Fanny Ronalds
Encyclopedia
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
in London in the last decades of the nineteenth century.
After separating from her husband, Ronalds moved to Paris in 1867 and then to London in 1871, being accepted into royal social circles and becoming a popular hostess in both cities. A noted beauty, she became romantically involved with Arthur Sullivan during the 1870s and continued as his companion until his death in 1900. She was much admired as a singer and became famously associated with one of Sullivan's most popular songs, "The Lost Chord
The Lost Chord
"The Lost Chord" is a song composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1877 at the bedside of his brother Fred during Fred's last illness. The manuscript is dated 13 January 1877; Fred Sullivan died five days later...
".
Early life
Mary Frances Carter was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the daughter of Joseph Ballard Carter and his wife. In 1859 at age twenty, already known as a beauty with a talent for singing, she married Pierre Lorillard Ronalds, a New Yorker called by The New York Times, "The Father of American Coaching". The young Mrs. Ronalds quickly became a noted socialite and hostess. At one magnificent ball that she gave in the early 1860s, Ronalds famously appeared dressed "as Music, in a white satin gown embroidered with bars from Verdi's Un ballo in mascheraUn ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
", wearing a harp-shaped, illuminated crown. The Ronalds had three children. A contemporary account described Ronalds as follows: "Her face was perfectly divine in its loveliness, her features small and exquisitely regular. Her hair was a dark shade of brown – châtain foncé [deep chestnut] – and very abundant... a lovely woman, with the most generous smile one could possibly imagine, and the most beautiful teeth."
By 1867, she had separated from her husband, whom she never divorced. She developed a relationship with the wealthy Leonard Jerome
Leonard Jerome
Leonard Walter Jerome was a Brooklyn, New York, financier and grandfather of Winston Churchill.- Early life :...
(Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's grandfather), a notorious womanizer, but somehow maintained a friendship with his wife and daughters, including Jennie, who remembered Ronalds singing them to sleep. She often visited their home in Newport, and when Mrs. Jerome moved to Paris with her daughters, Ronalds followed, taking her two younger children. There, noted for her beauty and social talents, she joined the court circles of the pleasure-loving Empress Eugénie and Napoleon III. During a party, Napoleon rescued her after she fell into one of his ponds. She soon met Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
during one of his visits to Paris. According to The New York Times, she became the leader of the American community in Paris. With the fall of the Second Empire
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
in 1871, her opportunities there collapsed, and Ronalds moved with her children first to Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, and then to London.
Years as Sullivan's mistress
Introduced by Napoleon and Eugénie to British society, she quickly became one of the many "friends" of the skirt-chasing Prince of WalesEdward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
(later King Edward VII) and was soon known for hosting fashionable musical entertainments and elegant soirées for artists, musicians and high society. She continued to maintain her friendship with Jenny Jerome, who became Lady Randolph Churchill in 1874. She also became friendly with Queen Victoria and Queen Alexandra. Though three years senior to Sullivan, she was still in her early thirties and beautiful, with a strong personality.
Fred Sullivan
Frederic Sullivan was an English actor and singer. He is best remembered as the creator of the role of the Learned Judge in Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury, providing a model for the comic roles in the later Savoy Operas composed by his brother Arthur Sullivan.By 1870, Sullivan had abandoned...
(1877) and his mother (1882). Sullivan became close with Ronalds' children and parents, especially after his brother Fred's family moved to America in 1883. In his diaries, Sullivan referred to her as "Mrs. Ronalds" when he saw her in a public setting, but "L. W." (for "Little Woman") or "D. H." (possibly "Dear Heart") when they were alone together, often with a number in parentheses indicating the number of sexual acts completed. It is thought that Ronalds was pregnant on at least two occasions, and she apparently procured an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
in 1882 and again in 1884. The 1999 biographical film
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
Topsy-Turvy
Topsy-Turvy
Topsy-Turvy is a 1999 musical drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and stars Allan Corduner as Arthur Sullivan and Jim Broadbent as W. S. Gilbert, along with Timothy Spall and Lesley Manville. The story concerns the 15-month period in 1884 and 1885 leading up to the premiere of Gilbert...
depicts Sullivan and Ronalds discussing an abortion at around the time of the production of The Mikado
The Mikado
The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
. Eleanor David
Eleanor David
Eleanor David is an English actress. She has appeared in multiple films and television programs including Pink Floyd The Wall directed by Alan Parker, Comfort and Joy directed by Bill Forsyth, Paradise Postponed, and Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy...
portrays Ronalds in the film.
Sullivan had a roving eye, and his diary records the occasional quarrel when one of his many other liaisons were discovered, but he always returned to Ronalds. She was his constant companion until his death in 1900, but by about 1889 or 1890, the sexual relationship seems to have ended. He started to refer to her in the diary as "Auntie" (she also was called "auntie" by his nephew, Herbert Sullivan
Herbert Sullivan
Herbert Thomas Sullivan was the nephew, heir and biographer of the British composer Arthur Sullivan. After his uncle's death, Sullivan became active in charitable work...
), and the tick marks indicating sexual activity were no longer there, although similar notation continued to be used for his relationships with other women who have not been identified, and who were always referred to by their initials.
Ronalds was an excellent and much admired singer, using her voice for good causes since her days in New York, when she gave concerts in aid of Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
troops; later "in Paris she was known as the "Patti
Adelina Patti
Adelina Patti was a highly acclaimed 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851 and gave her last performance before an audience in 1914...
des Salons". Sullivan described her as "the best amateur singer in London". She often performed Sullivan's songs at her famous Sunday soirees. She became particularly associated with one of his most popular songs, "The Lost Chord
The Lost Chord
"The Lost Chord" is a song composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1877 at the bedside of his brother Fred during Fred's last illness. The manuscript is dated 13 January 1877; Fred Sullivan died five days later...
", which he composed in 1877 as he watched over his dying brother. Ronalds became its most famous interpreter, singing it both in private and in public, often with Sullivan himself accompanying her. When Sullivan died, he left her the autograph manuscript of that song, along with other bequests. For Ronalds, Sullivan composed the song "St. Agnes' Eve". Ronalds also wrote songs, including "In Shadow" (1881).
In 1899 when the Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
broke out, Ronalds was elected treasurer of an effort to finance an American hospital ship, the S.S. Maine, to be sent to South Africa. She was also active in charitable work for the Red Cross and received the Royal Red Cross
Royal Red Cross
The Royal Red Cross is a military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for exceptional services in military nursing.The award was established on 27 April 1883 by Queen Victoria, with a single class of Member...
among other honors.
Death and legacy
When Ronalds died in 1916, at the age of 76, a copy of the manuscript of "The Lost Chord" was buried with her, at her request. She is buried in the Brompton CemeteryBrompton Cemetery
Brompton Cemetery is located near Earl's Court in South West London, England . It is managed by The Royal Parks and is one of the Magnificent Seven...
in London. In an inscription to a wreath that she sent to the funeral, Princess Louise
Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll
The Princess Louise was a member of the British Royal Family, the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and her husband, Albert, Prince Consort.Louise's early life was spent moving between the various royal residences in the...
described Ronalds as "one of the kindest and most unselfish of women". She was survived by her children, Pierre Lorillard Ronalds, Jr., Reginald Ronalds (who became a Rough Rider
Rough Riders
The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...
) and Fannette ("Fannie") Ritchie.