Clotilde Graves
Encyclopedia
Clotilde Augusta Inez Mary Graves (1863– 3 December 1932), was an Irish authoress who wrote under the pseudonym of Richard Dehan, and a successful playwright in London
and New York
.
Known as Clo Graves, she was born 3 June 1863 at Buttevant Castle, Co. Cork, daughter of Major William Henry Graves (1825–1892) and Antoinette Deane, daughter of Captain George Deane of Harwich
. She was a cousin of Alfred Perceval Graves
, the father of the poet Robert Graves
, and his brother Charles Patrick Graves
.
Educated at a Convent
in Lourdes
, she converted to Catholicism
and came to London
where she studied art at Bloomsbury
. She was an unusual figure in London
society, wearing her hair short, affecting a masculine manner and cut of costume, and smoking cigarettes in public when such characteristics were considered eccentric.
Embarking on a literary career, Edmund Yates
thought her stories ideal for his magazine World, and she also contributed to Punch. She became a successful London
and New York
playwright who enjoyed considerable literary acclaim in the first decades of the 20th century. With the actress Gertrude Kingston
she wrote the play A Matchmaker, which gained a certain notoriety when it was criticized for comparing marriage to prostitution
. In 1911, under the pseudonym of Richard Dehan, she published The Dop Doctor. It was made into a film in 1915 by Fred Paul
. The film gave considerable offence in South Africa due to the harsh portrayal of English and Dutch characters. It was eventually banned under the Defence of the Realm Act. The story hinges around a drunken and disgraced medic who eventually makes his way to South Africa
where he redeems his honour at the Siege of Mafeking
. Albert Gérard, in his European-language writing in Sub Saharan Africa ISBN 9630538326, regards the book's description of the siege of Mafeking "as a heroic justification of British Imperial strategy and the vindication of a belief in the righteousness and superiority of the British cause. The Dop Doctor contains pro-Jingo arguments of the type which offers the stereotypical portrait of the Boer
as backward and despicably primitive, and the black man as a shadow figure behind the civilizing foreground, an appendage of an argument over what to do with his labour". Between Two Thieves and One Braver Thing followed in 1914.
She died at Hatch End
, Middlesex
, on 3 December 1932.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Known as Clo Graves, she was born 3 June 1863 at Buttevant Castle, Co. Cork, daughter of Major William Henry Graves (1825–1892) and Antoinette Deane, daughter of Captain George Deane of Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
. She was a cousin of Alfred Perceval Graves
Alfred Perceval Graves
Alfred Perceval Graves , was an Anglo-Irish poet, songwriter, and school inspector . His first marriage to Jane Cooper, eldest daughter of James Cooper of Cooper Hill, Co. Limerick, resulted in five children: the journalist Philip Graves, Mary, Richard, Alfred, and Susan...
, the father of the poet Robert Graves
Robert Graves
Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
, and his brother Charles Patrick Graves
Charles Patrick Graves
Charles Ranke Patrick Graves was a journalist and writer.Born in Wimbledon, England, he worked on the Sunday Express, Daily Mail and many other newspapers. He published 46 books in all including the Thin Blue Line or Adventures in the RAF. His hobbies were golf and gin rummy...
.
Educated at a Convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
in Lourdes
Lourdes
Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...
, she converted to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
and came to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
where she studied art at Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury
-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...
. She was an unusual figure in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
society, wearing her hair short, affecting a masculine manner and cut of costume, and smoking cigarettes in public when such characteristics were considered eccentric.
Embarking on a literary career, Edmund Yates
Edmund Yates
Edmund Hodgson Yates was a British novelist and dramatist. He was born in Edinburgh to the actor and theatre manager Frederick Henry Yates and held an appointment for a period of time in the General Post Office as an adult...
thought her stories ideal for his magazine World, and she also contributed to Punch. She became a successful London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
playwright who enjoyed considerable literary acclaim in the first decades of the 20th century. With the actress Gertrude Kingston
Gertrude Kingston
Gertrude Kingston was an actress, an actor-manager and an artist.-Early life:...
she wrote the play A Matchmaker, which gained a certain notoriety when it was criticized for comparing marriage to prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
. In 1911, under the pseudonym of Richard Dehan, she published The Dop Doctor. It was made into a film in 1915 by Fred Paul
Fred Paul
Fred Paul was a Swiss-born British actor and film director. Paul was born in Lausanne in 1880 but moved to Britain at a young age. He was a prolific actor and directors in the 1910s and 1920s, but his career dramatically declined with the arrival of sound films.-Selected filmography:Director* The...
. The film gave considerable offence in South Africa due to the harsh portrayal of English and Dutch characters. It was eventually banned under the Defence of the Realm Act. The story hinges around a drunken and disgraced medic who eventually makes his way to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
where he redeems his honour at the Siege of Mafeking
Siege of Mafeking
The Siege of Mafeking was the most famous British action in the Second Boer War. It took place at the town of Mafeking in South Africa over a period of 217 days, from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell, who went on to found the Scouting Movement, into a national hero...
. Albert Gérard, in his European-language writing in Sub Saharan Africa ISBN 9630538326, regards the book's description of the siege of Mafeking "as a heroic justification of British Imperial strategy and the vindication of a belief in the righteousness and superiority of the British cause. The Dop Doctor contains pro-Jingo arguments of the type which offers the stereotypical portrait of the Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
as backward and despicably primitive, and the black man as a shadow figure behind the civilizing foreground, an appendage of an argument over what to do with his labour". Between Two Thieves and One Braver Thing followed in 1914.
She died at Hatch End
Hatch End
Hatch End is a place in the London Borough of Harrow, located north west of Charing Cross in Central London. The suburb is part of the Pinner post town.-Attractions:...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, on 3 December 1932.