Thomas (1899). Dramatic Criticism. J. Long. pp. 289–290.
  11. ^ "'The Man in the Iron Mask'". Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 1899-09-12. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-08-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "Heard in the Green Room". The Sketch. 51 (658): 301. 6 September 1905 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ^ a b c Mackay, William Gayer; Ord, Robert (1909). Dr. Wake's Patient: A Comedy in Four Acts. Samuel French.
  14. ^ a b Bilston, Sarah (December 2022). ""The Most Extraordinary Novel of Modern Times": Collaborative Fiction in The Gentlewoman". Victorian Literature and Culture. 50 (4): 669–692. doi:10.1017/S1060150321000127. ISSN 1060-1503. Archived from the original on 2024-06-04. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  15. ^ a b Dukes, Hunter. "Perspiration, Bilocation, and Plagiarisation: "The Heat Wave" (1929)". The Public Domain Review. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  16. ^ "The Theatres: London's Busy Season". Manchester Evening News. 1907-08-17. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-08-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b c d e f Who's who in the Theatre. Pitman. 1926. p. 719, 1097.
  18. ^ Wearing, J. P. (2014-03-27). The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. pp. 18, 263, 724. ISBN 978-0-8108-9302-3.
  19. ^ Wearing, J. P. (2014-05-15). The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-8108-9304-7.
  20. ^ Cozzi, Annachiara (2024-07-22). Late Victorian Literary Collaboration: Authorship, Co-Authorship and Popular Fiction. Liverpool University Press. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-83553-687-2.
  21. ^ "From Seven Dials" (review), The Outlook (October 22, 1898): 377.
  22. ^ Ostlere, Edith (October 1902). "The Perfidious Frenchman". The English Illustrated Magazine. 28 (229): 14–23 – via Internet Archive.
  23. ^ "At the Adelphi". The Bystander: 535. 13 September 1905.
  24. ^ Ryan, Marion; Ord, Robert (1929). "The Heat Wave: A Strange Story of Ancient Rome and Modern New York". Munsey's Magazine: 429–434 – via Internet Archive.
  25. ^ "Theatrical Divorce". Liverpool Echo. 1906-12-10. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-08-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Bath Resitution Suit". The Bath Chronicle. 1906-07-26. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-08-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Theatrical Divorce Case". Evening Express. 1906-12-10. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-08-13 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "William Gayer Mackay (death notice)". The Daily Telegraph. 1920-09-04. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-08-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ "The Trustee Act, 1925, re Edith Elizabeth Gayer Mackay, Deceased (legal notice)". Dover Express. 1931-11-06. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-08-12 – via Newspapers.com.
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