Social Victorians/People/Florence Farr

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Also Known As[edit | edit source]

  • Family name:
  • Florence Beatrice Farr
  • Mrs. Florence Farr Emery
  • Mrs. Florence Beatrice Emery
  • Golden Dawn motto: Sapientia, or Sapientia Sapienti Dono Data (S.S.D.D.) — "Wisdom is given to the wise as a gift" (Howe 296)
  • Mary Lester (stage name), 1882–1883

Demographics[edit | edit source]

  • Nationality:

Residences[edit | edit source]

Family[edit | edit source]

  • William Farr (30 November 1807 – 14 April 1883)
  • Miss Langford ( – 1837)
  • Mary Elizabeth Whittal ()
  1. 9 children, including
  2. Henrietta Farr Paget
  3. Florence Beatrice Farr (7 July 1860 – 29 April 1917)


  • Florence Beatrice Farr (7 July 1860 – 29 April 1917)
  • Edward Emery ()

Relations[edit | edit source]

Acquaintances and Friends[edit | edit source]

Friends[edit | edit source]

Organizations[edit | edit source]

  • Cheltenham Ladies' College, Choucesttershire, 1873–1876
  • Queen's College, Harley Street, London, 1877–1880
  • Theosophical Society
  • The Abbey Theatre, Dublin
  • The Isis-Urania Temple of the Golden Dawn, Inner Order
  • Sphere (Egyptology) group within the Golden Dawn
  • Alchemy group within the Golden Dawn

Timeline[edit | edit source]

1883, Farr's father died.

1884, Florence Farr and actor Edward Emery married.

1888, Edward Emery left to tour America, and his marriage to Florence Farr ended.

1890 July, Farr was initiated into the Golden Dawn (Gilbert 86 145). Probably introduced into the Order by Yeats?

1890 November 15, Farr and G. B. Shaw begin a sexual affair (Greer xvii).

1891 February, Farr acted in a performance of Ibsen's Rosmersholm, the first production in England.

1891 August 2, Farr was admitted to the Inner Order or Second Order: R.R. et A.C. of the Golden Dawn (Gilbert 86 20). This was her "Portal date" (Küntz 187). But see 1891 December 22.

Between 1890?, the time Farr joined the Golden Dawn, and 1900, she may have belonged to a Dawn subgroup that practiced alchemy According to Gilbert, she was an "enthusiast" for alchemy (Gilbert 83 66).

1891 December 22, Farr initiated into the Second or Inner Order (Greer xvii; Küntz 187).

1892, possibly January through June or so, Farr was Cancellarius of the Golden Dawn "for the first half of 1892" (Gilbert 86 32). Percy Bullock succeeded her.

1893, after her grandfather died, Annie Horniman continued to provide generously for MacGregor and Moina Mathers' living expenses, but she also used her connection with Farr to begin to use her grandfather's money "to do something practical in the theatre," and her money was used in turn by Farr to advance the cause of the modern theatre and, soon, by W. B. Yeats to advance the cause of the Irish National Theatre (Pogson ).

1893, Farr replaced Westcott as Praemonstrator of the Golden Dawn.

1893 October, Farr compiled, for the Inner Order, The Book of the Concourse of the Forces, Binding together the Powers of the Squares in the Terrestrial Quadrangle of Enoch (Gilbert 87 167).

1894, Farr became Praemonstratrix of Isis-Urania (King 89 52).

1894, the year of the season at the Avenue Theatre, in which Farr played in Yeats's The Land of Heart's Desire and Louka in Shaw's Arms and the Man. This photograph shows her as Louka: [img here]

MacGregor Mathers wrote "a long letter" to Farr, as she put it, "in reply to a letter of mine sending a charged drawing of the Egyptian and asking him if I were not grossly deceived by her claiming to be equal in rank to an 8-3 of our Order at the same time giving me numbers which I afterwards calculated to be correct for that grade. I still [on 17 January 1901] possess his letter approving altogether of my working with her, and saying it was necessary to make offerings & then all would be well -- &c &c" (Harper 74 221). [confirm date on this]

1895, Florence Farr successfully filed for divorce from Edward Emery.

1896 May 13, 8:32 p.m. to 9:16 p.m., Florence Farr, "with the assistance of Alan Bennett [sic], Charles Rosher and Frederick Leigh Gardner evoked the mercurial spirit Taphtharthareth to visible appearance — or so the four of them believed" (King 89 52; Howe 106). Farr, Rosher and Bennett were all sick — as Bennett put it, "afflicted with grim and horrible diseases"; Bennett wrote this "Ritual for the Evocation unto Visible Appearance of the Great Spirit Taphthartharath," or Mercury (Howe 106).

