Edith Waldemar Leverton

{{Infobox person

| name = Edith Waldemar Leverton

| image =

| caption =

| other_names = E. Notrovel

| birth_name = Edith Annie Bedbrook

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1868|04|21|df=y}}

| birth_place = Portsea Island, England

| death_date = 1955 (aged 87)

| death_place = Surrey, England

| occupation = Writer, editor

| spouse = {{Marriage|Frank John Waldemar Leverton|1894|1897|end=d.}}

| father = James Albert Bedbrook

}}

Edith Waldemar Leverton{{NoteTag|Her surname is recorded as Waldemar Leverton,{{Cite book |last=Lethbridge |first=Lucy |author-link=Lucy Lethbridge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4svkLzDO27MC |title=Servants: A Downstairs View of Twentieth-century Britain |date=2013-01-01 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-0-7475-9017-0 |page=384 |language=en}} sometimes hyphenated as Waldemar-Leverton,{{Cite news |date=1922-08-15 |title=Applications for Discharge |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32738/page/6062/data.pdf |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=The London Gazette |pages=6062}} and occasionally as Leverton.{{Cite web |title=Leverton, Edith Waldemar |url=https://public.uclaclark.aspace.cdlib.org/repositories/3/archival_objects/26310 |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=ArchivesSpace Public Interface}} This article uses "Waldemar Leverton" for consistency.}} (born Edith Annie Bedbrook; 21 April 1868 –1955), was an English writer and editor. She contributed to magazines, including The Lady's Realm and The Play Pictorial and published several books on household management and cookery, including a vegetarian cookbook. She worked as a sub-editor for The World of Dress and was active in theatre, founding "The Leverton Players" and writing plays, including A Writer of Plays under the pseudonym E. Notrovel. She also served as secretary of the Women's Automobile and Sports Association and played a key role in establishing infant and child welfare initiatives.

Biography

= Early and personal life =

Edith Annie Bedbrook was born on Portsea Island on 21 April 1868.{{Cite web |title=Births Jun 1868 |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=X%2BWQcm4po7N4IcrbQkw0wg&scan=1 |accessdate=2025-04-01 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}}{{Cite web |date= |title=Edith Waldemar-Leverton |url=https://www.ancestryinstitution.com/search/collections/61596/records/1604182 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-04-03 |website=1939 England and Wales Register |publisher=Ancestry.com}} Her father was James Albert Bedbrook, Chief Inspector of Machinery for the Royal Navy.

She married Frank John Waldemar Leverton at St Luke's Church, Battersea, on 27 June 1894.{{cite news |date=1894-06-28 |title=Leverton-Bedbrook |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/409746055/?match=1&terms=%22Waldemar%20Leverton%22 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-25 |work=The Standard |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}} He died in 1897.{{Cite web |title=Deaths Jun 1897 |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=%2FgLulV%2FIecul7vH%2FeLue6w&scan=1 |accessdate=2025-04-01 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}} Being widowed at a young age, she faced financial hardships, but managed to live independently. She was described as outgoing, self-assured, and assertive. She was often seen riding a tricycle around Littlehampton, where she lived.{{Cite book |last=Corfe |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ipWIHjTNArQC |title=This Was My England |date=2011 |publisher=Arena books |isbn=978-1-906791-73-5 |pages=76 |language=en}}

= Writing =

File:Pearson's Popular Shilling Books.jpg

Waldemar Leverton authored articles for magazines, including The Lady's Realm{{Cite journal |last=Waldemar Leverton |first=Edith |date=May–October 1900 |title=Paris Ateliers |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.31951000752697v?urlappend=%3Bseq=562%3Bownerid=13510798900810729-572 |journal=The Lady's Realm |volume=8 |pages=580–583 |hdl=2027/umn.31951000752697v?urlappend=%3Bseq=562 |via=HathiTrust}} and The Play Pictorial.{{cite journal |last=Waldemar Leverton |first=Edith |year=1905 |title=Petals of Fashion from The White Chrysanthemum |journal=The Play Pictorial |page=162}} She also published several books, including Household Hints, The Vegetarian Cookery Book, Little Economies and How to Practice Them, and Servants and Their Duties.{{Cite web |title='Waldemar Leverton' - Search Results |url=https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=%22Waldemar+Leverton%22&offset=1 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=WorldCat}}

