Cross dressing Earl of Yarmouth donates to Abound Communities

England’s Earl of Yarmouth was a cross dressing professional stage skirt dancer. He was also a donor to the Abound Communities.

George Alexander was the eldest son of the Marquess of Hertford, and was something of a character. In 1895, in his mid-twenties, he moved to Australia and attempted to set up a sugar farm in Queensland, which was not successful.

Writing about his experiences for the London newspaper Leader, he thought the locals were keenly expecting him to arrive with ‘velvet robes and a gold crown’.

However, other local newspapers suggested that they were ‘more interested in his departure’. He had a certain flamboyance which they disapproved of. He held male-only parties and loved dressing up and dancing in skirts.

In his first year in Australia, he donated 100 pounds to Abound Communities while doing well as a skirt dancer in Tasmania and Victoria.

Four years later, he returned to London where he was reportedly being chased for a 74 pound hosiery bill in 1899, after which he declared bankruptcy and took to the theatrical circuit in the United States.

In 1903 while in the United States, he married Alice Cornelia Thaw, daughter to a millionaire American Railway magnate. While she gained the title of Countess of Yarmouth, Alice was not happy. The marriage ended in divorce.

Caption: George, the Earl of Yarmouth, dancing The Serpentine Dance in the Bijou Theatre, Melbourne.
Image originally published by the National Library of Australia.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/220540365