1896 October 29, Mathers demanded written submission from the members of the Second Order.

1897 March, Westcott resigned from the Golden Dawn. Farr "succeeded Westcott as Chief Adept in Anglia and Mathers's personal representative in England. Westcott was an able, even enthusiastic administrator. Florence Farr, indolent by nature, was never willing to bother herself with the multifarious detail work which Westcott had obviously enjoyed" (Cavendish 105). So the thorough, even exhaustive examination system for advancement in the Order fell into disuse.

1897 March, Westcott wrote Frederick Gardner, telling him to ask Farr to "choose a gentleman adept friend" to act as intermediary -- but not W. A. Ayton (Howe 169).

1897 December 21 or 22, circa, Farr signed Frederick Gardner's petition in support of Annie Horniman (Howe 143).

1899, Sometime in 1899 Farr performed and accompanied herself on the psaltery. Mabel Dolmetsch remembered in 1940, "The thrilling tones of her low voice ... left a lasting impression on me ... I think her trouble was that she was not an executive musician; and so could not detach herself from the physical action of plucking the right notes when, carried away by excitement, she had changed the pitch of her voice" (qtd in Campbell 144, n. 18).

Arnold Dolmetsch described this chanting: "I tried to revive the Art of reciting to well defined musical tones, and I made a 'Psaltery' to accompany the voice, as was done in the early days of Celtic and Greek Art. The point was to find the "tune" to which the poet recited his own verse. I spent a whole night listening to Yeats reciting but I came to the conclusion that he did not realize the inflexions of his own voice. In fact, he had a short phrase of fairly indistinct tones which he employed to recite any of his poems. This did not interfere with the expression of his readings, which were very beautiful; but it was useless from my point of view" (qtd in Campbell 144, n. 18).

Campbell goes on to say, "Dolmetsch then confirms the opinions expressed by Mabel Dolmetsch that Florence Farr raised the pitch of her voice and was not able to follow it on the psaltery. The first of many public performances of Florence Farr reciting to her own accompaniment on the psaltery was at the Hall of Clifford's Inn, Fleet Street, on 10 June 1902" (144, n. 18).

1899, Farr played in Yeats's The Countess Cathleen.

1900–1905, romance and possibly affair with George Bernard Shaw.

1900 January 12, meeting of the Golden Dawn. MacGregor Mathers got the minutes. In his 16 February letter to Florence Farr, he "accused her of bringing his 'private affairs' into a discussion at the meeting of 12 January. More particularly, he accused her of 'attempting to make a schism' within the Order to work 'under "Sapere Aude,"' Wynn Westcott (Harper 74 21). See Mathers's 16 February letter to Farr. She sent the minutes?

1900 February 16, Mathers wrote Farr, accusing her of "making a schism" to work under Wynn Westcott "under the mistaken impression that [Westcott had] received an Epitome of the Second Order work from G. H. Soror, 'Sapiens Dominabitur Astris' [Anna Sprengel]. Westcott, he said, had never been in communication with the Secret Chiefs, the supposed correspondence between them and Westcott being 'forged'. According to Mathers 'every atom of the knowledge of the Order has come through me alone from 0=0 to 5=6 inclusive', and only he had been in communication with the Secret Chiefs. ... He warned her of the 'extreme gravity' of the matter, entreated her 'to keep this secret from the Order', and remarked that Sapiens Dominabitur Astris was in Paris assisting him. ... His time, he said, was 'enormously occupied with the arrangements for the Buildings and Decorations of the Egyptian Temple of Isis in Paris'" (Harper 74 21). Mather "had not in fact marked the letter 'private', though he had urged her to 'Read this letter carefully before showing any part of it to anyone!'" (Harper 74 22).

Mathers's letter reads, in part:

Now with regard to the Second Order, it would be with the very greatest regret, both from my personal regard for you as well as the occult standpoint, that I should receive your resignation as my Representative in the Second Order in London; but I cannot let you form a combination to make a schism therein with the idea of working secretly or avowedly under Sapere Aude [Westcott] under the mistaken impression that he received an Epitome of the Second Order work from G. H. Soror Dominabitur Astris [Sprengel]. For this forces me to tell you plainly (and understand me well, I can prove to the hilt every word I say here, and more) and were I confronted with S.A. I would say the same, though for the sake of the Order, and for the circumstances that it would mean so deadly a blow to S.A.'s reputation, I entreat you to keep this secret from the / Order for the present, at least, though you are at perfect liberty to show him this if you think fit, after mature consideration.

