Genevieve Ward

A Woodburytype portrait of the actress and soprano Genevieve Ward, seen here as 'Rebecca' in a production of Ivanhoe, a play in which she first appeared at Drury Lane in 1875.

Born Lucy Genevieve Teresa Ward in New York in 1837, she started her professional life as an opera singer but had to abandon this career in 1862 when she lost her voice due to an illness. In 1873 she came to England and began a long dramatic career. She was created a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) on her 84th birthday in 1921. She died the following year.

Photographed by Lock and Whitfield of London.