Lizzie Avery-Genéri

 On April 1st, 1877, Elizabeth Goines (or Hardin) was born in Chicago, Illinois to Lottie Payne and Charles Goines. 

Elizabeth, as Lizzie Hardin, first appeared in 1897 as an acrobatic dancer touring the Midwest with the Howe's London Shows. During her travels, she met fellow performer, Daniel Avery (c.1877-February 23, 1912) and formed the “Avery & Hardin” duo. On April 30th, 1898, the couple married in Billings, Montana and joined Richards, Pringles, Rusco & Holland's Minstrel Festival with whom they toured the Midwest and Southern states for the next two years.

During the fall of 1899, the duo traveled with Sissieretta Jones’ Black Patti Troubadours before joining the Creole Burlesques Company the following year. From 1901-1902, the couple relocated to New York and toured the American Eastern Coast on the Keith Circuit.

In 1903, Dan Avery partnered with Charles Hart. The new duo of Avery & Hart went on the road with Williams and Walker's Sons of Ham company, with Lizzie possibly joining as a chorus girl. They remained with the company for nearly a year and a half before sailing to England in July 1904 to join the cast of In Dahomey. 

 Williams and Walker's In Dahomey, had already played London for eight months and toured the British provinces for another six months.  Now the original company was returning to America. In August 1905 A second company opened in London, with Avery & Hart replacing Williams and Walker. This second company continued touring until February 1905.

After the In Dahomey tour finally came to a close, Dan and Lizzie Avery separated, with Dan returning home to New York. Lizzie joined the “Four Black Mexican Girls”, a quartet which also included Pauline Freeman, Nettie Glenn and Nettie Goff-Garland. The group opened in Paris at the Cirque d'Hiver in March 1905 before touring for a year across the United Kingdom and Europe before dissolving in the spring of 1906.

From 1906-1908, Lizzie Avery disappeared from the spotlight, before reappearing in London during the summer of 1909, as the mistress of an Italian, Carlo Giuseppe Pietro Genéri (September 5, 1866-Unknown) and was heavily pregnant. On November 13th, 1909, their son, Carlo Lorenzo Pietro Genéri was born. Carlo Jr was baptized on December 12th at St. Pancras Parish Church.

London (1910)

From 1910-1914, as Lizzie Avery-Genéri, she resided in London's Camden district at 8 Brunswick Square and lived as a socialite. She was also a member of the Coronation Syndicate Club, a group of African-American women living in London that organized sewing circles and helped fellow African-American entertainers arriving in London. 

In 1914, Lizzie and Carlo Genéri officially married and finally began residing together in Manchester at 23 Darley Road until the outbreak of the First World War. On July 29th, 1914, Lizzie and her four-year old son sailed aboard the SS Olympic to New York. There they remained for the next two years before arriving back in England on September 11th, 1916, aboard the SS Finland, settling at 91 Vassall Road with her husband. 

In April 1917, after the learning of death of her brother, Robert Hardin, Lizzie was hospitalized for an unknown ailment. After her release, the Genéri family relocated to Cambridge at 28 Alpha Road. On March 25th, 1918, the family relocated again to a mansion in Southport, Lancashire at 25 Westburne Road, where the family resided until December 5th, 1920, when Elizabeth Estella Genéri died. She cremated in Liverpool at the Ashfield Crematorium, three days later. 

Carlo Genéri Sr. and his eleven-year old son disappeared from British records shortly afterwards, possibly relocating to Italy.