Queen Elizabeth II married Prince Philip on this day on 1947. She was wearing ivory duchesse satin high-heeled sandals, trimmed with silver and seed pearl buckles, made by Edward Rayne of H. & M. Rayne- a manufacturer known for high-end and couture shoes. As well as several Royals, Rayne’s designed and created shoes for stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Marlene Dietrich and Brigitte Bardot.
“H. & M. Rayne- Theatrical Stores and Outfitters” was established in 1891 by Henry Rayne and his wife Mary. Henry is thought to be the son of a Cahir man called Henry Ryan (rather than Rayne) born sometime around 1840.
The younger Henry found himself in London in the 1880s. At this time Victorian London was in the midst of a theatrical boom, boosted by developments in gas lighting, public transport and general economic prosperity. Theatres and music halls mushroomed, primarily in the West End. Henry and Mary Ryan espied a gap in the market. In 1885, they set up a stall at 115 Waterloo Road, near the Royal Victoria Hall (now the Old Vic), offering theatrical costumes. It soon evolved into a one-stop shop for anyone involved in the performing arts, offering everything from stage props to powder and rouge, as well as wigs and, most pertinently, footwear.
Anti-Irish sentiment in London was strong at this time, especially after the Jubilee Plot of 1887 in which a group of Fenians were arrested for allegedly trying to blow up Westminster Abbey and assassinate Queen Victoria. Sensing potential hostility to the surname of ‘Ryan’, the couple opted for the name ‘Rayne’ which, as their great-great-grandson Nick Rayne says, has ‘a dash of the French’ about it that would have appealed to their clientele.
When the 20th century began, H. & M. Rayne was the leading ‘Theatrical Costumier’ in London. Among their supporters was Dublin-born Bram Stoker and the leading actresses of the day such as Dame Ellen Terry and Lillie Langtry, the mistress of Edward VII.
International recognition was augmented in 1911 when the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev brought the Ballet Russes to London in 1911 and sent his costume designers to Raynes for ballet shoes. Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova, two of ballets’ biggest stars, became lifelong devotees of the family firm.
Rayne’s went from strength to strength until 1994 when it went into liquidation. All appeared to be over until Edward Rayne’s son Nick regained the trademark, bringing the business to a fourth generation of Raynes. History is certainly important to Nick, the fourth generation to take on the shoe. As to whether the Rayne connection will run to his children, the fifth generation, he says that they are certainly ‘curious’. establishing the link to Cahir remains one of his greatest goals. In the 1930s, his great-uncle Charles paid a visit to the Tipperary town with his son Derek. They stayed in the Cahir House Hotel where they noted a stuffed bear on the landing. When Derek returned for a second visit a few decades later, he felt little had changed in his absence. Even the bear was still there. ‘One day I hope to visit Cahir and maybe meet some real, very distant, relatives,’ says Nick. ‘And I want to know whether that bear is still on the landing at the hotel!’
Sources:
https://turtlebunbury.com/document/rayne/
