Catherine Walters , also known as " Skittles " 13 June β 5 August , was a fashion trendsetter and one of the last of the great courtesans of Victorian London. Walters' benefactors are rumoured to have included intellectuals, leaders of political parties, aristocrats and a member of the British Royal Family.
Catherine Walters was born on 13 June , the third of five children at 1 Henderson Street, Toxteth , Liverpool, grew up in the Liverpool area [2] and moved to London before her twentieth birthday.
Her father was Edward Walters, a customs official, who died in Her mother was Mary Ann Fowler. Her nickname is thought to have originated from her working at a bowling alley in Chesterfield Street near Park Lane. Skittles is the game which evolved into bowling. At other times she was known as "Mrs Behrens" and "Mrs Baillie", even though she is not thought to have married.
Her classical beauty was matched by her skill as a horsewoman , for which she was almost equally renowned. Aristocratic ladies copied the cut of her perfectly fitting "Princess" riding habit , and she was well known as a trendsetter. A letter written to The Times in July described in detail the fever of anticipation among the waiting admirers of a thinly disguised Catherine:. The crowd, disappointed, reseat themselves, and wait.
Another pony carriage succeeds β and another β with the same depressing result. At last their patience is rewarded. Anonyma and her ponies appear, and they are satisfied. She threads her way dexterously, with an unconscious air, through the throng, commented upon by the hundreds who admire and the hundreds who envy her. She pulls up her ponies to speak to an acquaintance, and her carriage is instantly surrounded by a multitude; she turns and drives back again towards Apsley House , and then away into the unknown world, nobody knows whither".