He was NEVER been at any time either in personal or written communication with the Secret Chiefs of the (third) Order, he having himself forged or procured to be forged the professed correspondence between him and them, and my tongue having been tied all these years by a previous Oath of Secrecy to him, demanded by him, from me, before showing me what he had done, or caused to be done, or both. You must comprehend from what little I say here the extreme gravity of such a matter, and again I ask you, for both his sake and that of the Order, not to force me to go further into the subject. (King 89 67-68)

Mather concludes "his letter by stating (erroneously) that she was with him in Paris," and King offers this as proof that Mathers still believed in Sprengel, but of course he could be saying so in order not to shake Farr's faith in her authority for establishing the Order (King 89 68).

1900 January 13, MacGregor Mathers got a letter from Farr. See 16 February letter for his reply. (Harper 74 21.)

1900 March 23, Mathers dismissed Farr as his London Representative (King 89 69).

1900 September, Farr's group had been meeting for three years, she wrote on 17 January 1901, "when I found everything I proposed was objected to. After a few weeks I discovered that my group ... was being violently attacked" (Harper 74 222). The "attack" was over meeting rooms at first. Then Farr was accused of secrecy: "I was then accused of keeping valuable information to myself. You will understand I think that with the anti-Egyptian Feeling about I shall still refuse to discuss Egyptian formulae with anyone not specially in sympathy with the ancient Egyptians." The group's purpose was to study Egyptology?

1901 January 17, Farr wrote to John Brodie-Innes, who was in the country (as opposed to being in the city) where she couldn't speak with him, to justify the Sphere Group:

  • "On Jan 27th 1896 I received a long letter from DDCF. [MacGregor Mathers] in reply to a letter of mine sending a charged drawing of the Egyptian and asking him if I were not grossly deceived by her claiming to be equal in rank to an 8-3 of our Order at the same time giving me numbers which I afterwards calculated to be correct for that grade. I still possess his letter approving altogether of my working with her, and saying it was necessary to make offerings & then all would be well - &c &c. I soon found there was a considerable prejudice against Egyptian Symbolism amongst the members of the Order and I began to hold my tongue after having recommended the various clearly marked groups of thinkers (such as Indian, Christian and so on) to work steadily and regularly by themselves each under some more advanced person. To you and to those who were not antipathetic I spoke more freely. When the splits in the Order itself became more and more pronounced my work with 3 others having become extremely interesting we resolved to carry out a plan suggested by an Egyptian for the holding together of a strong nucleus on purely Order lines." (Harper 74 221)
  • One of the prejudiced ones was Frederick Gardner? In the 23 November 1896 "Care 'Daffodil'" letter, Horniman says, "What a time of it you must give S.S.D.D. [Farr]. She wants me to study Egyptian too, but I find one new language enough at a time and am hard at work at Italian" (Harper 74 225).
  • One of the "3 others" was Robert Felkin, I think. Another was "Volo"? (Florence Kennedy)
  • "All went well until September 1900 when I found everything I proposed was objected to. After a few weeks I discovered that my group which had been working quietly for 3 years was being violently attacked." (Harper 74 222) First she was "attacked" because of a conflict over rooms to meet in, so Farr agreed to a policy requiring groups to reserve meeting rooms.
  • "I was then accused of keeping valuable information to myself. You will understand I think that with the anti-Egyptian Feeling about I shall still refuse to discuss Egyptian formulae with anyone not specially in sympathy with the ancient Egyptians." (Harper 74 223)

1902 June 10, Farr's first public performance in which she "recit[ed] to her own accompaniment on the psaltery was at the Hall of Clifford's Inn, Fleet Street, on 10 June 1902 (Campbell 144, n. 18).

1903 December 16, Farr and Arnold Dolmetsch show up in Punch. "Florence Farr was acting as secretary for a newly-formed fellowship known as 'The Dancers', a body whose aim was to 'fight the high and powerful devil, solemnity'. In a poem entitled L'Allegro up to date, the final stanza is devoted to Dolmetsch:

The old forgotten dancing-lore,
The steps we cannot understand,
DOLMETSCH agrees to take in hand,
These on the well-trod stage anon,
When next our learned sock is on,
We'll show, while ARNOLD, Fancy's child,
Tootles his native wood-wind wild.

Campell says, "This verse is curiously prophetic for Dolmetsch had not yet introduced the recorder into his concerts, although he occasionally included a flute. Dolmetsch did know something of the steps of the old dances but it was his wife who later researched the subject most thoroughly and wrote two books on the subject" (151-52).

Here is a photograph of Farr in 1903, posed with a psaltery: [img here]

1905, Farr produced Oscar Wilde's Salomé.

