Editing Robbie Ross

{{Short description|British journalist and art critic; lover of Oscar Wilde (1869–1918)}}
{{Other people|Robert Ross}}
{{for-multi|the Australian rugby league player|Robbie Ross (rugby league)|the baseball pitcher|Robbie Ross Jr.}}

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person
|birth_name        = Robert Baldwin Ross
|image       = Robert Ross at 24.jpg
|image_size  = 150px
|caption     = Robert Ross at twenty-four
|birth_date  = {{Birth date|df=yes|1869|05|25}}
|birth_place = [[Tours]], France
|death_date  = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1918|10|05|1869|05|25}}
|death_place = London, England
|other_names = Robbie Ross
|known_for   = Executor of the estate of Oscar Wilde
|occupation  = Journalist
|nationality = Canadian-British
}}
'''Robert Baldwin Ross''' (25 May 1869{{spaced ndash}}5 October 1918) was a British journalist, art critic and art dealer, best known for his relationship with [[Oscar Wilde]], to whom he was a devoted friend, lover and [[literary executor]]. A grandson of the Canadian reform leader [[Robert Baldwin]], and son of [[John Ross (Canadian politician)|John Ross]] and Augusta Elizabeth Baldwin, Ross was a pivotal figure on the London literary and artistic scene from the mid-1890s to his early death, and mentored several literary figures, including [[Siegfried Sassoon]]. His open homosexuality, in a period when male homosexual acts were illegal, brought him many hardships.<ref name="fryer">{{cite book |last1= Fryer|first1= Jonathan|author-link= Jonathan Fryer|title= Robbie Ross: Oscar Wilde's True Love|year= 2000|publisher= Constable & Robinson|location= London|isbn= 0-09-479770-6}}. (U.S. Title: ''Robbie Ross: Oscar Wilde's Devoted Friend'').</ref>

==Biography==

===Family===
Ross was born in [[Tours]], France. His mother, Elizabeth Baldwin, was the eldest daughter of [[Robert Baldwin]], a [[Toronto]] lawyer and politician who in the 1840s, together with his political partner [[Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine]], led Canada to autonomy from Britain. Ross's father, [[John Ross (Canadian politician)|John Ross]], was a Baldwinite and a Toronto lawyer who had a very successful political career, serving as Solicitor General for Upper Canada, Attorney General, Speaker of the Legislative Council, President of the Legislative Council, director, and, for a time, president, of the Grand Trunk Railway, and Canadian senator. He became Speaker of the Senate in 1869.

Ross was the youngest of five children, with two sisters, Mary and Maria, and two brothers, John and Alexander. The family moved to Tours, France, in 1866 while Elizabeth was pregnant with Maria, who was born in 1867, the year of Canadian Confederation. John fulfilled his duties as senator largely in absentia until he was chosen as Speaker of the Senate in 1869, the year of Robbie's birth, making his return to Canada unavoidable. The rest of the family followed in 1870. John died in January 1871 and Elizabeth moved the family to London, England, the following April.

===At Cambridge===
In 1888, Ross was accepted at [[King's College, Cambridge]],<ref>{{acad|id= RS888RB|name=Ross, Robert Baldwin}}</ref> where he became a victim of [[bullying]], probably because of his [[Human sexuality|sexuality]], of which he made no secret, and perhaps also his outspoken journalism in the university paper. Ross caught [[pneumonia]] after being dunked in a fountain by other students who had, according to Ross, the full support of [[Arthur Augustus Tilley]], the Junior Tutor of King's.<ref>N. John Hall and Nina Burgis, ed., ''The Letters of Anthony Trollope'', Vol. 1, [https://books.google.com/books?id=CYCaAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA986 p. 986] (and see footnote</ref> After recovering, he fought for an apology from his fellow students, which he received, but he also sought the dismissal of Tilley. The college refused to punish Tilley (though he resigned as Junior Tutor) and Ross dropped out. Soon after that, he chose to "[[coming out|reveal his sexuality]]" to his parents.

===Oscar Wilde===
[[File:Robert Ross.jpg|thumb|left|Robert Ross]]
Ross found work as a journalist and critic but he did not escape scandal. He is believed to have become Oscar Wilde's first male lover in 1886, even before he went to Cambridge. In 1893, a few years before Wilde's imprisonment, Ross had a sexual relationship with a boy of sixteen, the son of friends. The boy confessed to his parents that he had engaged in sexual activity with Ross and also admitted to a sexual encounter with [[Lord Alfred Douglas]] while he was a guest at Ross's house. After a good deal of panic and frantic meetings with solicitors, the parents were persuaded not to go to the police, since at that time their son might be seen as equally guilty and face the possibility of going to prison.<ref>Richard Ellmann. (1987). ''Oscar Wilde''.</ref>

