Mary Melissa Hoadley Dodge

Mary Melissa Hoadley Dodge (1861 – 24 December 1934) was an American heiress who moved to England and sponsored many causes during her life, including women's suffrage, Theosophy and the arts.

She was the daughter of Sarah Hoadley and William E. Dodge, Jr. from New York. The family wealth came from a mercantile business that developed into one of the largest copper mining and copper wire manufacturing companies in America called Phelps, Dodge & Co. Mary was one of six children and she, like her sister Grace Hoadley Dodge, remained unmarried and lived with her parents for several years. To seek some independence she moved to London, England; her father supported her decision and purchased a house for her in Brompton Square. She had a female companion from New York called Julia Schreiner who some years later married English diplomat Sir Robert H. Greg.

Dodge moved from Brompton Square to the more fashionable Eaton Square and then to Warwick House in the precinct of St James’s Palace; she also had a residence in Wimbledon called West Side House. She was well-connected in London society, and corresponded with authors, artists and others including Lord Baden-Powell, Henry James and John Singer Sargent. She took pleasure in spending her money on friends and once took seven guests to the Baltic Sea on board a hired yacht. One of the party, architect Edwin Lutyens, wrote of the experience:

... Miss Dodge is really a wonderful hostess and we are all such a happy party. We have everything you can think of ... and no one is allowed to pay for anything.

He also remarked that she seemed to tire easily and this was the result of an arthritic condition.

Another example of her generosity was when she hired His Majesty's Theatre and paid all production costs for six performances of an opera titled The Wreckers composed by another friend, Ethel Smyth.

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