Simple answer
I tease Uncle B that he has an advanced degree in Edwardian lesbians. It started innocently enough with an interest in Vita Sackville-West, because of her fabulous garden, but he soon stumbled over Vita’s longtime love interest Violet Trefusis.
Which, Violet being no better than she should have been, led to an entire network of rich Edwardian lesbians, including Winneretta Singer, heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune. Not directly connected but of the same ilk was Dolly Wilde, Oscar Wilde’s niece.
So the answer is, many of my hens are named for Edwardian lesbian socialites – including Vita and Violet, Colette and Winneretta and Dolly. But not Spoon or Popo.
I asked ChatGPT to give me an image of Edwardian lesbians, and it created an image then said, “We’re so sorry, but the image we created may violate our content policies. If you think we got it wrong, please retry or edit your prompt.” I told it I didn’t want anything sexual, and it gave me this.
Which makes me wonder what the first image was.
Posted: June 4th, 2026 under personal.
Comments: 1
Comments
Comment from Uncle AL
Time: June 5, 2026, 12:28 am
Thank you, @stoaty, for the source of Winneretta’s name. Interesting background!
Side note: You mention Violet and that brings to mind the sort of flower names given to baby girls and the flower names that are not so used. I note that I’ve never met anyone named Oxeye, nor Honeysuckle, and I’m not surprised at the lack of ladies named Bachelor Button or Tube Rose or Ice Plant. I did have an Aunt Myrtle, a name you never see any more, and an Aunt Phronia (pronounced FRO-knee) but the family evidently didn’t know that Phronia is a fly genus.
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