1906 July 13, Farr had been planning to tour the U.S. with Yeats? John Quinn wrote W. B. Yeats telling him not to go to USA with Farr: "'It wouldn't do ... or you and Miss Farr to come here together. This is after all a provincial people.' American audiences, 'especially at the Women's Colleges', where 'you are now known in a most dignified way', would consider such a tour improper. 'It is too risky', he warned, 'too easily misunderstood'" (Harper 80 29).

1910 May 6, Friday, Edward VII, King of England, died.

1910 May 7, Saturday, The Abbey Theatre in Dublin did not close for Edward VII's death, so Annie Horniman cut them off.

1910 September 26, George Pollexfen died.

1912, Farr left England for Jaffna, Ceylon, "to accept a position as Principal of Ramanathan College for Hindu Girls. According to Yeats, in the words of 'All Souls' Night', she

Preferred to teach a school
Away from Neighbour or friend
Among dark skins, and there
Permit foul years to wear,
Hidden from eyesight, to the unnoticed end. (Harper 74 175, n. 17).

1919 November 1, Robert Felkin wrote to the Chiefs of the Golden Dawn: "Ramanathan is an Indian and has a native girls' school in Ceylon. He does not belong to our Order. He comes from a family of hereditary Eastern Mystic Teachers" (Harper 74 175, n. 17).

1917, Farr died, in Ceylon.

Questions and Notes[edit | edit source]

  1. In the Golden Dawn, Farr was the leader of the Sphere (Egyptian) groups as well as being an "enthusiast" for alchemy (Gilbert 83 66). She "appears to have had a considerable talent for Ceremonial Magic .... Unlike some of her later successors in this office [Praemonstratrix] she not only studied the theory of Magic but practised the classical techniques of invocation and evocation" (King 89 52-53). She wrote instructional materials and rituals as well.
  2. See timeline at 1903 December 16: were The Dancers real or fictional?
  3. Did Farr write a letter in support of the appeal for a Civil Pension for Arnold Dolmetsch? (see July 1936).
  4. Farr left the Golden Dawn after the Horos trial (Howe 240).
  5. 1906, 13 July, Farr had been planning to tour the U.S. with Yeats?
  6. John Brodie-Innes about the groups in the Golden Dawn (Harper 74 27). When?
  7. On dissension between the Sphere Group "and the rest of the Adepti Minores": "A contributory factor may have been Florence Farr's own occasional tendencies to autocracy; she suspended one Frater because his manner of reciting the ritual did not meet with her approval -- the poor man had to temporarily transfer himself to the Bradford Temple. It is good to know that he was ultimately forgiven, for Yorkshire did not particularly agree with him" (King 89 66 and n. 1). This can't have been Gardner? If so, the "manner of reciting the ritual" would have been more than that. Who was it?
  8. Mistress of GBS, WBY??; King (1989) claims she slept with WBY and Crowley and "any man who asked her to sleep with him" (202).

Bibliography[edit | edit source]

  • Campbell
  • Cavendish
  • Gilbert 1983
  • Gilbert 1986
  • Greer
  • Harper 1974
  • Howe
  • Hyde, Virginia Crosswhite. "Florence Beatrice Farr." ODNB.
  • Johnson, Josephine. Florence Farr: Bernard Shaw's New Woman. Gerrards Cross, England: C. Smythe, 1975.
  • King 1989
  • Küntz
  • Pogson

Written by Farr[edit | edit source]

  • The Book of the Concourse of the Forces, Binding together the Powers of the Squares in the Terrestrial Quadrangle of Enoch, compiled by Farr in October 1893 (Gilbert 87 167).
  • Miss Florence Farr. Chanting & Speaking to the Music of a Psaltery. [London? 1903. [WorldCAT]
  • Farr, Florence. The Dancing Faun. Illustr., Aubrey Beardsley. 1894. (ODNb says 1904)
  • "Egyptian Magic" By S.S.D.D. 1896 (Berridge 316).
  • Farr, Florence. Modern Woman: Her Intentions. 1910.
  • Farr, Florence. A Short Inquiry Concerning the Hermetic Art by a Lover of Philatethes, 1894.
  • Farr, Florence. The Solemnization of Jacklin: Some Adventures on the Search for Reality. 1912.
  • Farr, Florence, Olivia Shakespear, and others. The Beloved of Hathor and The Shrine of the Golden Hawk. S.l. : s.n., 1902. [WorldCAT]
  • Vaughan, Thomas, 1622-1666, Florence Farr, W. Wynn Westcott. Euphrates, or, The waters of the East: 1655. London; Benares, Madras: Theosophical Publishing Society; "The Theosophist" Office, 1896.
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