Janette Thesiger née Ranken (1877 – 1970) Actor and socialite

Janette Mary Fernie Ranken was born on 16 December 1877 to Robert Burt Ranken, Writer to the Signet, and his wife Mary at 8 Learmonth Terrace, Edinburgh. (1)      On her birth certificate she is ‘Jeanette’ but on all other documents this is spelt ‘Janette’.  She first appears in the 1881 census (2) with father, mother and her brother Thomas and household staff which included a cook, 2 housemaids, a laundress, 3 nurses and a kitchen maid. In the 1891 census (3) she is at Cringletie Manor House, near Eddleston, with her younger brother William, and a governess, housekeeper, nurse, cook, laundry maid and coachman. Her parents are not present and are presumably furth of Scotland. Cringleltie is now a hotel and is a substantial house which was then rented, since it was owned by another family. (4)

She attended Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford from 1895 to 1897 and in their records is described as having been educated at home. (5)

 From time to time her father, while retaining his main residence in Learmonth Terrace in Edinburgh, rented other substantial houses in the Borders   In 1901 Janette’s residence is listed as with her father at Dalswinton house, Dumfries (6) and at 8 Learmonth Terrace, Edinburgh. (7)

Her father died in August 1902 (8) at Dalswinton House and she was named a Trustee in his Will with her older brother Thomas and others. (9) Glimpses of her may be seen in Hilary Spurling’s biography of Ivy Compton Burnett (10) ‘her (Margaret Jourdain’s) closest friend at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford was Janette Ranken, a statuesque beauty from a well-to –do Edinburgh family’. Margaret Jourdain became a writer and a much-admired historian of furniture. She and Janette lived together until 1917. (11)   Margaret was friendly with Janette’s brother William and with his friend Ernest Thesiger. They all moved in a literary and aesthetic circle in London. (12)

 Janette eventually became an actor. During the 1914-1918 war she worked in censorship and in relief organizations. From 1918 she worked for the Theosophist Society. (13)

Janette married the actor Edward Thesiger, a friend of her brother William, on 29 May 1917 at Holy Trinity, Chelsea London. (14)  Margaret Jourdain then became Ivy Compton Burnett’s lifelong companion. Janette’s forthcoming marriage was reported in various papers, in The Scotsman (15) and in The Sketch ‘An interesting marriage between the actor Edward Thesinger and the well-known actor Miss Ranken’. (16)   This was because he was known to be gay. She was given away by her brother Major Thomas Ranken.

On the subject of her marriage Hilary Spurling comments that ‘Janette whose devotion to Margaret remained unimpaired by a marriage so unexacting on both sides that a great many of Ernest’s friends never suspected him of having a wife at all’. (17) An article in The Stage published after his death quoted him as saying ‘that the marriage was never consummated’.  (18)

After her marriage her life is not well documented and she would appear to have lived on private means and to have continued her interest in Theophisists but she did travel to Colombo in 1928 and to Durban in 1936 (19) (20) and she appears to have been unaccompanied.   Ernest Thesinger died in 1961. (21)

 Janette was always very close to her brother William and when he died in 1941, (22) she distributed his paintings to Art Galleries in the UK and abroad.

She gave two paintings to Glasgow Museums in 1926 both by William Ranken’, an Oil Painting The Garden Door and a watercolour Dreaming Room at 139 Picadilly  She died in June 1970, aged 92 years, in Kensington, London.  The last years of her life had been marred by illness. She was blind and latterly bedridden. (23)

It was generally agreed that Janette found women more attractive than men (24) but there were three men in her life. Her brother Thomas Ranken was a donor to Glasgow museums in his own right and is reported separately.

 The second and most important was her brother the artist William Bruce Ellis Ranken (1881-1942). (25) He was educated at Eton and the Slade School of Art under Henry Tonks. (26)  It was there that his lifelong friendship with Ernest Thesiger began. His first exhibition in London in 1904 was well received. He became friendly with John Singer Sargent and travelled to America possibly with him. In America his clientele expanded to include the wealthy and famous and he exhibited successfully. He returned to Britain and his studio was at 14 Cheltenham Terrace, London.  His subjects included Queen Mary and the Princess Christian. (27)  He also painted miniatures for the Queen’s Dolls’ house.

He was an accomplished and prolific painter and painted interiors e.g.in Madrid and landscapes in France.

His many portraits include that of Sir John Stirling Maxwell at Pollok House, which is in the Glasgow Museums Collection and hangs in Pollok House. (28)   He became quite wealthy and bought an estate Warbrook, in Hampshire.  

He died suddenly in 1942 and left about 200 paintings. (29)

Janette was responsible for donating these to Art Galleries around Britain. Eighty-two of his paintings feature in the ArtUK website. (30)
Her husband Ernest Thesiger (1879-1961) (31) came from a prominent English family of public and civil servants. (32)     His grandfather was the first Lord Chelmsford; his father was Sir Edward Pierson Thesiger a civil servant; an uncle was General Charles Thesiger of the African campaign and a cousin was the explorer, Wilfred Thesiger.

After an education at Marlborough College, he proceeded to the Slade School of Art where he met William Ranken. (33) He tried to follow a career as a painter but became an actor though he continued to be an accomplished embroiderer. From 1909 he had success on the London stage and moved in artistic circles which included George Bernard Shaw and John Singer Sargent. He served in France in the First World War but was wounded and honourably discharged. He first appeared in a film in 1916 but it was not until 1930 that his Hollywood career was launched properly.  He continued to appear in films until the year before he died. He appeared in over 50 films and among them are some which are well known such as The Bride of Frankenstein and The Man in the White Suit. (34)  He was awarded a CBE in 1960 (35) and died in 1961. (36).       

References

1. National Records of Scotland Statutory Births 1877
2. National Records of Scotland Census 1881
3. National Records of Scotland Census 1891
4. Cringletie House Hotel website
5. Archives of Lady Margaret Hall. By kind permission of the Principal and Fellows
6. Dalswinton House Dumfries
7. National Records of Scotland Wills and Confirmations 1902
8. National Records of Scotland Statutory Deaths 1902
9. National Records of Scotland Wills and Confirmations 1902
10. Hilary Spurling. Secrets of a Woman’s Heart: the later life of Ivy Compton-Burnett. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1984
11.  Ibid           
12. Milne, James Lees.    Ranken, William Bruce (1881-1961).    Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2014.
13. Archives of Lady Margaret Hall. By kind permission of the Principal and Fellows
14. Ancestry.co.uk
15. The Scotsman 10 April 1917
16. The Sketch 30 May 1917
17. Hilary Spurling. Secrets of a Woman’s Heart: the later life of Ivy Compton-Burnett. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1984
18. The Stage 20 October 2000
19. Ancestry.co,uk
20. ibid
21. England and Wales National Probate Calendar
22. Milne, James Lees.    Ranken, William Bruce Ellis (1881-1961).    Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2014.
23. Hilary Spurling. Secrets of a Woman’s Heart: the later life of Ivy Compton-Burnett. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1984
24. ibid
25. National Records of Scotland Statutory Births 1881
26. A Forgotten Gay Great: mrmhadams.typed.com
27. ibid
28. Art.uk
29. Ancestry.co.uk
30. Art.uk
31. Ancestry.co.uk
32. National Portrait Gallery website
33. Anderson, Michael. Thesiger, Ernest Frederic Graham (1879-1961) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2014.
34. Wikipedia
35. Anderson, Michael. Thesiger, Ernest Frederic Graham (1879-1961) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2014.
36. ibid
37. Ancestry.co.uk