This installment of the Graveside Stroll is dedicated to Margaret Mather Finlayson. Born into an indigent family. Her father John Finlayson was a farmer and  mechanic, her mother Ann Mather was a homemaker. One of the interesting things about Miss Margaret Mather Finlayson was that she was one of the leading Shakespearean actresses in the 1880s & 1890s.

In 1885 at Union Square Theater in New York she premiered as Juliet in the theatrical portrayal Romeo & Juliette.This theatrical performance was heavily promoted but in the end caused mixed reviews. While Margaret portrayed her character to the best of her ability. Critics were a bit critical of the performance. Other noteworthy character roles she performed as Lady Macbeth which was the title role in Bulwer-Lytton’s The Lady of Lyons and in Augustin Daly’s Leah the Forsaken.

In the late 1890s after several theatrical failures she put her acting shoes to rest after marrying Gustave Pabst who was an heir to the Pabst Brewing empire. But they soon divorced after she apparently threatened Gustaver with a whip. After this marriage ended she returned to the stage and portrayed Imogen in Cymbeline. The performance of the show was very glitzy and glamorous costing a whopping forty thousand dollars, but the show failed miserably. The lack of the show being promoted caused the public to know very little of the production.

In 1883-84 she toured the United States and Canada portraying Juliette on stage. She also suffered from chronic illness and her life came to a tragic end when she died on stage. Margaret was laid to rest  in her white gown she wore portraying Juliette and is interred in Detroit’s Elmwood Cemetery.

Margaret Mather Finlayson portrait is from THIS WEBSITE

Portions of this biography are from Finlayson’s Wikipedia page which you can find by clicking HERE

Grave site photo is from my personal collection

This article is subject to change without notice.