International Singer, Painter, and “Best Hatted” Woman: Mary Bothwell

By Liz Dommasch, Archivist

Born on November 5, 1898, in Hickson, Ontario, Mary Janette Bothwell was the daughter of William A. Bothwell and his wife Ellen Clark. Growing up, she attended Hickson Public School and gained an early love of music from her father who was an amateur violinist. In fact, she is noted to have vowed that she could carry a tune before she could walk! As a young girl, she studied art in Toronto, then entered the Toronto Academy of Music where she studied singing with the famous tenor and teacher Otto Morando, and piano with Peter C. Kennedy. From 1920-1929 she sang as a contralto in opera and oratorio in Toronto and Buffalo. In 1937, she undertook further studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she made her European debut, and a year later made her New York debut on November 1st at Town Hall where she continued to appear until the 1960s.

In 1947, she made her first European tour which included performances in Germany, the Netherlands, and England, where she drew praise from even the German critics. Notable successes included her performance at the Scheveningen Festival in Holland and her Promenade concerts at London’s Albert Hall singing under the famous conductor, Sir Adrian Boult. A year later she would perform under Sr. Boult again, this time with the BBC SO, and again the following year at Toronto’s Varsity Arena.

The public school in Hickson where Mary Bothwell attended during her childhood.

An advertisement for musical artist Mary Bothwell. Click the photo to enlarge it.

In addition, over the years she performed on radio in New York, Paris, London, and Basel and would gain an international reputation in concert and opera singing. During that time, she made several tours of Canada and the United States, and during WWII she entertained Canadian troops in the Netherlands.

In 1958, she was elected president of the Canadian Women's Club of New York City and, during her term as president, encouraged the careers of young Canadian performers. As president, she not only oversaw lectures, musicals, and cocktail parties but would raise more than $400 for a scholarship fund to help defray the expenses of a female Canadian singer studying in New York. She was also an amateur candlemaker and painter; she became known in the art world for her paintings of flowers. "Wild Flowers of Switzerland", 36 botanical studies in oil by Mary Bothwell, was exhibited for the first time at the Horticultural Society of New York on April 18, 1971.

A collector of hats, for seven consecutive years she was voted one of the “Best hatted women in America” and was even elected to the hat wearers' “Hall of Fame”.

As a hobby, she collected toy elephants, of which many were presented to her in various parts of the world. Her collection of well over 1,000 toys is said to include elephants that could talk, sing, dance, and walk, and were fashioned from everything from felt, ivory, gold, and diamonds to even twine.

Mary Bothwell passed away on May 3, 1985, in New York City at the age of 89 years. Her cremated remains were buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery in Woodstock, Ontario.

Image credits:
Mary Bothwell: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BothwellMary.jpg 
Advertisement re. Mary Bothwell: COA114 Hickson Women’s Institute fonds, Tweedsmuir History Book No. 4.

Hickson Public School: COA114 Hickson Women’s Institute fonds, Tweedsmuir History Book 2, Vol. 2.