33 Facts About Florence Farr

Florence Farr was a women's rights activist, journalist, educator, singer, novelist, and leader of the occult order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

Florence Farr was a friend and collaborator of Nobel laureate William Butler Yeats, poet Ezra Pound, playwright Oscar Wilde, artists Aubrey Beardsley and Pamela Colman Smith, Masonic scholar Arthur Edward Waite, theatrical producer Annie Horniman, and many other literati of London's fin de siecle era, and even by their standards she was "the bohemian's bohemian".

Florence Beatrice Farr was born in Bickley, Kent, England, in 1860, the youngest of the eight children of Mary Elizabeth Whittal and Dr William Farr.

Florence Farr was named after nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale by her father, a physician and hygienist who was a friend and colleague of Nightingale's.

Dr Florence Farr was known as an advocate of equal education and professional rights for women, who doubtlessly influenced his daughters' attitudes in their later lives.

Florence Farr's family sent her to school at Cheltenham Ladies' College in 1873.

From 1877 to 1880, Florence Farr attended Queen's College, the first women's college in England.

Florence Farr's first acting experience was in amateur productions with the Bedford Park Dramatics Club, in which her sister Henrietta and brother-in-law Henry were active members.

Florence Farr adopted the stage name Mary Lester in deference to her father's wishes, who did not want the Farr name associated with the theatre.

Florence Farr soon attained modest success on London's West End stages.

Florence Farr eventually obtained a divorce in 1895 on the grounds of abandonment and never remarried.

In early 1890, Florence Farr moved in with her sister, Henrietta, and brother-in-law, painter and stage designer Henry Marriott Paget, to Bedford Park, a bohemian London enclave of intellectuals, artists and writers.

An early feminist, Florence Farr was known for advocating equality for women in politics, employment, wages, etc.

Florence Farr was the first woman in England to perform in Ibsen's plays, in particular the role of Rebecca West in the first English production of Rosmersholm, at the Vaudeville Theatre in 1891, which gained her critical acclaim.

The character of Rebecca West is a 'New Woman' who rejects the ethical systems of Victorian Era Christianity, which for Florence Farr was a virtual typecast role.

Florence Farr commissioned her friend, artist Aubrey Beardsley, to create the poster for the season.

Florence Farr had starred as Blanche, a slumlord's daughter, in Shaw's first play, Widowers' Houses, and she approached both Shaw and Yeats to write plays for her production at the Avenue.

Florence Farr became a regular contributor to the performance of Yeats' metrical plays, and in 1898 he made her the stage manager for his Irish Literary Theatre.

Florence Farr was initiated into the Isis-Urania Temple of the Order of the Golden Dawn in London by Yeats in July 1890 taking the magical motto Sapientia Sapienti Dona Data.

Florence Farr became Praemonstratrix of the temple in 1894, taking charge of the educational system, and giving classes in tarot divination, scrying and Enochian magic.

Spiritualism and Theosophy were very popular in the late Victorian Era but, unlike some of her contemporaries, Florence Farr practiced magic, including the classic mystical techniques of invocation and evocation.

Florence Farr published her first philosophical paper, A Short Inquiry concerning the Hermetic Art by a Lover of Philatethes in 1894 and wrote several of the Order's secret instruction papers, called the "Flying Rolls".

Florence Farr eventually believed that the temple should be closed down, writing to Mathers in January 1900 and offering her resignation as his representative, but that she was willing to carry on until a successor was found.

Florence Farr remained in her Chief Adept position for a time, but resigned in January 1902 in the wake of a fraud scandal concerning associates of Mathers that exposed the once secret society to public ridicule.

Florence Farr was involved in the performance, direction and musical composition of a number of plays for the Lyceum, Court and New Century Theatres in London, between 1902 and 1906.

Besides collaborating with Yeats and his Abbey Theatre, Florence Farr gave frequent performances of his poetry, which she set to the music of her psaltery.

Florence Farr toured in Great Britain, Europe and America in 1906 and 1907 to take the 'new art' of Irish literary theatre to wider audiences.

Florence Farr wrote regular articles during this time, particularly about women's rights, theatre and ancient Egyptian religion, in the British journal of art and politics, The New Age, and for Theosophical journals, some of which have been anthologized into books.

Florence Farr lectured at the Leeds Arts Club, in 1906 with Yeats on the art of speaking to a psaltery and in 1908 on 'The Theatre and the Arts' where she talked about the practical considerations of designing and building a theatre, the history of Greek theatre and read poems by Yeats and Homer accompanied by the psaltery.

Florence Farr was greatly impressed by his plans for the education of young women in his native country, and she committed herself to helping him when he was ready.

In 1912, Florence Farr learned that Ramanathan had established his Uduvil Ramanathan Girls College, and at the age of fifty-two, she sold all her possessions and moved to Ceylon, returning to her first vocation, that of a teacher.

Florence Farr was appointed Lady Principal by Ramanathan and the administration of the school was turned over to her.

Florence Farr kept up her correspondences with Yeats, and sent him her translations of Tamil poetry.