Identity:

Henrietta Labouchère (1841-1910), née Hodson, formerly Pigeon, was an actress, the daughter of George Alfred Hodson, an Irish comedian and singer.

Life:

Labouchère started her career in Glasgow where she met the celebrated actor Henry Irving and became known as a burlesque actress. In 1863, she married Walter Richard Pigeon, a solicitor but on his early death she returned to the stage. In 1867 she became a member of the resident company of the newly built Queen's Theatre in London. There she appeared alongside Irving, Ellen Terry and others in productions including Byron's 'Dearer than Life,' and Charles Reade's 'The Double Marriage.' The following year she met and married the journalist and MP Henry Labouchère. This time she continued her stage career and became an impressario when, in 1871, her husband bought out the syndicate who owned the Queen's Theatre. In 1881, by then retired from the stage, Labouchère helped launch the acting career of the society beauty Lillie Langtry.

Bibliography:

Langtry, Lillie, The Days that I Knew, London, 1925; Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford, 2004.