Edith Cole

Edith Cole (27 May 1870 – 7 June 1927) was a British stage actress and animal welfare activist.

Career

Cole was born on 27 May 1870 in England, the daughter of Charles Cole. A Royal Divorce is mentioned repeatedly by James Joyce in Finnegans Wake, and it is likely Joyce saw Cole's performance. Another success for Cole was her role as Frances Vere in The Worst Woman in London (1903). She also wrote and appeared as Margaret Rossiter Strickland in The Fires of Youth (1919).

Cole was an ardent anti-vivisectionist and animal welfare promoter. She and her husband opened the "Edith Cole Home for Dogs" in Liverpool for the National Canine Defence League. She wrote a book, Scarlet and Grey in 1915 and donated the proceeds to the Blue Cross to assist horses wounded during World War I. Death

Cole died on 7 June 1927 in Birkenhead as a result of burns sustained after she cleaned a pair of gloves with petrol. She left £4,240 in her will.