Hilda Louise Hanbury ( née Alcock; 16 January 1875–23 December 1961) was a British actress and stage beauty. Her grandsons are Edward, James Fox, and Robert Fox, while her great-grandchildren include Emilia Fox, Laurence Fox, Jack and Freddie Fox.
Early life
Hanbury was born in St Pancras, London to surveyor and estate agent Matthew Henry Alcock (1841–1911) and his wife Elisabeth
née Davis (1845–1916). Her older sister
Lily Hanbury (1873–1908; born Lillian Florence Alcock) was also an actress. Their cousin was actress
Julia Neilson.
Lily and Hilda had a pet dog named "Wobbles" who died in 1900 and is buried in Hyde Park pet cemetery.
Career and later life
Hilda Hanbury commenced her stage career in various London
. In 1891, as a teenager, she made her stage debut as Nancy Ditch in Robert Williams Buchanan's play
Miss Tomboy in London's West End.
She was also seen on stage as a member of Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s theatrical company, which she joined in 1892. She appeared in
Fédora with the Beerbohm Tree Company at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London (1894–1895),
also appearing with them on an 1895 American tour in New York City
Her stage roles included the role of Mrs. Clarence in
Richard Ganthony's fantastic comedy
A Message from Mars, which premiered in 1899 and was very successful at the time. In August/September 1901 she appeared at the
Royal Aquarium in London as Mrs. Prescott in Boyle Lawrence's military drama
A Man of His Word opposite H. B. Irving.
She was also part of the American premiere cast of the play
A Bunch of Violets by
Sydney Grundy at Abbey's Theatre in New York in February 1895 with the role of Countess Volkker.
She was regarded as a 'stage beauty' and photographs, postcards and cigarette cards
of her were available from the late 1890s,
[Portrait of Miss Hilda Hanbury, The Sketch, 22 September 1897, p 359] indicating her popularity. Unlike her sister
Lily Hanbury, however, she mostly played small roles.
She retired from the stage following her marriage to Arthur William Fox (1870–1956) on 9 February 1905 at St Giles Church in London. Fox was of independent means
She and Arthur Fox divorced in 1923 following his adultery with an American woman, throwing Hanbury and her children into sudden financial difficulties.
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