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What’s New: November 2023
This month’s update, introduced by Rohan McWilliam, adds 8 new articles, with a special focus on popular entertainment on the London stage, and in particular the female stars known as the Gaiety Girls, in the decades before the First World War.
Featured
Gilchrist [married name Fitzmaurice], Constance Macdonald, countess of Orkney [Connie]
![Gilchrist [married name Fitzmaurice], Constance Macdonald, countess of Orkney [Connie]](/fileasset/231108-odnb-9780198614128-e-90000382518-graphic-001-full.jpg)
Known as ‘the original Gaiety Girl’, Connie Gilchrist, the daughter of a London engine smith, was an artist’s model from childhood. After appearing in pantomime and then in music hall, she was recruited to join the company at the Gaiety Theatre. After her retirement in 1888, she married the earl of Orkney, and devoted the rest of her life to rural pursuits on a Buckinghamshire country estate.