Melrose, Kitty |
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BORN 6 Sep 1881, Whitehaven, Cumberland - DIED 3 Jun 1912, London: St. Stephens Mansions, Smith Square, Westminster BIRTH NAME Butterfield, Agnes CAUSE OF DEATH suicide by gassing in oven GRAVE LOCATION London: Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (043/PS (43415)) |
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Kitty Melrose was the daughter of Stephen Butterfieldm who worked as a clothier in Blackpool. She made herself a name as Rectory Bell in "Bluebell" by Seymour Hicks at the Aldwych Theatre in London. She appeared in more productions by Hicks and in 1909/1910 she was in "The Dollar Princess" at the Knickerbocker Theatre in New York City. during her time in New York she was hit by a ball when she was golfing with the actor F. Pope Stamper, who had a leading role in "The Dollar Princess". She was severarly injured but she recovered and surgery saved her from being disfigured. Her last part was as at the Adelphi in London in "Quaker Girl", a musical that opened on the 5th November 1910 and ran for 536 performances. She appears to have been an understudy for Gerti Millar in that play. After a failing love affair with a certain Edward Lawson-Johnston, she was found dead in her flat with her head in a gas oven. |
| Images |
 The grave of Kitty Melrose (whose real name was Agnes Butterfield) at Kensal Green Cemetery, London. Picture by Androom (14 Aug 1997) |
Sources • Paths of Glory, The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery, London, 1997 |
