Social Victorians/People/Hope-Vere

Also Known As

• Family name: Hope-Vere

Organizations

• Major and Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel: Lanarkshire Imperial Yeomanry

Timeline

1879 July 17, James Charles Hope-Vere and Hon. Louisa Maud Yarde-Buller married.

1884 June 4, James Charles Hope-Vere and Marie Elizabeth Françoise Guillemin married.

1897 July 2, Friday, Marie Hope-Vere attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

1905, James Charles Hope-Vere and Marie Elizabeth Françoise Guillemin divorced.

1906 January 20, James Charles Hope-Vere and Mabel Ellis Vandervort Barham married.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

Mrs. Marie Hope-Vere in costume as Medusa. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Medusa

Marie Hope-Vere (at 245) attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball and walked in the "Oriental" procession.

John Thomson's portrait of "Marie Elizabeth Françoise Hope-Vere (née Guillemin) as Medusa" in costume is photogravure #233 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Mrs Hope-Vere as Medusa."

Medusa is one of the Gorgons in Greek mythology, who have snakes instead of hair on their heads. Medusa can turn those who look at her into stone, even after she is decapitated by Perseus, who ultimately gives her head to Athena to add to her shield.

If the portrait of Marie Hope-Vere (right) is a photograph, it has been altered considerably, making it more painterly. Her improbable waist is likely not representative of how she really looked, and snakes are more decorative and supplemental to her costume than making up her hair.

Marie Hope-Vere would have known Medusa from images, including the one (left), by symbolist painter Arnold Böcklin (16 October 1827 – 16 January 1901), which shows a Medusa with snakes for hair, as she has traditionally been envisioned; painted around 1878, this painting is in the collection at the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. She could also have seen less animalistic and more seductive images of Medusa also produced in the 19th century, like the Medusa painted c. 1896 by Winifred Hope Thomson.

American author Thomas Bulfinch also would have been a source of knowledge about Medusa for many people in his extremely popular collection of myths, legends, and stories. The first volume of Bulfinch's Mythology — The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes — retells the Greek and Roman myths and was published in 1855. (Volume 2, The Age of Chivalry, or Legends of King Arthur, was published in 1858, and volume 3, Legends of Charlemagne, or Romance of the Middle Ages was published in 1863.)

Demographics

• Nationality: Him, Scots

Residences

• Blackwood, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Family

• James Charles Hope-Vere (13 July 1858 – 6 September 1933)
• Hon. Louisa Maud Yarde-Buller (c. 1851 – 20 April 1882)
• Marie Elizabeth Françoise Guillemin ( – 15 August 1937)

1. Edward James Hope-Vere (10 February 1885 – 4 November 1924)
2. Rachel Madeleine Mary Hope-Vere (24 May 1886 – 28 October 1953)
3. Ralph Jean James Hope-Vere (13 December 1887 – 12 October 1959)

• Mabel Ellis Vandervort Barham ( – 26 January 1954)

1. Rosemary Marguerite Hope-Vere (9 February 1907 – 1990)

Notes and Questions

1. Was James Charles Hope-Vere present at the ball and just not mentioned? Marie was not mentioned in the press, so without the Album of portraits of people in their costumes in the National Portrait Gallery, we might not know about her. Also, need to check to be sure the Lanarkshire Imperial Yeomanry was not assigned elsewhere.