A CHANGE OF PACE...THE STATUE OF LIBERTY - A BIT OF HISTORY AND A ROUNDABOUT CONNECTION TO MY HOME TOWN...

and how is that?

But to start, I thought this was very interesting.  I have Gregg to thank for her photo as he got it in one of his historical feeds.

This lady is Isabella Eugénie Boyer, and though it cannot be confirmed, it is rumored that she was the model used for The Statue of Liberty.  What do you think?  There are several features on both faces that are strikingly similar to my way of thinking.

The following information comes from Wikipedia:

Isabella Eugénie Boyer 

Isabella Eugénie Boyer (17 December 1841 – 12 May 1904) was a French-American model and heiress.

She was born in Paris to Louis Noël Boyer, an Africa-born French confectioner, and his English-born wife Pamela Lockwood (aka Pamilla). Isabella married Isaac Merritt Singer in New York City, in 1863, when Isaac was 52 and Isabella was 22.  (Isaac was the founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, and he made important improvements to the design of the sewing machine.) Singer had a previous common-law wife, Mary Ann Sponsler, who had Isaac arrested for bigamy. 

Isabella and Isaac moved to Paris, then to Oldway Mansion, Paignton (photos are from Wikipedia) on the Devon coast, because New York society frowned on his many "families." They had six children; Sir Adam Mortimer Singer (1863-1929), Winnaretta Eugénie Singer (1865-1943), Washington Merritt Grant Singer (1866-1934), Paris Eugene Singer (1867-1932), Isabelle-Blanche Singer (1869-1896) and Franklin Merritt Morse Singer (1870-1939).

Isaac Singer is reported to have had a total of 22 children with his many paramours. Singer died in 1875 and left an estate of about $14 million. His two wills created family tension and lawsuits, but Isabella was declared his legal widow.

On 8 January, 1879, Isabella married a Dutch musician, Victor Reubsaet, and settled in Paris. Victor was an internationally successful singer and violinist. He was born in 1843 in Sittard, as Nicolas Reubsaet, a son of a simple shoemaker. Pretending to be of noble descent, he falsely claimed the title Vicomte d’Estenburgh. In 1881, he did obtain the title of Duke of Camposelice from Italian King Umberto I, in appreciation for a generous act of philanthropy in favor of the Italian colonies.

The Duchess of Camposelice (Isabella) was still a striking lady when she met the sculptor Bartholdi. It is rumored she was his model for the Statue of Liberty, however this claim may not be correct.

Victor Reubsaet died in September 1887 and Isabella was married, for the third time, in December 1891, to the art collector Paul Sohège.

Isabella Eugenia Boyer died at 62 years of age in 1904 in Paris."

Many years ago when I met Gregg, I lived in a small village between Paignton and Torquay.  (Phonetically Paignton is pronounced 'Painton' and Torquay is pronounced 'Torkey'.) I would pass by Oldway Mansion all the time, which was from the age of 15 when my family moved there after my father's retirement, up to the time I got married at 25.  I have learned more about its history and refreshed some of it thanks to Wikipedia.  If you click on its name above you can read more, but in part I learned the following.

"A rock garden was laid out between 1900 and 1902 by Devon landscape gardener FW Meyer using 1,000 tons of stone.

Following the end of an affair with the dancer Isadora Duncan in 1917, Paris Singer became an American citizen and went to live in the United States. This was done partly for tax reasons, and after 1918, Oldway Mansion was no longer the permanent home of the Singer family.

During the period of the First World War (1914-1918), Oldway Mansion was transformed into the American Women's War Relief Hospital. The Rotunda was converted to house rows of beds for wounded soldiers being brought back to England from the trenches of France and Belgium.  King George V visited in 1915. 

Oldway Mansion became the Torbay Country Club in 1929. During this period, tennis courts and a bowling green were added to the grounds.

Torbay Golf & Country Club opened in 1933. Oldway Mansion was used as the club house, with the course in the hills above the Mansion. The course closed in the mid-1950s.

During the Second World War (1939-1945), Oldway was used in the war effort by housing Royal Air Force (RAF) cadets training to be aircrew. In 1943, Oldway was damaged in an air raid, along with many other buildings in Paignton."

I worked in Torquay for several years with the local government.  At one point I was asked to work at the mansion for a few weeks, when they needed extra help in their offices.  I loved the place!  (By then it had been sold, as I mention below, to Paignton Urban District Council.)  My lunch hours were spent walking around and looking at all the old paintings and antiques.  When my hour was up, I was always sad to have to go back to work.  I just wanted to keep exploring.  I was even sadder when I was no longer needed and had to go back to my regular job.

I used to hop up and down the Grand Staircase several times a day during my time there, never realizing its full history.  I did know that it was once owned by the Singer family.  I can't remember if I knew that he was the 'sewing machine man'.  I have an idea that I did.  I seem to remember my father telling me at the time, as Dad was always interested in history and would tell me many things. I knew there was some connection to Isadora Duncan, but didn't really know what it was.

The Singer family sold the mansion to Paignton Urban District Council in 1946 for £46,000.  In today's money that would be 2.5 million dollars.

Sadly, there doesn't appear to have been a lot of money around to keep it looking at its best, or so I read, and a lot of work needs to be done to bring it back to its former glory.  These old places must take an astronomical amount of money to be kept in their original condition.

Here are three maps showing the mansion's location.

Well, I have gone on quite a bit today, but this is a subject dear to me.  I have a lot of good memories from my time in Devon.  I hope once again you will forgive my blathering.  I want to remember its history on my blog, so that I can re-read in the years ahead, and it will give my memory a jog.

Thanks for your patience and I'm glad you stopped by.  Enjoy your day and have a great week!

(My photos are from the Wikipedia pages, and links can be found throughout my post.)