Kate Meyrick

When Kate was seven years old, her mother died and she and her older sister, Ethel, returned to Kingstown where they were raised by their grandmother, Isabella Bateman, and two great aunts at Fairyland, York Road.

[3] In December 1899 she married a doctor, Ferdinand Richard Holmes Merrick (later changed to Meyrick), in a ceremony performed by her stepfather in St John's church, Monkstown.

The couple lived on Palmerston Road, Rathmines, Dublin, for a short time before moving to England and settling in Southsea, Hampshire.

The sale of alcohol in Britain at the time was subject to strict licensing laws as well as the Defence of the Realm Act which was introduced during the First World War.

Night club owners did what they could to circumvent the rules to provide venues for dancing and drinking to the new generation of Bright Young Things.

The club was popular with celebrities and royalty including the actors Rudolph Valentino and Tallulah Bankhead, jazz musician Harry Gold, and authors J.

[3] Meyrick claimed that the Egyptian aristocrat Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey had been a regular customer before he was murdered by his wife Marguerite Alibert at the Savoy Hotel.

[3] In February 1922, the 43 Club was raided by police and Meyrick was fined at Bow Street Magistrates' Court for selling intoxicating liquor without a licence.

[10] By now, Meyrick had caught the attention of the press who dubbed her with the moniker "Queen of the Night Clubs", they reported on her antics with a combination of admiration and scorn.

Reynold's News published a feature, "Amazing Career of the Queen of the Night Clubs" describing Meyrick as a "woman without scruples" who mocked the law.

It was claimed that Meyrick had earned £30,000 in her first year as a night club proprietress and she had been able to pay for her children to be educated at top private schools.

[3] Her court appearances drew press interest because she was usually well-dressed in a fur trimmed coat and her glamorous friends would be present in the public gallery.

Meyrick capitalised on the attention she received by selling her story "My Secrets, Ten Years Behind the Scenes in London's Night-Life" to The Sentinel in early 1929.

[24] Meyrick returned to London in 1927 and opened the Silver Slipper Club in Regent Street[8] which had an illuminated glass floor.

Dressed in a velvet coat, blue hat and carrying a scarlet handbag, she told waiting reporters and photographers that she did a great deal of reading in prison where they had "a splendid library".

[29][30] In January 1929, Meyrick went on trial for bribery at the Old Bailey alongside restaurateur and brothel keeper, Luigi Ribuffi and Ex-Sergeant Goddard of Vine Street police station.

[20] After her release from Holloway Prison in December,[34] Meyrick was reported to be in Monte Carlo the following month negotiating the purchase of a cabaret club.

[35] Nothing came of this venture, however, and in May 1931 Meyrick received another jail term of six months hard labour for using 43 Gerrard Street for the purposes of gaming and betting and selling intoxicating liquor.

Her son-in-law, Lord Kinnoull commented shortly after her death, "Mrs Meyrick's health had undoubtedly been weakened by her several periods of imprisonment.”[40] On the day of her large funeral at St Martin-in-the-Fields, West End theatres and clubs dimmed their lights.

[3] In February 1933, the Leeds Mercury stated that Scotland Yard had obtained a copy of the manuscript of Meyrick's posthumously published autobiography, Secrets of the 43 Club, leading to suspicion that it was subsequently censored to protect the Metropolitan Police and aristocratic society.

Kerry Greenwood referenced Kate Meyrick in her 2001 book Away With the Fairies (Phryne Fisher #11), describing her as a "notorious night-club keeper".

Kate Meyrick was one of the figures showcased by the UK National Archives in their 2022 exhibition 20sPeople, including a recreation of The 43 Club based on police records.