Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

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Portrait of the actress Isabel Bateman

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According to family tradition, drawn in the dressing-room of the Lyceum Theatre, London.

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                    Portrait of the actress Isabel Bateman, Colby College Museum of Art
Portrait of the actress Isabel Bateman, Colby College Museum of Art

The actress Isabel Bateman (1854-1934) was born in Ohio, and came from a theatrical family, being the daughter ot the actors Hezekiah Linthicum Bateman and Sidney Frances Bateman. They emigrated to England in 1863. Her full name was Isabel Emilie Bateman; both her sisters, Kate Josephine Bateman and Virginia Frances Bateman, were also actresses.

Isabel Bateman played leading roles with Henry Irving (1838-1905) during the 1870s, playing a sweet Ophelia to Irving's Hamlet in 1875, and Desdemona to Irving's Othello at the Lyceum Theatre. She later entered a Church of England convent and became a nun. 'Mother Mary', Superior General of the Community of St Mary in Wantage, died in June 1934.

Last updated: 24th February 2021 by Margaret