= Editing =

Waldemar Leverton worked as sub-editor of the magazine The World of Dress (later continued as The World of Dress and Women's Journal).{{cite news |date=1902-09-11 |title=A Notable Woman Journalist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/783319855 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-25 |work=Birmingham Gazette |pages=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}

= Theatre work =

Waldemar Leverton presented the theatre company known as "The Leverton Players" in a series of performances, starting with a short three-week season at the Royal Court Theatre in 1913.{{cite news |date=1913-12-12 |title=The Leverton Players |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/764124441/?terms=%22The%20Leverton%20Players%22&match=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-25 |work=Evening Standard |pages=14 |via=Newspapers.com}} She wrote the play A Writer of Plays under the pseudonym E. Notrovel.{{Cite book |last=Wearing |first=J. P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KMFnAgAAQBAJ |title=The London Stage 1910-1919: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel |date=2013-12-19 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-9300-9 |pages=259 |language=en}}{{Cite journal |date=1931-10-21 |title='Neo Players': Four One Act Plays |url=https://archive.org/details/per_era_the-era_1931-10-21_95_4855 |journal=The Era |volume=95 |issue=4855 |page=[https://archive.org/details/per_era_the-era_1931-10-21_95_4855/page/15/mode/1up 15] |via=Internet Archive}}

Waldemar Leverton also appeared in several productions, including Fantasy and Flame, as Mrs. Wayre; Mirage of Misfortune, as Mrs. Braithwaite; The Stranger at the Inn, as Mrs. Cherry;{{Cite book |last=Carson |first=Lionel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6DcOAAAAIAAJ |title=The Stage Year Book |publisher=Carson & Comerford |year=1914 |pages=175, 195, 211 |language=en}} and The Castle of Fate, as Cattiva.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2CU_AQAAMAAJ |title=The Stage Year Book, with which is Included the Stage Periodical Guide |publisher=Carson & Comerford |year=1915 |pages=89 |language=en}}

Waldemar Leverton wrote and produced A Song of Sixpence, a "nonsense" play which was performed, in 1939, by the Little Marlow and Bourne End Women's Institute to support the Little Marlow Nursing Association. Her production, featuring modern tunes and colourful costumes, was well received and helped raise funds for the cause.{{cite news |date=1939-02-10 |title=For Nursing Funds |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1136715980/?terms=%22For%20Nursing%20Funds%22%20&match=1 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-03-25 |work=Bucks Free Press |pages=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}

= Other activities =

Waldemar Leverton served as secretary of the Women's Automobile and Sports Association.{{Cite web |title=Gabrielle Borthwick |url=http://www.elisarolle.com/queerplaces/fghij/Gabrielle%20Borthwick.html |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=queerplaces}} She was also a member of the Society of Women Journalists.{{Cite web |title=Mrs. Waldemar Leverton |url=https://www.swj1894.org/917/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |website=Society of Women Journalists}}

Waldemar Leverton was in charge of introducing the Association of Infant Consultations and Schools for Mothers in Glamorgan, South Wales. In her role, she led this initiative as part of the infant welfare department of the National League for Physical Education and Improvement.{{Cite journal |date=1915-02-01 |title=Welsh News and Notes |journal=The Cambrian |volume=35 |issue=3 |page=[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/osu.32435067082412?urlappend=%3Bseq=46%3Bownerid=13510798902867969-50 8] |via=HathiTrust}} She also collaborated with the Duchess of Norfolk in Arundel and Littlehampton, contributing to the establishment of Child Welfare Centres.

= Death =

Waldemar Leverton died aged 87 in Surrey during the third quarter of 1955.{{Cite web |title=Deaths Sep 1955 |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=StrtzytzUeiHyTNFLp2KyQ&scan=1 |accessdate=1 April 2025 |work=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}}

Publications

= Books =

Household Hints (edited by "Isobel"; London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1897)
The Vegetarian Cookery Book (London: G. Newnes, 1903)
Little Economies and How to Practice Them (edited by "Isobel"; London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1903)
Little Entertainments and How to Manage Them (edited by "Isobel"; London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1904)
Dressmaking Made Easy (London: G. Newnes, 1909)
Housekeeping Made Easy (London: G. Newnes, 1910)
Servants and Their Duties (London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1912)