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You searched for: More Like: 'The fainting mask of Macduff'
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Jeannie Henry Bodie a.k.a. Princess Rubie
2997 In 1890 the magician Walford Bodie married Jeannie Henry (1869-1931), eldest daughter of David Henry (1839-1903), a road surveyor from Macduff, and Margaret Skene Henry (1843-1912). Jeannie performed with Walford as an illusionist and mind-reader called Princess Rubie until her retirement in 1930.
Jeannie was one of as many of eight daughters and four of them went on to play important parts in the Bodie show. One of her sisters was Annie "Nan" Henry (1880-1970) and this image comes from an album of hers we hold at Aberdeen City Libraries. Annie "Nan" Henry
2999 Annie "Nan" Henry (1880-1970) was one of the Henry sisters who worked with the magician Walford Bodie.
We hold a photograph album of hers at Aberdeen City Libraries. A handwritten inscription inside the front cover reads "To My Dear Sister 'Nurse Nan', From her loving Sis Loo, With Fondest Love." The inscription is dated 8 April 1912. "Loo" is Louisa Henry (1888-1912).
The album is a large volume, bound in dark green leather. The volume has seen damage over the years and now lacks some of this intriguing covering. Within floral endpapers is around 101 pages each containing approximately three photographs. The images are a mixture of postcards and photographic prints. Most appear to have been sent to Nan Henry while she was living in the Bodie family home in Macduff. Many have signed endearments on front and carry short messages on the reverse.
The life of variety performers was one of perpetual travel and many of the postcards are clearly missives sent back home. The majority of the images are studio portraits but there are also some outdoor scenes and views of home life in MacDuff. While it is difficult to establish exact information, the images look to date primarily from the 1910s with some perhaps reaching into the following two decades. As the album progresses we see new people, uniformed individuals clearly off to World War I and children who are likely to be the next generation of the family. Jeannie Bodie
3002 Jeannie, the only daughter of Walford and Jeannie Bodie, died aged only 19 from heart trouble. Her obituary in The Era describes her as an accomplished musician and vocalist. Walford erected a memorial fountain in memory of his daughter in Macduff that still stands today.
This photograph comes from a family photograph album, originally owned by Annie "Nan" Henry, held by Aberdeen City Libraries. Aberdeen Theatres: Fun on an Ocean Liner
3391 A group portrait of Dr Walford Bodie and his theatre company during a production called Fun on an Ocean Liner. This was a revue written by Bodie himself and first staged in 1924. It included a number of scenes and promised "gorgeous scenery" and "startling mechanical electrical effects". Bodie played a character called Capt. Waldon and his wife played Lady Henri.
Bodie (1869-1939) is in the centre of the image with the ventriloquist dummy. The woman sat to the right of him is mostly likely his wife Jeannie Henry (1869-1931), eldest daughter of David Henry (1839-1903), a road surveyor from Macduff, and Margaret Skene Henry (1843-1912). Jeannie performed with Walford as an illusionist and mind-reader under the name of Princess Rubie until her retirement in 1930.
Fun on a Ocean Liner was also known as Ocean Frolics and was performed twice nightly at the Palace Theatre in July 1928. It was advertised in the local newspapers as Walford Bodie's "Great Electrical, Musical, Revusical Extravaganza." Treasure 120: Walford Bodie
343 In the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods, at the height of music hall variety, Dr Walford Bodie M.D. was one of the most famous and highly paid entertainers in Britain. He remains an enigmatic and charismatic figure in the history of the North East. Born Samuel Murphy Bodie at 33 George Street, Aberdeen on 11 June 1869, he went on to become a leading showman, hypnotist, ventriloquist, controversial 'bloodless surgeon', and was billed variously as The Electric Wizard, The Modern Miracle Worker of the North, and The Most Remarkable Man on Earth.
Our treasure is a photograph album held by Aberdeen City Libraries that offers an insight into the life and times of Bodie and his amazing family. Walford Bodie was for much of his career the headline performer of an extended and shifting company of artists. Members of his family, and in particular those of his wife, often played important roles in the Bodie Show. In 1890 Bodie married Jeannie Henry (1869-1931), who performed with Walford as an illusionist and mind-reader called Princess Rubie, until her retirement in 1930. Jeannie and 3 of her sisters went on to play important parts in the Bodie show. One of her sisters was Annie "Nan" Henry (1880-1970) and it is her album that we now hold in the library.
The album is a large volume, bound in dark green leather. Within floral endpapers there are around 101 pages each containing approximately 3 photographs. The images are a mixture of postcards and photographic prints. Most appear to have been sent to Nan Henry while she was living in the Bodie family home in Macduff. Many have signed endearments on the front and carry short messages on the reverse.
To learn more about this unique character, have a browse in the Treasures from our Collections interactive exhibition. The Bodie Electric Drug Company
395 Macduff magician Walford Bodie signed a lucrative sponsorship deal which saw the creation of The Bodie Electric Drug Company of London and the production of 'Dr Bodie's Famous Electric Liniment' and 'Dr Bodie's Renowned Electric Life Pills', advertised variously as the only sure cure for all manner of conditions. This advert is from the Evening Express of 2nd June 1907. |