Edith Waldemar Leverton
Edith Waldemar Leverton | |
|---|---|
| Born | Edith Annie Bedbrook 21 April 1868 Portsea Island, England |
| Died | (aged 87) Surrey, England |
| Other name | E. Notrovel |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse |
Frank John Waldemar Leverton
(m. 1894; died 1897) |
| Father | James Albert Bedbrook |
Edith Waldemar Leverton[a] (born Edith Annie Bedbrook; 21 April 1868 – 1955) was an English writer and editor. She contributed to magazines including The Lady's Realm and The Play Pictorial, and wrote books on household management, cookery, and dressmaking, including The Vegetarian Cookery Book (1903). She worked as sub-editor of The World of Dress, founded a theatre company called the Leverton Players, and wrote the play A Writer of Plays under the pseudonym E. Notrovel. She was secretary of the Women's Automobile and Sports Association and worked on infant and child welfare schemes in Glamorgan, Arundel, and Littlehampton.
Biography
[edit]Early and personal life
[edit]Waldemar Leverton was born Edith Annie Bedbrook on Portsea Island on 21 April 1868.[4][5] Her father was James Albert Bedbrook, Chief Inspector of Machinery for the Royal Navy.[6]
She married Frank John Waldemar Leverton at St Luke's Church, Battersea, on 27 June 1894.[6] He died in 1897.[7] According to Robert Corfe, after being widowed she had financial difficulties but lived independently. Corfe described her as outgoing, self-assured, and assertive, and recalled her riding a tricycle around Littlehampton, where she lived.[8]
Career
[edit]Writing
[edit]
Waldemar Leverton wrote for magazines including The Lady's Realm and The Play Pictorial.[9][10] Her books included Household Hints, The Vegetarian Cookery Book, Little Economies and How to Practice Them, and Servants and Their Duties.[11]
Editing
[edit]Waldemar Leverton was sub-editor of The World of Dress, later continued as The World of Dress and Women's Journal.[12]
Theatre work
[edit]Waldemar Leverton presented the theatre company known as the Leverton Players in a series of performances, beginning with a three-week season at the Royal Court Theatre in 1913.[13] She wrote the play A Writer of Plays under the pseudonym E. Notrovel.[14][15]
She appeared in productions including Fantasy and Flame, as Mrs. Wayre; Mirage of Misfortune, as Mrs. Braithwaite; The Stranger at the Inn, as Mrs. Cherry; and The Castle of Fate, as Cattiva.[16][17]
In 1939, Waldemar Leverton wrote and produced A Song of Sixpence, a "nonsense" play performed by the Little Marlow and Bourne End Women's Institute in aid of the Little Marlow Nursing Association.[18]
Other activities
[edit]Waldemar Leverton was secretary of the Women's Automobile and Sports Association.[19] She was also a member of the Society of Women Journalists.[20]
Waldemar Leverton introduced the Association of Infant Consultations and Schools for Mothers in Glamorgan, South Wales, as part of the infant welfare department of the National League for Physical Education and Improvement.[21] She also worked with the Duchess of Norfolk in Arundel and Littlehampton on the establishment of child welfare centres.[8]
Death
[edit]Waldemar Leverton died aged 87 in Surrey during the third quarter of 1955.[22]
Publications
[edit]- Household Hints (edited by "Isobel"; London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1897)
- The Vegetarian Cookery Book (London: G. Newnes, 1903)
- Little Economies and How to Practice Them (edited by "Isobel"; London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1903)
- Little Entertainments and How to Manage Them (edited by "Isobel"; London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1904)
- Dressmaking Made Easy (London: G. Newnes, 1909)
- Housekeeping Made Easy (London: G. Newnes, 1910)
- Servants and Their Duties (London: C. Arthur Pearson, 1912)
See also
[edit]- History of vegetarianism
- Women and vegetarianism and veganism advocacy
- Women in the Victorian era
- Vegetarianism in the United Kingdom
- Vegetarianism in the Victorian era
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Lethbridge, Lucy (1 January 2013). Servants: A Downstairs View of Twentieth-century Britain. A&C Black. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-7475-9017-0.
- ^ "Applications for Discharge" (PDF). The London Gazette. 15 August 1922. p. 6062. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
- ^ "Leverton, Edith Waldemar". ArchivesSpace Public Interface. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
- ^ "Births Jun 1868: Bedbrook, Edith Annie". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
- ^ "Edith Waldemar-Leverton". 1939 England and Wales Register. Ancestry.com. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
- ^ a b "Leverton-Bedbrook". The Standard. 28 June 1894. p. 1. Retrieved 25 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Deaths Jun 1897: Leverton, Frank John W." FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
- ^ a b Corfe, Robert (2011). This Was My England. Bury St. Edmunds: Arena Books. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-906791-73-5.
- ^ Waldemar Leverton, Edith (May–October 1900). "Paris Ateliers". The Lady's Realm. 8: 580–583. hdl:2027/umn.31951000752697v – via HathiTrust.
- ^ Waldemar Leverton, Edith (1905). "Petals of Fashion from The White Chrysanthemum". The Play Pictorial: 162.
- ^ "'Waldemar Leverton' - Search Results". WorldCat. Retrieved 2 April 2025.
- ^ "A Notable Woman Journalist". Birmingham Gazette. 11 September 1902. p. 4. Retrieved 25 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Leverton Players". Evening Standard. 12 December 1913. p. 14. Retrieved 25 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Wearing, J. P. (19 December 2013). The London Stage 1910-1919: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Scarecrow Press. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-8108-9300-9.
- ^ "'Neo Players': Four One Act Plays". The Era. 95 (4855): 15. 21 October 1931 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Carson, Lionel (1914). The Stage Year Book. Carson & Comerford. pp. 175, 195, 211 – via Google Books.
- ^ The Stage Year Book, with which is Included the Stage Periodical Guide. Carson & Comerford. 1915. p. 89 – via Google Books.
- ^ "For Nursing Funds". Bucks Free Press. 10 February 1939. p. 6. Retrieved 25 March 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Gabrielle Borthwick". queerplaces. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
- ^ "Mrs. Waldemar Leverton". Society of Women Journalists. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
- ^ "Welsh News and Notes". The Cambrian. 35 (3): 8. 1 February 1915 – via HathiTrust.
- ^ "Deaths Sep 1955: Leverton, Edith W." FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
Further reading
[edit]- "Biography for Edith W. Leverton". Scoop! The biographical dictionary of British and Irish journalists, 1800-1960.
- 1868 births
- 1955 deaths
- 19th-century English non-fiction writers
- 19th-century English women writers
- 19th-century food writers
- 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century English journalists
- 20th-century English women journalists
- 20th-century food writers
- 20th-century pseudonymous women writers
- 20th-century pseudonymous writers
- Child welfare activists
- English cookbook writers
- English food writers
- English magazine editors
- English magazine writers
- English women dramatists and playwrights
- English women food writers
- People from Littlehampton
- People from Portsea, Portsmouth
- Vegetarian cookbook writers
- Victorian women writers
- Victorian writers
- Writers from Hampshire