Rosie Boote


Rosie Boote was an Irish Gaiety Girl who became the Marchioness of Headfort when she married in 1901.

Early life

Rose Boote was born in Ireland, or possibly to Irish parents in England; reports vary on this point. She was said to have attended a convent school at Clonmel.

Career and marriage

Irish theatre manager George Edwardes moved chorus girl Rosie Boote to London in 1896, to appear The Runaway Girl. She was especially popular in The Messenger Boy.
Rosie Boote married Geoffrey Taylour, 4th Marquess of Headfort in 1901, against his family's wishes and causing an international sensation. "Tremendous efforts were made to prevent the marriage by all Lord Headfort's relatives and friends," noted a 1903 summary of the event; even the King attempted to discourage the match. Lord Headfort resigned his military commission to marry Miss Boote, and converted to Roman Catholicism soon after they wed. Theirs was one of the first weddings in a trend of Gaiety Girls marrying titled husbands, and Rosie Boote's acceptance into society set a template for how the rest could be received.

Later life

Lady Headfort had two sons and a daughter, and lived primarily at the family house in County Meath. She attended three kings' coronations at Westminster Abbey. She was widowed in 1943 and died in 1958, aged 80 years, in London.
Portraits of the Marquess and Marchioness by artist Sir William Orpen were auctioned by Sotheby's in London in 2012.