Talk:Adelaide Neilson

Date of birth
1847 is incorrect I have a copy of the birth certificate from the UK Public Records Office which states 3rd March 1848. Also corroborated by mother's name and address, can this be corrected? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.2.60.209 (talk) 13:57, 29 December 2017 (UTC)

Cause of death
From the description in the article, taken I suppose directly from the 1911 Britannica, it seems that she died of a ruptured ectopic pregnancy. This would imply that she was in a sexual relationship at the time, and given the morality of the period, would explain why it was said that she had remarried. Just a note, original research, can't go in the article. Itsmejudith 22:30, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Duplicate article
A duplicate article was begun early this year under the title Lillian Adelaide Neilson. I have now turned it into a redirect. As of 1 May 2006, this is the article, parts of which might be incorporated into Adelaide Neilson, the older and longer article. &lt;KF&gt; 20:44, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

Lillian Adelaide Neilson (1850 - August 15, 1880) was a nineteenth century stage actress of mixed Spanish and English heritage. Her father was a Spaniard and her mother was of English extraction. She was born in Zaragoza, Spain.

Theater
Neilson began performing as an actress at the age of fifteen, making her first appearance at the Theatre Royal, Margate, in early 1865. In July of the same year she debuted on the London, England stage. She played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. She was a part of a production of The Hugenot Captain given by the Princess Theatre on July 2, 1866. Neilson played the role of Gabrielle de Savigny, the heroine of the story. In November 1866 she received favorable reviews for her portrayal of Victorine, another character in The Hugenot Captain. This time the play was performed at the Adelphi Theatre.

American Stage
Neilson's debut on the American stage came in November 1872 at Booth's Theater. Her New York City debut came on Monday evening, November 18, 1972. She played Juliet. She was praised by American critics who echoed the acclaim she had received from London theatrical audiences.

She debuted as Amy Rosbart, heroine of Sir Walter Scott, in May 1873. She is noted for a fine engagement staged in Brooklyn, New York the same year. Her farewell at Booth's Theatre came on May 2, 1874. Neilson accepted an engagement at the Lyceum in the autumn of the same year. She performed in Cymbeline by William Shakespeare at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York on May 14, 1877.

Death
Neilson died suddenly at the Continental Hotel in Paris, France in 1880. She was afflicted with heart disease and was prone to pause during stage performances. She experienced fainting fits which were prompted by scenes that required excessive emotional strain.

Reference

 * New York Times, A Celebrated Actress Gone, August 16, 1880, Page 5.

New material
I have worked in the new material as best I could. I have given priority to the 1911 Britannica version rather than the newspaper obituary, as the Britannica article seemed to want to correct the older story. Itsmejudith 10:53, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Comments
The published information from the autopsy on the circumstances surrounding her death make no mention of an ectopic pregnancy although it is a possibility given the symptoms. The notes I have seen refering to the autopsy findings are fairly detailed given the time period and subsequent comments by her personal doctor suggest it may have been a long standing complaint. The mix up around her possible marriage to Edward Compton seems to have arose around the confusion over her last will and testament rather than any motive to cover up their relationship since their engagement was already publicly known.

Much of the subsequent published obituary data and also much of the biographical data is actually incorrect and stems from inaccurate information published as promotional material early in her career and also the initial telegrams announcing her death in Paris. The location of her death was not at the Continental Hotel, but actually at a chalet within the grounds of the Bois de Boulogne, Paris.

I have a raft of information on Adelaide Neilson, just don't have enough time to collate and reference it all at this time, although not wikified all of the previous info supplied in the archive article was actually correct and based on detailed research and published first hand accounts of her friends and colleagues. I must admit though I did use the article as a bit of dumping ground for some of the more biographical detail.

Am I free to add additional info so long as I reference the sources ? Cleanur 01:38, 5 June 2007 (GMT)


 * Of course you are free to add sourced material - that is the whole point of Wikipedia. Please go ahead as you have time, and thanks very much for the clarifications. Itsmejudith 08:44, 6 June 2007 (UTC)