1. Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld, better known by the stage name Lola Montez, was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, who made her Grafin von Landsfeld.
Lola Montez proceeded to the United States via Austria, Switzerland, France and London, to return to her work as an entertainer and lecturer.
Lola Montez was baptised at St Peter's Church in Liverpool, England, on 16 February 1823, while her family was en route to her father's post in India.
Lola Montez's stay in Sunderland lasted only a year, as she was then transferred to a school in Camden Place, Bath, for a more sophisticated education.
In 1844, Eliza, now known as Lola Montez, made a personally disappointing Parisian stage debut as a dancer in Fromental Halevy's opera Le lazzarone.
Lola Montez met and had an affair with Franz Liszt, who introduced her to the circle of George Sand.
Lola Montez soon began to use her influence on the king and this, coupled with her arrogant manner and outbursts of temper, made her extremely unpopular with the Bavarian people.
In March 1848, under pressure from a growing revolutionary movement, the university was re-opened, Ludwig abdicated in favor of his son, King Maximilian II, and Lola Montez fled Bavaria, ending her career as a power behind the throne.
Lola Montez remained in Grass Valley at her little house for nearly two years.
Lola Montez served as an inspiration to another aspiring young entertainer, Lotta Crabtree, whose parents ran a boarding house in Grass Valley.
In June 1855, Lola Montez departed the US to tour Australia and resume her career by entertaining miners at the gold diggings during the gold rush of the 1850s.
Lola Montez earned further notoriety in Ballarat when, after reading a bad review of her performance in The Ballarat Times, she attacked the editor, Henry Seekamp, with a whip.
Lola Montez departed for San Francisco on 22 May 1856.
Lola Montez failed in her attempts at a theatrical comeback in various American cities.
Lola Montez arranged in 1857 to deliver a series of moral lectures in Britain and America written by Rev Charles Chauncey Burr.
Lola Montez spent her last days in rescue work among women.
Lola Montez died at the age of 39 on 17 January 1861.