Biography of George Master Byng 9th Viscount Torrington 1886-1944

Daily News 1910 Dec 06. TORRINGTON MARRIAGE.

The marriage of Lord Torrington [aged 24] and [his wife] Miss Eleanor Souray [aged 30], the actress, apparently came as a great surprise; to those 'tiresome busybodies' who always exhibit annoyance if they are not consulted in these matters by "the high contracting parties." They were married at the church of the British Embassy in Paris, and the event was a chapter in what may fairly be called a turf romance.

For some time Miss Souray had been an enthusiastic sportswoman. At Epsom she had — and as Lady Torrington still retains — a stable of about fifteen horses in training by Mr. E. G. Goby at Epsom. One of these is called Darrara. This animal she entered for one of the principal events, at the Ostend race meeting of a couple of months ago, and the owner herself went over to the Belgian resort. In the paddock she learn that the favorite for the race in which Darrara was to run was Lord Torrington's Abelard II. Her own horse stood at 19 to 1 against. Abelard II, however, was not in his top form, whereas Darrara was in the pink of condition. None the less, it was a great surprise, even to the owner, to see Darrara sweep past the favorite, and come in a comparatively easy winner.

When the owner of Abelard II. had recovered from his astonishment; he entered the paddock to find and congratulate the owner of Darrara. In a more formal way than when he first made her acquaintance, Lord Torrington was introduced to Miss Souray. They had a long talk; mainly about racing and motoring, and the following day they went out for a long motor ride together. Lord Torrington discovered his companion was a British sportswoman, and that they had many tastes in common, and lost no time in making her Viscountess Torrington. Voila tout.

Abelard II, who thus unconsciously was instrumental in bringing about the romantic match, ran in the Cambridgeshire.

The new Lady Torrington was one of the tallest actresses of the London stage. Her height, nearly approaches 6 feet. She made her first appearance about twelve years ago, and later played in "School for Scandal", "The Rivals," and "Letty" in which latter production she achieved considerable success as Hilda Gunning, Miss Violet Vanbrugh taking the same part. Then Miss Souray, who acted under her real name, took to musical comedy. In "The Girl from Kay's" and "The Blue Moon" she was an acceptable member of the cast. — The "Indian Field."