On 1 March 1895, Wilde, Douglas, and Ross approached a solicitor, Charles Octavius Humphreys, with the intention of suing the [[John Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry|Marquess of Queensberry]], Douglas's father, for [[criminal libel]]. Humphreys asked Wilde directly whether there was any truth to Queensberry's allegations of homosexual activity between Wilde and Douglas, to which Wilde replied “No.” Humphreys applied for a warrant for Queensberry's arrest, and approached [[Edward Clarke (barrister)|Sir Edward Clarke]] and [[Charles Willie Mathews]] to represent Wilde. His son, [[Travers Humphreys]], appeared as junior counsel for the prosecution in the subsequent case of [[Oscar Wilde#Wilde v. Queensberry|''Wilde v Queensberry'']].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/wilde/wildeaccount.html|title=An Account of the Three Trials of Oscar Wilde|website=law2.umkc.edu|access-date=3 June 2021|last=Linder|first=Douglas O.}}</ref>

The libel hearings unearthed evidence that caused Wilde to drop his charges and led to an arrest warrant for him on charges of [[sodomy]] and [[gross indecency]].
Ross found Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel, in [[Knightsbridge]], with [[Reginald Turner]]. Both men advised Wilde to get a boat-train to France, but he refused. His mother had advised him to stay and fight, and Wilde reportedly said: "The train has gone. It's too late."<ref>[http://oscarwildes.de/about-oscar-wilde About Oscar Wilde]. ''oscarwildes.de''.</ref> Following Wilde's imprisonment in 1895, Ross went abroad but he returned to offer both financial and emotional support to Wilde during his last years. Ross remained loyal to Wilde and was with him when he died in Paris on 30&nbsp;November 1900.

===After Oscar Wilde===
Ross became Wilde's [[literary executor]], which meant that he had to track down and purchase the [[copyright|rights]] to all of Wilde's texts, which had been sold off along with Wilde's possessions when Wilde was declared [[Bankruptcy|bankrupt]]. It also meant fighting the rampant trade in [[black market]] copies of his books and, in particular, books, usually [[Erotic literature|erotic]], that Wilde did not write, but which were published illegally under his name.{{Citation needed|date=February 2013}}

Ross was assisted in this task by [[Christopher Sclater Millard]], who compiled a definitive bibliography of Wilde's writings. Ross gave Wilde's sons the rights to all their father's works along with the [[Royalties|money earned]] from their publication or performance while he was executor. In 1905, he attended the first performances in England of Wilde's ''[[Salome (play)|Salome]]'' at the Bijou Theatre. One of the actors was Frederick Stanley Smith (1885–1953) with whom Ross had a relationship.<ref>Roberts, Maria (2016) Let Them Say: The Life of Frederick Stanley Smith</ref>

About 1902, he arranged for the transfer of Wilde's remains "from the obscure Bagneux cemetery to Père Lachaise, the most celebrated cemetery in France" and later instructed his heirs to have his own ashes buried in Wilde's tomb.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 31 October 2022 | newspaper = New York Times | date = 14 January 2001 | url = https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/01/01/14/reviews/010114.14colelt.html | title = Buried in Oscar's Tomb [Review of Jonathan Fryer, ''Oscar Wilde's Devoted Friend''] | first = Connolly | last = Cole }}</ref>

[[File:Robert Ross (1869-1918) nel 1911 in una foto di Elliott and Fry.JPG|thumb|right|Robert Baldwin Ross, 1911]]In 1908, some years after Wilde's death, Ross produced the definitive edition of his works. Ross was also responsible for commissioning [[Jacob Epstein]] to produce the sculpture that can now be seen on [[Oscar Wilde's tomb|Wilde's tomb]]. He even requested that Epstein design a small compartment for Ross's own ashes. As a result of his faithfulness to Wilde even in death, Ross was vindictively pursued by [[Lord Alfred Douglas]], who repeatedly attempted to have him arrested and tried for homosexual conduct.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

From 1901 to 1908, in personal and professional partnership with the art critic [[More Adey]], Ross managed the Carfax Gallery, a small commercial gallery in London co-founded by John Fothergill and the artist [[William Rothenstein]].<ref name="borland"/> The Carfax held exhibitions of works by such artists as [[Aubrey Beardsley]], [[William Blake]], [[Sylvia Gosse]], and [[John Singer Sargent]].<ref name="etheses.whiterose.ac.uk">{{cite thesis|url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/1106/1/EquivocalPositionsWilliamRothenstein.pdf |title='EQUIVOCAL POSITIONS': THE INFLUENCE OF WILLIAM ROTHENSTEIN, c.1890-1910 |first=Samuel |last=Shaw |date=August 2010 |degree=PhD |publisher=The University of York |access-date=8 April 2024}}</ref> After leaving the Carfax, Ross worked as an art critic for ''[[The Morning Post]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Baldwin Ross |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robert-baldwin-ross |access-date=2024-05-11 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en}}</ref>

During the [[First World War]], Ross mentored a group of young, mostly homosexual, poets and artists including [[Siegfried Sassoon]] and [[Wilfred Owen]]. He was also a close friend of Wilde's sons [[Vyvyan Holland]] and [[Cyril Holland]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

