Caroline Maria Lupton (aka Marie Studholme) 1872-1930
Read about Marie Studholme, born Caroline Maria Lupton, a celebrated star of Edwardian musical comedy and one of the most popular postcard models of her time. This biography traces her journey from Bradford to the London stage, exploring her theatrical success, her status as a photographic icon, and her personal life as a fitness enthusiast and philanthropist.
Early Days
Caroline Maria Lupton was born on 10 September 1872 in Eccleshill, Bradford to Joseph Studholme Lupton and Emma Greaves. Joseph and Emma were not married. Joseph was an Auctioneer’s Clerk but according to local newspaper reports was constantly in trouble with the Police and served several prison sentences, one for attempted suicide.
As a result, Marie and her mother lived with Marie’s paternal grandparents in Baildon (according to Marie the ‘sweetest, grandest and quaintest village she knew’). Marie also spent time with her father’s two stepsisters in Shipley. Her grandfather, Samuel Lupton, paid for Marie to attend Salt Girls’ High School, where, some reports state, her interest in theatre begun.
Aged 15 years, Marie went to London to join her mother. In need of employment, she looked to the theatre. She made her first stage appearance in the chorus of the operetta ‘La Cigale’ at the Lyric Theatre in 1891. In 1892 she changed her name to Marie Studholme.
Theatre Career
After a year at the Lyric Theatre, Marie was asked by the actor and theatre manager Charles Wyndham to join his company at the Criterion Theatre.
A year later she was at the Shaftesbury Theatre performing in musical comedy. It has here she came to the attention of the manager George Edwardes, the leading promoter of Edwardian musical comedy. He engaged her to play a small part in the musical ‘A Gaiety Girl’ at the Prince of Wales Theatre. When this production moved to the Daly’s Theatre in 1894 Marie was promoted to the leading role.
From here her career appears to have taken off and her popularity blossomed. In 1897 she toured the United States with Edwardes Gaiety company. On her return she continued to perform numerous supporting and leading roles both in London and around the country.
Of petite stature, Marie sometimes played juvenile roles appearing as Alice in Alice in Wonderland in the West End in 1906. In 1914 she returned to her native Yorkshire to perform in Bradford at the opening of the Alhambra music-hall. Crowds surrounded the theatre keen to see the great star in her hometown. She retired from the stage in 1915.
Postcard Beauty
Marie was a renowned beauty, and this made her one of the most popular postcard models of her time. Pictorial postcards were introduced in England in 1894. The price to send a card was half a penny, half the cost of a sealed letter and were very popular – the texts or WhatsApp messages of their day.
In some areas there were up to six mail deliveries a day, so it was possible to have a conversation via postcard just within the course of one day. Between 1902 and 1910 six billion postcards were sent within the UK.
Marie’s celebrity status bought many challenges. On one occasion her image was falsely used for advertising purposes in an attempt to convince people that her front teeth had been replaced by false ones. Suitors pursued her with postcards, letters and parcels. According to a local newspaper in 1907 one young man wrote to her every weekday and twice on Sundays. The letters were from 18 to 25 pages long in violet ink on lovely, flowered notepaper.
Personal Life
At the Lyric Theatre in 1892 Marie met actor Gilbert Porteous. Gilbert and Marie were married on 9 February 1891 at Fulham Registry Office, London. The marriage was kept secret from both their parents and for some time they lived at their respective homes. However, the marriage did not last and the couple divorced in 1899, the reasons given being desertion and adultery by the husband.
In 1908 she was married again to Harold Giles Borrett. Marie had no children of her own but after her retirement from the stage she fostered Peter Lupino and in 1916 adopted Jill (Granddaughter of Eardley Norton, former Attorney General of Madras). It is stated that Harold Borrett was not fond of children but tolerated them due to his being dependent on Marie’s considerable wealth for his livelihood.
Marie was fitness aware and studied jujutsu with Yukio Tani (a pioneering Japanese jujutsu and judo instructor). She also played golf. She was an animal lover and when asked for her autograph would request 6 pence which she would donate to animal and theatrical charities.
In later life she converted to Christian Science. She died in March 1930 after a short but virulent attack of rheumatic fever. She left an estate of £58,303 which in 2026 is worth approximately £49.5 million.
Caroline Perry 2026
Discover more working women associated with Saltaire
Marie appears in our online exhibition of Working women of Saltaire
Acknowledgement
Thanks to Colin Coates – Saltaire History Club June 2021 for his paper on Marie Studholme
References
Marie Studholme article on Wikipedia.org
Various articles from the British Newspaper Archives