Andalusia Molesworth born Andalusia Carstairs also known as Andalusia Grant; Lady Molesworth and Andalusia West ( – 16 May 1888) was a British singer and society hostess.

Life

Molesworth did not come from a noble family. She entered the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

and on leaving she demonstrated her abilities as a soprano singer at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

, although her acting abilities were unimpressive. She was known as Miss Grant and she appeared in a play about

Rob Roy MacGregor Robert Roy MacGregor ( gd, Raibeart Ruadh MacGriogair; 7 March 1671 – 28 December 1734) was a Scottish outlaw, who later became a folk hero. Early life Rob Roy was born in the Kingdom of Scotland at Glengyle, at the head of Loch Katrine, a ...

Guy Mannering ''Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer'' is the second of the Waverley novels by Walter Scott, published anonymously in 1815. According to an introduction that Scott wrote in 1829, he had originally intended to write a story of the supernatural, ...

and Isidore de Merida with the tenor

John Braham John Braham may refer to: * John Braham (MP) (1417), MP for Suffolk *John Braham (tenor) John Braham ( – 17 February 1856) was an English tenor opera singer born in London. His long career led him to become one of Europe's leading opera stars. ...

. She retired and married an older landowner, Temple West, in 1831. When he died in 1839 she moved in from the provinces and took a house at 29 Half Moon Street in London. Pencarrow House She married

Sir William Molesworth, 8th Baronet Sir William Molesworth, 8th Baronet, (23 May 181022 October 1855) was a Radical British politician, who served in the coalition cabinet of The Earl of Aberdeen from 1853 until his death in 1855 as First Commissioner of Works and then Secret ...

after a one-month engagement on 9 July 1844. His family were not keen given her lack of background and that she was maybe too old to deliver an heir. Sir William had enjoyed the support of

Harriet Grote Harriet Grote (1792–1878) was an English biographer. She was married to George Grote and was acquatined with many of the English philosophical radicals of the earlier 19th century. A longterm friend described her as "absolutely unconventional" ...

and her husband, but Harriet broke with him over his marriage. An ambitious and scheming character in Dickens'

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

was said to be based on Molesworth. She became known as a hostess inviting notable people to stay at Pencarrow House in Cornwall including

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, Sir

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

and Emperor Napoleon III.

George Byng, 7th Viscount Torrington George Byng, 7th Viscount Torrington (9 September 1812 – 27 April 1884), was a British colonial administrator and courtier. Family Torrington was the son of Vice-Admiral George Byng, 6th Viscount Torrington (1768-1831).''Burke's Peerage, Baron ...

was her companion after she became a widow. When she died she left her fortune to Byng's nephew and heir, as she was estranged from her dead husband's family. However she still remembered her last husband and in 1869 she had the Molesworth Mausoleum constructed at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederic ...

. Molesworth continued to be a society hostess for thirty years until she died in

Eaton Place Eaton Place is a street in London's Belgravia district. It runs off the top left hand corner of Eaton Square and then parallel to it until a junction with Upper Belgrave Street. The Embassy of Hungary, London is at no 35. The 1971 TV series '' ...

on 16 May 1888.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molesworth, Andalusia 1888 deaths 19th-century British women opera singers British sopranos