Social Victorians/People/Leslie

Also Known As

• Family name: Leslie
• Colonel Leslie
• Baronet Leslie, of Glaslough, co. Monaghan (U.K. peerage, created 21 February 1876)
  • Sir John Leslie, 1st Bt. (21 February 1876 – 23 January 1916)
  • Sir John Leslie, 2nd Bt. (23 January 1916 – 25 January 1944)

Organizations

Sir John Leslie

• Christ Church, Oxford (no degree)
• 1st Lifeguards

Sir John Leslie, 2nd Baronet

• Conservative Party
• Grenadier Guards
• Royal Irish Fusiliers, 5th Battalion (1902–)

Timeline

1884 October 2, Sir John Leslie and Leonie Blanche Jerome married.

1897 July 2, Friday, Mrs. Leonie Leslie and Colonel John Leslie attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

1902 August 9, just after King Edward VII's coronation Louise, Duchess of Devonshire tried "to reach the Ladies' before anyone else":

After the long ceremony she tried to hurry out in the wake of the royal procession, but found herself stopped by a line of Grenadier Guards. Leonie [Leonie Leslie] and Jennie [Lady Randolph Churchill], who were descending from the King's special box, heard her upbraiding the officers in front of all the other peeresses, many of whom were themselves most uncomfortable. Then, trying to push her way past them, she missed her footing and fell headlong down a flight of steps to roll over on her back at the feet of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Michael Hicks Beach), who stared paralyzed at this heap of velvet and ermine. The Marquis de Soveral swiftly took charge of the situation and had her lifted to her feet while Margot Asquith nimbly retrieved the coronet, which was bouncing along the stalls, and placed it back on her head. It was a moment in which younger women naturally had to give precedence to an angry Duchess.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball

Leonie, Lady Leslie as Brunhild. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Amalie Materna as Brünhilde at the Bayreuth Festival, 1876

Sir John Leslie, 2nd Bt in costume as Earl Darnley. ©National Portrait Gallery, London.

Leonie Leslie

At the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball, Leonie Leslie (at 260) went at Brunhilde in the Goddesses procession. Lafayette's portrait of "Leonie Blanche (née Jerome), Lady Leslie as Brunhild" in costume is photogravure #139 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Mrs. Leslie as Brünnhild."

Brünnhilde's costume in Leonie Leslie's portrait is standard for the era. The image was stable over time because of the influence of Bayreuth Festival, where the Ring cycle was performed every year, closely adhering to the set and costume designs of the original 13–17 August 1876 production. (This production was not the premiere of the most of the Ring, but it was the first complete performance, and these performances at the Bayreuth Festival were Wagner's, although he did not conduct.)

Leonie Leslie could have seen the Ring in London, New York, or Europe: most of the major opera houses had productions in the 1880s and 1890s. Her costume, however, looks like one that was traditional at that time. Amalie Materna (10 July 1844 – 18 January 1918) sang Brünnhilde in that premiere of the entire cycle in Bayreuth in 1876. Her portrait in costume is to the right.

Two de Courcel daughters attended the ball as Valkyrie, Mademoiselle Henriette de Courcel and Mademoiselle de Courcel.

Colonel John Leslie

Colonel John Leslie (at 261) was dressed as Lord Darnley:

• "Lord Darnley (carrying Sword of State)" in the Queen Elizabeth procession.
• "Mr. John Leslie (Elizabethan courtier), grey and orange."

John Thomson's portrait of "Sir John Leslie, 2nd Bt as Earl Darnley" in costume is photogravure #140 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Mr. Leslie as Earl Darnley."

Lord Darnley was probably the Henry Stuart, Earl Darnley (7 December 1545 – 10 February 1567) who married Mary, Queen of Scots in 1565. Their son, James VI of Scotland, succeeded Queen Elizabeth I as James I on 24 March 1603.

Demographics

• Nationality: Leonie Jerome, American; John Leslie, British

Family

• Sir John Leslie, 1st Bt. (16 December 1822 – 23 January 1916)
• Lady Constance Wilhelmina Frances Dawson-Damer ( – 25 June 1925)
  1. Sir John Leslie, 2nd Bt. (7 August 1857 – 25 January 1944)
  2. Mary Leslie (30 September 1858 – 18 April 1936)
  3. Constance Christina Leslie (23 September 1861 – 30 May 1945)
  4. Theodosia Leslie (5 January 1865 – 21 February 1940)
  5. Olive Louisa Blanche Leslie (14 September 1872 – 3 July 1945)

• Sir John Leslie, 2nd Bt. (7 August 1857 – 25 January 1944)
• Leonie Blanche Jerome (August 1859 – 21 August 1943)

1. Sir John Randolph Shane Leslie, 3rd Bt. (24 September 1885 – 1971)
2. Captain Norman Jerome Beauchamp Leslie (20 November 1886 – 18 Octo0ber 1914)
3. Seymour William Leslie (30 September 1889 – c June 1979)
4. Lionel Alistair David Leslie (27 June 1900 – 17 January 1987)

Relations

• Leonie Blanche Jerome was the sister of Jennie Jerome Churchill, Lady Randolph Churchill and aunt, therefore, of Winston Churchill.
• Anita Leslie, who wrote The Marlborough House Set (1973) and Lady Randolph Churchill: The Story of Jennie Jerome (1969) was a daughter of the 3rd Baronet.

Questions and Notes

1. Besides Jennie, Lady Randolph Churchill, there was one other Jerome sister in Society at this time.