Elizabeth Bellamy
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| Elizabeth Bellamy | |
|---|---|
 Elizabeth with her father on her Wedding Day |
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| First appearance | "The Path of Duty" |
| Last appearance | "A Family Gathering" |
| Portrayed by | Nicola Pagett |
| Episode count | 13 |
| Information | |
| Date of birth | 1886 |
| Date of death | ? |
| Spouse(s) | Lawrence Kirbridge Dana Wallace |
| Children | Lucy Kirbridge |
Elizabeth Kirbridge (née Bellamy, later Wallace; 1886 – ?) is a fictional character in the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, that was originally broadcast for five series from 1971 to 1975. She was portrayed by Nicola Pagett.[1]
Elizabeth is the daughter of Richard and Lady Marjorie, and was a main character for the first two series, appearing in 13 episodes. The younger sister of James, Elizabeth is the more modern member of the family, and takes an interest in socialism and the Suffragette movement. Despite the wishes of her parents, she marries a poet, Lawrence Kirbridge, but he turns out to have no interest in sex and arranges for his publisher to make love to Elizabeth, and a child is conceived. Soon after Lawrence is sent abroad, and Elizabeth has a relationship with an Armenian. Elizabeth is close to the maid Rose, who frequently calls her "Miss Lizzie", even after marriage.
Elizabeth leaves Upstairs, Downstairs between the second and third series when she moves to New York. The reason for the departure was Nicola Pagett's refusal to appear again, after she was not selected to appear in a Upstairs, Downstairs film. The film was never made.[1]
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[edit] Early life
Elizabeth is born in 1886 to Richard, a Conservative MP, and Lady Marjorie Bellamy, the daughter of the 12th Earl of Southwold, a prominent Conservative politician. She finishes her education at Frau Beck's Finishing School, in Dresden, Germany in 1905, and has her coming out ball in May that year at Londonderry House. She was due to be presented to the King and Queen by her Aunt Kate (Lady Castleton), but runs away from the Ball.
In December 1905, she falls in love with Baron Klaus von Rimmer, a German who turns out to be a spy. He flees Eaton Place, with the footman Alfred, before the police arrive to arrest him.
Elizabeth is a member of the Young Women's Christian Fellowship, and while working with them she finds the former housemaid Sarah, and saves her from poverty by employing her as the Bellamy's scullery maid.
[edit] Marriage
In Winter 1908, she becomes involved with a group of socialist poets, and upsets her parents by inviting them all round for tea. She also, under the influence of one member, spends over £4 on shoes for street children, then refuses to pay for them. Her father intervenes, and pays for the shoes. After one argument with her parents, she runs away from home to stay with her friend Henrietta Winchmore, and is only discovered after Rose is forced to tell Hudson where Elizabeth is staying. Her father, who she is always very close to, goes to see her, and shortly after Elizabeth and fellow poet Lawrence Kirbridge have tea at Eaton Place.
While Elizabeth is reluctant to marry, the Head Housemaid and friend Rose, persuades her it is the right thing. She and Lawrence Kirbridge, the Cambridge-educated maternal grandson of a Dorset baronet, marry in June 1909 [2].They take their honeymoon in Vienna, and set up home in Greenwich.
The marriage is unhappy from the start, and Lawrence does not wish to consummate the relationship. He 'arranges' for his publisher, Sir Edwin Partridge, to make love to Elizabeth at a soiree the couple are hosting. At Christmas 1909, Elizabeth informs her parents the marriage has failed. The family solicitor, Sir Geoffrey Dillon, is going to annul the marriage on the grounds it has not been consummated, but when Elizabeth's pregnancy is discovered and the indenity of the true father comes out, Lawrence is sent abroad with an allowance, and the Greenwich house is disbanded.
Elizabeth Kirbridge gives birth to a daughter, Lucy Elizabeth, in a London nursing home, and Lawrence is the legal father and he attends the baby's christening. After this he is never heard from again. Elizabeth is not a natural mother, and is usually happy to let Lucy be brought up in the nursery.
[edit] Suffragettes
Elizabeth Bellamy gets herself involved in the Suffragette movement, and on one night goes with others to attack an MP's house. Rose tries to stop her, but they are all arrested, including the innocent Rose. An Armenian Julius Karekin, who was coming out of the house they were attacking, finds Elizabeth's card, and at Court gets her off with a 40 shilling fine, which he then pays. All the others, including Rose, are sent to prison. This makes Elizabeth feel incredibly guilty, and with the help of Karekin she gets Rose freed after the discovery they are being force fed.
She soon starts an affair with Karekin, and he gives her a hat shop, which she names Madame Yvonne. He also buys 165, Eaton Place when the £5600 lease is up for sale following the death of Lady Marjorie's father, and gives the house to Richard and Lady Marjorie. Her relationship with Julius Karekin fizzles out when after a few months he starts a relationship with someone else. He always made it clear that he was a philanderer.
[edit] Move to America
She moves to New York, in about 1911, and marries an attorney named Dana J. Wallace. In 1914, when talking to Georgina, Rose refers to Elizabeth and "her husband and children". Lady Marjorie is on her way to see Elizabeth when the Titanic sinks and Lady Marjorie drowns. Elizabeth becomes 'The Honourable' when her father is raised to the Peerage in 1917. While James is in America in 1928-1929 he visits Elizabeth in New York.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Upstairs, Downstairs Fansite", Steve Phillips, 2006.
- ^ According to Series One, she and Lawrence marry in 1909, however in Series Two everything is put back a year, and they are said to marry in 1908. This article follows the Series One date.
- John Hawkesworth, In My Lady's Chamber, Sphere Books Limited, 1973
