Mabel Batten

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Mabel Batten as a young woman

Mabel Veronica Hatch Batten (1856–1916) was a well-known amateur singer of lieder.

Early life[]

She was born Mabel Hatch in a well-connected family.[1]

She studied in Dresden and Bruges, harmony and composition.[2]

Career[]

Mrs. George Batten Singing by John Singer Sargent

She was a leading "patroness of music and the arts, mezzo-soprano and composer" of drawing rooms songs.[1] One of her best compositions was the setting of "The Queen's Last Ride" by the poem of Ella Wheeler Wilcox. She was an accomplished singer, pianist and guitar player.[3]

Personal life[]

Mabel Batten at the time of her relationship with Radclyffe Hall

In 1874 she married George Batten, secretary to the Viceroy of India.[1] They had one daughter, the painter and film maker Lady .[2] Cara Harris's daughter was , friends with Dolly Wilde, and Honey Harris's daughter is .[4]

In the 1880s she had a relationship with Wilfred Scawen Blunt.[2]

She was friends with composer Adela Maddison who, in 1893, dedicated her "Deux Melodies" to her.[2][5] She was also friends with composer Ethel Smyth.[3]

From 1906 she was friends with Toupie Lowther and her brother Claude Lowther. In 1913 Batten and Hall visited the Lowthers at Claude's Herstmonceux Castle.[3]

On August 22, 1907, at Bad Homburg, a spa in Germany, Mabel Batten met Radclyffe Hall. Batten was 51 years old and Hall was 27. When Batten was a widow, she went to live with Hall in Cadogan Square.[1] Batten, nicknamed Ladye, gave the name John to Hall, which Hall used for the rest of her life.[6]

In 1915 Hall met Batten's cousin Una Troubridge (1887–1963). When Batten died the following year, Troubridge took care of a defeated Hall and in 1917 they went to live together.[7]

Batten is buried at Highgate Cemetery in London, and Hall chose to be buried at the entrance of the crypt.[2]

Legacy[]

Mabel Batten's portraits were taken by John Singer Sargent and Edward John Poynter.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Hamer, Emily (2016). Britannia's Glory: A History of Twentieth Century Lesbians. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 94. ISBN 9781474292801. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Batten, Mabel Veronica". Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Brown, Val (2017). Toupie Lowther: Her life. Troubador Publishing Ltd. p. 57. ISBN 9781788035231. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  4. ^ "The unimportance of being earnest". Independent. 2000. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  5. ^ Seddon, Laura (2016). British Women Composers and Instrumental Chamber Music in the Early Twentieth Century. Routledge. p. 28. ISBN 9781317171348. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  6. ^ Cline, Sally (1999). Radclyffe Hall: A Woman Called John. Overlook Press. p. 58–67.
  7. ^ "Radclyffe Hall". A purnell. Archived from the original on 2006-05-09.
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