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Denise Orme
Jessie Smither, Duchess of Leinster (25 August 1885 – 20 October 1960), known by her stage name Denise Orme, was an English music hall singer, actress and musician who appeared regularly at the Alhambra and Gaiety Theatres in London in the early years of the 20th century. Married, successively, to an English baron, a Danish millionaire, and an Irish duke, she was the maternal grandmother of Aga Khan IV.
The daughter of Alfred John Smither, a servant working for lawyers, and Jessicah Henrietta Pococke, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music (where she won the Wessely Violin Exhibition in 1899) and later the Royal College of Music where she was 'discovered' as a singer by George Edwardes.
Her cousin Ethel Rose Kendall, who acted under the name Eileen Orme, married the Hon. Maurice Nelson Hood in 1908. He was the son and heir of the second Viscount Bridport (who was also the 5th Duke of Bronte).
Orme's first stage appearance was in 1905 in the chorus of The Little Michus at Daly's Theatre in London, later taking the role of Marie-Blanche in that production, and in 1906 the same year, she appeared in the title role of See-See, composed by Sydney Jones, at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Also in 1906, she also participated in gramophone recording of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, singing part of the role of Yum-Yum. She appeared in The Merveilleuses into early 1907. After the birth of her first daughter, she returned to the stage in The Hon'ble Phil in October 1908, and as Lady Elizabeth Thanet in Our Miss Gibbs at the Gaiety Theatre, London. She retired from the stage in 1910 when her husband acceded to the baronetcy.
In the 1940s, Orme owned and operated the Beech Hill hotel at Rushlake Green in Sussex, England.
Orme was married three times. Her first husband was John Reginald Lopes Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston (1873–1930), whom she married on 24 April 1907. He was the only son of the John Yarde-Buller, 2nd Baron Churston and Barbara Yelverton (the only child of Sir Hastings Yelverton and the 20th Baroness Grey de Ruthyn). Before their divorce in 1928 due to her affair with Theodore W. Wessel, they had six children:
On 31 October 1928, she married Theodor Wilhelm "Tito" Wessel (1889–1948) in London. Wessel was a Danish millionaire and one-time Danish chargé d'affaires in Chile and by this marriage, she had three stepchildren, Barbara, Frederika, and Nina. Before their divorce in Tahiti in 1934, they were the parents of one son, Hugo Wessel (1930–2012), a businessman and the first husband of Nina Van Pallandt.
In the late 1930s, Orme had an affair with Esmé Ivo Bligh, 9th Earl of Darnley. On 11 March 1946, she married, as his third wife, Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster, Ireland's Premier Peer of the Realm.
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Denise Orme
Jessie Smither, Duchess of Leinster (25 August 1885 – 20 October 1960), known by her stage name Denise Orme, was an English music hall singer, actress and musician who appeared regularly at the Alhambra and Gaiety Theatres in London in the early years of the 20th century. Married, successively, to an English baron, a Danish millionaire, and an Irish duke, she was the maternal grandmother of Aga Khan IV.
The daughter of Alfred John Smither, a servant working for lawyers, and Jessicah Henrietta Pococke, she studied at the Royal Academy of Music (where she won the Wessely Violin Exhibition in 1899) and later the Royal College of Music where she was 'discovered' as a singer by George Edwardes.
Her cousin Ethel Rose Kendall, who acted under the name Eileen Orme, married the Hon. Maurice Nelson Hood in 1908. He was the son and heir of the second Viscount Bridport (who was also the 5th Duke of Bronte).
Orme's first stage appearance was in 1905 in the chorus of The Little Michus at Daly's Theatre in London, later taking the role of Marie-Blanche in that production, and in 1906 the same year, she appeared in the title role of See-See, composed by Sydney Jones, at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Also in 1906, she also participated in gramophone recording of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, singing part of the role of Yum-Yum. She appeared in The Merveilleuses into early 1907. After the birth of her first daughter, she returned to the stage in The Hon'ble Phil in October 1908, and as Lady Elizabeth Thanet in Our Miss Gibbs at the Gaiety Theatre, London. She retired from the stage in 1910 when her husband acceded to the baronetcy.
In the 1940s, Orme owned and operated the Beech Hill hotel at Rushlake Green in Sussex, England.
Orme was married three times. Her first husband was John Reginald Lopes Yarde-Buller, 3rd Baron Churston (1873–1930), whom she married on 24 April 1907. He was the only son of the John Yarde-Buller, 2nd Baron Churston and Barbara Yelverton (the only child of Sir Hastings Yelverton and the 20th Baroness Grey de Ruthyn). Before their divorce in 1928 due to her affair with Theodore W. Wessel, they had six children:
On 31 October 1928, she married Theodor Wilhelm "Tito" Wessel (1889–1948) in London. Wessel was a Danish millionaire and one-time Danish chargé d'affaires in Chile and by this marriage, she had three stepchildren, Barbara, Frederika, and Nina. Before their divorce in Tahiti in 1934, they were the parents of one son, Hugo Wessel (1930–2012), a businessman and the first husband of Nina Van Pallandt.
In the late 1930s, Orme had an affair with Esmé Ivo Bligh, 9th Earl of Darnley. On 11 March 1946, she married, as his third wife, Edward FitzGerald, 7th Duke of Leinster, Ireland's Premier Peer of the Realm.