Walt Whitman, American Poet

1819-1892

The Walt Whitman Archive

Sir Thomas Hall Caine

1853- 1931

“Hommy Beg”, best-selling author, and dearest

friend of Bram Stoker, to whom Dracula was dedicated

The World of Hall Caine

Page updated 17 November 2011

“Pixie”

Pamela Coleman Smith

1878-1951

Artist, illustrator, writer

Link to Phil Norfleet’s

Account of Her Lyceum Friendships

Dame Genevieve Ward DBE

1837 – 1922

American born soprano and actress,

Lucy Genevieve Teresa Ward, Bram Stoker’s first known romantic interest, would remain his dear friend, even long after his marriage to Florence Balcombe.

Read her

NY Times Obituary

Samuel Langhorne Clemens

1835-1910

American author, “Mark Twain”, who like his friend Bram Stoker, enjoyed a special  sense of humor.

Sir Henry Irving, “The Guv’nor”

1838-1905

Great Shakespearean actor, born John Henry Bodribb, shown here in a painting by John Everett Millais, member of London’s Garrick Club, as were Irving and Stoker.

Read a fascinating perspective written by actor, Max Montesole

The Irving Society

1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, Angela Georgina

1814-1906

A leading philanthropist, supporting everything from bee-keeping and drinking fountains for dogs, to countless projects to benefit the poor, Angela was close friends with Bram. Surviving letters hint at a discreet, romantic link to Bram’s older brother, Thornley

Lord Alfred Tennyson

1809-1892

British Poet Laureate, whom Bram first met in 1876, and held in very high esteem. Bram & Florence Stoker visited with Tennyson at his Farrington House on the Isle of Wight, not long before Tennyson’s death..

Buffalo Bill Cody

1846-1917

One of the most colorful figures of the American West, Cody fought in the American Civil War and Plains War, and earned his nickname by killing prodigious numbers of buffalo. Cody made his fortune with his Wild West Show, touring the United States and Europe. He formed friendships with Bram Stoker and Henry Irving, who squired him around London.  Cody was surely the basis for Texan Quincey Morris in Dracula.

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle

1859 - 1930

Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey

Scottish physician, prolific writer, and creator of detective Sherlock Holmes. A dedicated Spiritualist, Conan Doyle participated in seances and believed in faeries.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir William Schwenck Gilbert

1836-1911

English poet, dramatist, lyricist, illustrator & theater reviewer, a member of London’s Garrick & Beefsteak Clubs

Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan

1842- 1900

English musician and composer, best known for his work with W.S. Gilbert, he also wrote‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ and enjoyed horse-racing

Mary Cora Urquhart Brown-Potter

1859-1936

Red-haired American, society star who took to the

stage in England and Ireland despite the social stigma. Divorced her husband and joined H.Beerbohm Tree’s theatre company. Oscar Wilde offered her the part of Salome, which she declined.

Baroness de Bazus

1836 - 1914

Author and publisher, born Miriam Florence Folline of New Orleans. Also known as Frank Leslie after she legally took her deceased third husband’s name. Her fourth marriage to Oscar Wilde’s brother, Willy, ended in divorce after two years.

Robert Barr                       Conan Doyle              Robert McClure

                        Miss Doyle         Mrs. Conan Doyle          1904

James Abbott McNeil Whistler

1834 - 1903

American born artist

After West Point, he worked as a draftsman, entertaining himself by decorating his maps with mermaids, sea serpents, whales, etc. before establishing his art & his distinctive butterfly signature abroad.

Theodore Roosevelt

1858 - 1919

Suffering from asthma, Roosevelt’s stay at home, sickly childhood was reminiscent of Bram’s own. New York City police commissioner when Bram met him, Roosevelt would be governor  of New York, vice- president, and the  26th U.S. President. His slogan was, "Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

Sir Philip Burne-Jones

1861 - 1926

Painted his most famous work,“The Vampire”

in 1897.

(below)

George du Maurier

1834 - 1896

French cartoonist and author of of the hugely popular Gothic horror novel, Trilby, which inspired the “Phantom of the Opera” by Leroux. He also drew the cartoon of the Stoker family at Whitby for “Punch”.