Maud Hobson
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Short description|Australian-born British actress (1860–1913)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Maud Hobson
| image = Miss Maud Hobson - NLA 145774155 (cropped).jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Jane Elizabeth Manson
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1860|11|13|df=y}}
| birth_place = Toorak, Australia
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1913|01|07|1860|11|13|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England
| nationality = Australian / British
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1889–1913
}}
Maud Hobson (born Jane Elizabeth Manson; 13 November 1860 – 7 January 1913){{Cite news|date=10 January 1913|title=A Gaiety Girl Miss Maud Hobson|work=The Advertiser|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/5370797?searchTerm=Miss%20Maud%20Hobson|access-date=16 October 2021}} was an Australian-born English actress. Beginning in Victorian burlesque in her uncle's Gaiety Theatre in London, she joined George Edwardes's company there after he took over as manager and became one of his Gaiety Girls. She also played principal roles in some of his Edwardian musical comedies.
Early life
Hobson was born on 13 November 1860 in the suburb of Toorak, near Melbourne, Australia, to John Manson and Eliza née Hollingshead, who emigrated to Melbourne from England separately in 1853.{{Cite web|last=Pursuit|first=Heathcote|date=2019-05-04|title=Maud Hobson (1860-1913), the gaiety girl who dreamed of Colorado|url=https://forgottenaustralianactresses.com/2019/05/04/maud-hobson-the-gaiety-girl-who-dreamed-of-colorado/|access-date=2021-10-16|website=Forgotten Australian Actors}} When Hobson was 3 month old her family returned to England.{{Cite news|date=3 July 1904|title=Confidences of Stage Favorites: Miss Maud Hobson|work=Sunday Times|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127809758?searchTerm=%22Confidences%20of%20Stage%20Favorites%22%20%22Miss%20Maude%20Hobson%22|page=1|access-date=16 October 2021}}
Career
In 1880, Hobson started performing at the Gaiety Theatre where her uncle, John Hollingshead, was then the manager and suggested her stage name, Maud Hobson.{{Cite news|first=|date=26 May 1904|title=Miss Maud Hobson|work=Table Talk| url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/145847031?searchTerm=Miss%20Maud%20Hobson|access-date=16 October 2021}} The next year she got married and moved to Hawaii where she was occasionally performing. In 1886, Hobson returned to England and did not appear on the stage again until 1889. From mid-1889, Hobson reappeared on stage in London for George Edwardes, who had become manager at the Gaiety Theatre, playing parts there in the Victorian burlesques Faust up to Date and Carmen up to Data.
In 1893, Hobson played the part of Alma Somerset in the Edwardian musical comedy A Gaiety Girl produced at the Prince of Wales Theatre. In 1894{{Cite web|title=Maud Hobson - National Portrait Gallery|url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp67420/maud-hobson|access-date=2021-10-16| website=www.npg.org.uk}} and 1896 she reappeared as a Gaiety Girl.{{Cite book|last=Bantock|first=Granville| url=http://archive.org/details/roundworldwithag00bant|title=Round the world with "A gaiety girl"|last2=Aflalo|first2=Frederick G. (Frederick George)|date=1896| publisher=London : J. Macqueen|others=University of California Libraries}} Hobson has also done seasons in and out of parts at New York.{{Cite news| date=15 June 1904|title=Miss Maud Hobson at Home|work=Critic|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/211403994?searchTerm=Miss%20Maud%20Hobson| access-date=16 October 2021}} She appeared in A Gaiety Girl at Daly's Theatre in New York, as well as in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Milwaukee, and San Francisco.{{Cite book|last=Mander|first=Raymond|url=http://archive.org/details/musicalcomedysto0000mand|title=Musical comedy; a story in pictures|date=1970|publisher=New York, Taplinger Pub. Co|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-8008-5460-7|pages=17}}
By the time she was 30 Hobson had lived in Hawaii, Colorado, and London. She also visited Australia twice.{{Cite news|date=8 January 1913|title=Gaiety Actress Dead|work=The Border Morning Mail and Riverina Times|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/112134019?searchTerm=Miss%20Maud%20Hobson| access-date=16 October 2021}} Later Hobson moved to live with her uncle Hollingshead and his family in Kensington, London.
In 1900, Hobson appeared as Lady Punchestown in the musical The Messenger Boy at the Gaiety Theater.{{Cite web| title=Miss Maud Hobson by Lafayette 1900| url=http://lafayette.org.uk/hob2330.html|access-date=2021-10-16|website=lafayette.org.uk}}
Personal life
In 1881 Hobson married Lieutenant Andrew Burrell Hayley, an officer of the 11th Hussars.{{Cite news|date=17 October 1895|title=A Gaiety Girl at Home. Chat with Miss Maud Hobson.|work=Melbourne Punch|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/174605423?searchTerm=Miss%20Maud%20Hobson|access-date=16 October 2021}} The couple moved to Honolulu where Hayley acted as Chief Minister to King Kalakaua of Hawaii. Their son William Burrell Hayley was born in early 1882.
In 1887, Hayley petitioned for divorce from Hobson claiming that she repeatedly committed adultery with Captain Owen Richard Armstrong. Though Hobson and Armstrong denied the charges, a divorce was granted in 1888.
Maud Hobson died on 7 January 1913 in London. She is buried in the family grave at St.John the Evangelist, Sidcup.{{Cite web |title=Maud Hobson (Manson) 13 November 1860 – 5 January 1913 in BillionGraves GPS Headstones |url=https://billiongraves.com/grave/Maud-Hobson-Manson/84513221 |access-date=26 March 2023 |website=billiongraves.com}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GKHF-DPN |access-date=26 March 2023 |website=www.familysearch.org}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.mediastorehouse.com/mary-evans-prints-online/maud-hobson-14410236.html Print of Hobson]
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Category:20th-century English actresses
Category:Emigrants from colonial Australia to the United Kingdom