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The Real Maisie Gay:
Daisy Maude Noble Gill Brewer November 2017 Some details about the actress Maisie Gay came to light when I was researching the family tree for my father-in-law who is the grandson of Arthur Wells by his first marriage. His sister made a throw away comment about Arthur's second wife being the famous Maisie Gay and told me an anecdote, after which I started looking for more evidence. There has always been a bit of mystery about aspects of Maisie Gay's life. She claimed to be 18 when starting on the stage in 1903 but her birth certificate and school suggested she was actually 5 years older. It was also never clear if she had actually married her partner and agent Oscar Harris or not. My family history research has provided evidence on both puzzles. Right: Maisy at the height of her success (courtesy Wikipedia) |
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Maisie married a widower, Arthur Wells in 1898 aged 18. She and her mother were living with him in the 1901 census. In the marriage license and census documents she is named as Daisy Maude Noble or Wells, with parents Peter and Charlotte Noble. There do not seem to have been any children born from this marriage.
There is no evidence in the archives of a legal divorce and Arthur's granddaughter told me of an incident in which her grandfather was listening with her to a radio interview where Maisie's partner was described as her husband. Apparently Arthur shot out of his chair exclaiming She can't possibly be married to him. She's still married to me.
Maisie may have actually started on the stage in 1898 and met Arthur at the stage door as we know from family stories that Arthur met his first wife, another chorus girl, that way. It seems that when the marriage failed, they simply went their separate ways and pretended the previous 5 years never happened with Daisy changing her name and age to suit her new life.
There is no evidence in the archives of a legal divorce and Arthur's granddaughter told me of an incident in which her grandfather was listening with her to a radio interview where Maisie's partner was described as her husband. Apparently Arthur shot out of his chair exclaiming She can't possibly be married to him. She's still married to me.
Maisie may have actually started on the stage in 1898 and met Arthur at the stage door as we know from family stories that Arthur met his first wife, another chorus girl, that way. It seems that when the marriage failed, they simply went their separate ways and pretended the previous 5 years never happened with Daisy changing her name and age to suit her new life.