Alice Gillis

A carte de visite portrait of a lovely young entertainer. A printed caption in the lower margin identifies her as Miss Alice Gillis.

Born Alice Louisa Gillis in Pimlico in 1854, her father Edward Gills was a musician and Chelsea pensioner (1861 census). In 1871 she was a vocalist living with her family at 25 Rochester Row.

According to The Era (13 August 1871), she was a ‘characteristic singer and dancer’ on the bill at the Angel Gardens.

A few months later she was appearing at the Raglan Gardens. According to one review: ‘A short, dark-eyed, young lady, who, we believe, is called Miss Alice Gillis, came next. She has a good voice and a brisk, agreeable manner. “I want a handsome beau” she brightly and boldly cried; then she informed us that she was “Bashful Jenny,” which must be interpreted reversely, for she was not shy. Again she came forward, prettily dressed as a stage Prince, and invited the dear boys to make a noise’ (The Era, 24 December 1871).

She continued on the stage until 1879. In November 1884 she was involved in a widely reported court case in which it emerged she had been living maritalement with a man named Captain Fitzgerald.

Photographed by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company.