In early 1918, during the [[German spring offensive]], [[Noel Pemberton Billing]], a right-wing member of Parliament, published an article entitled "The Cult of the Clitoris" in which he accused members of Ross's circle of being among 47,000 homosexuals who were betraying the nation to the Germans. [[Maud Allan]], an actress who had played Wilde's Salome in a performance authorised by Ross, was identified as a member of the "cult". She unsuccessfully sued Billing for libel, causing a national sensation in Britain. The incident brought embarrassing attention to Ross and his associates.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Later, in 1918, Ross was preparing to travel to [[Melbourne]], to open an exhibition at the [[National Gallery of Victoria]], when he died suddenly in London on 5 October 1918.<ref name=borland>{{cite book |last1= Borland|first1= Maureen|title= Wilde's Devoted Friend: A Life of Robert Ross 1869–1918|year= 1990|publisher= Lennard|location= Oxford|isbn= 1-85291-085-2}}{{page needed|date=October 2022}}</ref>

In 1950, on the 50th anniversary of Wilde's death, an urn containing Ross's ashes was placed into Wilde's tomb in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]] in Paris.<ref>{{cite web | access-date = 31 October 2022 | url = https://oscarwildehouse.com/2021/11/29/the-scandal-of-the-tomb-of-oscar-wilde/ | website = Oscar Wilde House | title = The Scandal of the Tomb of Oscar Wilde | date = 29 November 2019 }}</ref>

==Ross's work==
Ross was able to rely on an allowance and then an inheritance from his wealthy family, leaving him free to pursue his interests. His main contribution to literature lies in his work, not only as Wilde's executor, but also, earlier, as a friendly but critical reader of many of Wilde's texts. If Ross is to be believed, he frequently suggested changes and improvements.

Ross also tried his hand as a writer. He provided an introduction to Wilde's play ''[[Salome (play)|Salome]]''. His book ''Masques and Phases'' is a collection of previously published short stories and reviews. As an art critic, Ross was highly critical of the [[post-Impressionism|post-impressionist]] painters.

==Appearances in media==
*[[Florence Earle Coates]] dedicated her poem [[wikisource:The Unconquered Air, and Other Poems (1912)/To R. R. On Rereading the "De Profundis" of Oscar Wilde|To R. R.: On Rereading the ''"De Profundis"'' of Oscar Wilde]] (1912) to him. 
* Ross has a brief appearance in the [[Pat Barker]] novel ''[[The Eye in the Door]]''. His part in Noel Pemberton Billing's agitation against him and his circle is mentioned throughout as a backdrop to the main story.
* The protagonist of [[Timothy Findley]]'s novel ''[[The Wars]]'' (1977) is named after him.<ref>[[Brian Busby]], ''Character Parts: Who's Really Who in Canlit'', Toronto: Knopf, 2003. p. 221-222. {{ISBN|0-676-97579-8}}</ref> The historical Ross appears as a character in Findley's novel ''[[Pilgrim (Timothy Findley novel)|Pilgrim]]''.
* In films he has been portrayed by [[Dennis Price]] in ''[[Oscar Wilde (film)|Oscar Wilde]]'' (1960), [[Emrys Jones (actor)|Emrys Jones]] in ''[[The Trials of Oscar Wilde]]'' (1960), [[Michael Sheen]] in ''[[Wilde (film)|Wilde]]'' (1997), [[Edwin Thomas (actor)|Edwin Thomas]] in ''[[The Happy Prince (2018 film)|The Happy Prince]]'' (2018), and by [[Simon Russell Beale]] in ''[[Benediction (film)|Benediction]]'' (2022).
* Ross is a major character in [[David Hare (playwright)|David Hare]]'s play ''[[The Judas Kiss (play)|The Judas Kiss]]'' (1998).<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 31 October 2022 | work = TimeOut | url = https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/the-judas-kiss | title = The Judas Kiss | date = 25 April 2016 | first = David | last = Cote }}</ref>
* Robert Ross has a major role in [[Dave Sim]]'s [[graphic novel]] ''[[Cerebus the Aardvark#"Melmoth"|Melmoth]]'', which chronicles the final days and death of Wilde.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Additional sources===
* Neil McKenna, ''The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde'' (2003)
* Margery Ross, ed. ''Robert Ross. Friend of Friends. Letters to Robert Ross, Art Critic and Writer, together with extracts from his published articles.'' (1952)

== External links ==
* {{Gutenberg author |id=5421}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Robert Baldwin Ross}}
* {{Librivox author |id=6219}}
* [https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-37915 At Oxford DNB]
{{Oscar Wilde}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Robert Baldwin}}
[[Category:1869 births]]
[[Category:1918 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British male journalists]]
[[Category:Writers from Tours, France]]
[[Category:British people of Canadian descent]]
[[Category:British Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery]]
[[Category:Canadian journalists]]
[[Category:English male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Canadian gay writers]]
[[Category:Canadian LGBTQ journalists]]
[[Category:British LGBTQ journalists]]
[[Category:LGBTQ Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:English LGBTQ writers]]
[[Category:Oscar Wilde]]
[[Category:Writers from London]]
[[Category:Canadian expatriates in France]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people]]