- Pauline Duvernay
Pauline Duvernay or Yolande Marie-Louise Duvernay or Yolande Marie Louise de Varnay [ [http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/opacdirect/81321.html#1 Fitzwilliam Museum - OPAC Record ] ] (December
1812 –2 September 1894 ) was a noted French dancer.She was born at
Versailles and became a student of Hippolyte Barrez at theParis Opera Ballet , where she also worked withAuguste Vestris , Jean-Francois Coulon andFilippo Taglioni .She made her debut on the stage of the
Théâtre de l´Académie Royale de Musique in Paris performing Venus inJean-Baptiste Blache 's "Mars et Vénus", That same year she made her debut in London at the Drury Lane Theatre inJean-Pierre Aumer 's "The Sleeping Beauty". Working with the renowned Ballet du Théâtre de l´Académie Royale de Musique (today known as theParis Opera Ballet ), she also gave outstanding performances inJean Coralli 's "La Tentation" in 1831.Her beauty and dancing skills captivated audiences in Paris and London, and she enjoyed tremendous popularity. She retired in 1837, at the height of her career, marrying an English banker and Member of Parliament,
Stephens Lyne-Stephens , thought to be the richest commoner in England at that time. Pauline devoted herself to charity work. Stephens boughtLynford Hall near Thetford in 1856, intending to develop its 8 000 acres with mansion house, parkland and lake as a hunting retreat, and commissioned the architectWilliam Burn to refurbish it. His death in 1861 set off a frenzy of fortune hunters, who went so far as to tamper with their family trees in order to bolster their claims to the estate. [ [http://www.edp24.co.uk/Content/HiddenNorfolk/asp/2003/12/031227LynfordHall1.asp Lynford Hall ] ] The fortune was amassed by William Stephens ofCornwall , an illegitimate child born in 1731. He started a glass factory in Portugal with his brother and members of the related Lyne family. Stephens had influential political connections in Portugal, exempting his business from taxes. [ [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Glass-Strange-History-Stephens-Fortune/dp/0954558901 Amazon.co.uk: Glass: The Strange History of the Lyne Stephens Fortune: Jenifer Roberts: Books ] ]A childless widow, Pauline had a liaison with a general who had been the British Military Attache to France. She lived at Lynford Hall, using her personal fortune to build the Catholic Church of "Our Lady and the English Martyrs" in
Cambridge [ [http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/opacdirect/81321.html#1 Fitzwilliam Museum - OPAC Record ] ] and financially assisting local schools. She died atMundford ,Norfolk , and was buried atRoehampton .References
External links
* [http://www.olem.freeuk.com/ Our Lady and the English Martyrs]
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