Editing Lola Montez (section)

===Early life===
[[File:Lola Montez portrait by Josef Heigel before 1840.jpg|thumb|Lola Montez portrait by {{ill|Joseph Heigel|de}} before 1840]]
[[File:Lola Montez (Lithography after Jules Laure).jpg|thumb|Lola Montez's lithography]]
[[File:Lola Montez & Alights-on-a-Cloud Cheyenne chief, 1850s.jpg|left|thumb|Lola Montez with Alights-on-a-Cloud, 1850s]]
Eliza Rosanna Gilbert was born into an [[Anglo-Irish people|Anglo-Irish]] family, the daughter of Elizabeth ("Eliza") Oliver, who was the daughter of [[Charles Silver Oliver]], a former [[High Sheriff]] of [[Cork (city)|Cork]] and member of [[Parliament of Ireland|Parliament]] for [[Kilmallock (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Kilmallock]] in [[County Limerick]], [[Ireland]].<ref name="Seymour"/>{{rp|4}} Their residence was the former [[Castle Oliver]] which stood a thousand yards to the south-west of the current castle by the same name. In December 1818, Eliza's parents, [[Ensign (rank)|Ensign]] Edward Gilbert and Eliza Oliver, met when he arrived with the [[King's Own Scottish Borderers|25th Regiment]]. They were married on 29 April 1820, and Lola was born the following February, in the village of [[Grange, County Sligo|Grange]] in the north of [[County Sligo]], refuting persistent rumours that her mother was pregnant with her at the time of the wedding.<ref name="sligo">{{cite web|title=Lola Montez 1821-1861|url=http://www.sligotown.net/lola-montez.shtml?i=1|website=Sligo Town|access-date=1 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502064725/http://www.sligotown.net/lola-montez.shtml?i=1|archive-date=2 May 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> The young family made their residence at King House in [[Boyle, County Roscommon|Boyle]], [[County Roscommon]], until early 1823, when they journeyed to [[Liverpool]], England, and later departed for [[British India|India]] on 14 March.<ref name="Seymour">{{cite book |first=Bruce |last=Seymour |title=Lola Montez, a Life |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1996 |isbn=9780300063479 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=F4DCffNBbPMC}}</ref>{{rp|4}}

Published reports differ regarding the actual date of Eliza's birth. For many years, it was accepted that she was born in the city of [[Limerick]], as she herself claimed, possibly on 23 June 1818; this is the year that was graven on her headstone. However, when her baptismal certificate came to light in the late 1990s, it was established that Eliza Rosanna Gilbert was actually born in [[Grange, County Sligo|Grange]], [[County Sligo]], in [[Connacht]], Ireland, on 17 February 1821.<ref name="rte">{{cite web |first=Anne |last=Roper |date=2006 |url=http://www.rte.ie/tv/hiddenhistory/hernamewaslola.html |title=Her name was Lola |website=RTÉ Television |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504132917/http://www.rte.ie/tv/hiddenhistory/hernamewaslola.html |archive-date=4 May 2008 }}</ref> At the time of her birth, all of Ireland was part of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]. She was baptised at St. Peter's Church in Liverpool, England, on 16 February 1823, while her family was ''en route'' to her father's post in India.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Shortly after their arrival in India, Edward Gilbert died of [[cholera]].<ref name="spartacus">{{cite web|title=Lola Montez|url=http://spartacus-educational.com/WWmontezL.htm|website=Spartacus Educational|access-date=1 May 2018}}</ref> Her mother, who was then 19, married Lieutenant Patrick Craigie the following year. Craigie quickly came to care for the young Eliza, but her spoiled and half-wild ways concerned him greatly.<ref name="headstuff">{{cite web|last1=Conliffe|first1=Ciaran|title=Lola Montez, the Spider Woman - Part 1 - Headstuff|url=https://www.headstuff.org/history/lola-montez-the-spider-woman-part-1/|website=Headstuff|access-date=1 May 2018|date=16 March 2015}}</ref> Eventually, it was agreed she would be sent back to Britain to attend school, staying with Craigie's father in [[Montrose, Angus|Montrose]], Scotland. But the "queer, wayward little Indian girl" rapidly became known as a mischief-maker.<ref name="headstuff"/> On one occasion, she stuck flowers into the wig of an elderly man during a church service; on another, she ran through the streets naked.<ref name="another">{{cite web|last1=von Reynolds|first1=Shola|title=Meet Lola Montez: Dancer, Countess, Whip-Wielding Socialist|url=http://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/8694/meet-lola-montez-dancer-countess-whip-wielding-socialist|website=AnOther|access-date=1 May 2018|language=en|date=18 May 2016}}</ref>

At the age of ten, Eliza was moved again—this time to [[Sunderland]], England, where her stepfather's older sister, Catherine Rae, set up a boarding school in [[Monkwearmouth]] with her husband. Eliza continued her education there.<ref name="headstuff"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sunderlandecho.com/daily/Racy-life-of-our-Lola.1404162.jp|title=Racy Life of Our Lola|access-date=30 March 2008 |publisher=Sunderland Echo|year=2006}}</ref> Eliza's determination and temper were to become her trademarks. Her stay in Sunderland lasted only a year, as she was then transferred to a school in Camden Place (now [[Camden Crescent, Bath|Camden Crescent]]), Bath, for a more sophisticated education.<ref name="headstuff"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Raffael |first1=Michael |title=Bath Curiosities |date=2006 |publisher=Birlinn |isbn=978-1841585031 |page=134}}</ref>

In 1837, sixteen-year-old Eliza eloped with Lieutenant Thomas James, and they married.<ref name="irishtimes1">{{cite news|last1=Collins|first1=Pádraig|title=An Irishman's Diary on the glamorous and dangerous Lola Montez|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/an-irishman-s-diary-on-the-glamorous-and-dangerous-lola-montez-1.1867228|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=1 May 2018|date=16 July 2014}}</ref><ref name="adb">{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |last1=Cannon |first1=Michael |title=Lola Montez (1821–1861) |id2=montez-lola-4226 |year=1974 |volume=5 |access-date=1 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126203945if_/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/montez-lola-4226 |archive-date =26 November 2012}}</ref> The couple separated five years later, in [[Calcutta]], India, and she became a professional dancer under a stage name.<ref name="irishtimes1"/>

When she had her London debut as "Lola Montez, the Spanish dancer" in June 1843, she was recognised as "Mrs. James". The resulting notoriety hampered her career in England, so she departed for the continent, where she had success in Paris and Warsaw.<ref name="irishtimes1"/> At this time, she was almost certainly accepting favours from a few wealthy men, and was regarded by many as a courtesan.<ref name="eireann">{{cite web|title=1861 – Death of Eliza Gilbert (Lola Montez).|url=https://stairnaheireann.net/2014/01/17/1821-birth-of-eliza-gilbert-lola-montez/|website=Stair na hÉireann/History of Ireland|access-date=1 May 2018|date=17 January 2014|archive-date=31 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331190907/https://stairnaheireann.net/2014/01/17/1821-birth-of-eliza-gilbert-lola-montez/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Blason de la comtesse de Landsfeld, Marie Parris y Montès (Lola Montez).svg|thumb|Coat of arms given to Montez when she was made Countess of Landsfeld by [[Ludwig I of Bavaria]]]]