Mary Fanny Cathcart (3 August 1833 – 3 January 1880), was an Australian stage actress, active between 1853 and 1878. Between 1855 and 1865, she was regarded as the most famed female theatre star in Australia. Cathcart was born in England on 3 August 1833 to James Cathcart and Fannie Hubbard. Her father was the manager of his own touring theatre company. She arrived in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in Australia as a member of Gustavus Brooke's travelling theatre company in 1853. The same year, she married the actor Robert James Heir. He died in 1868 at sea on a voyage to New Zealand aged 36. In 1870 she married playwright

George Darrell George Frederick Price Darrell (1851–1921) was an Australian playwright best known for '' The Sunny South'' (1883), which was made into a film ''The Sunny South or The Whirlwind of Fate''. Darrell began his professional career with Simonsen's ...

in Auckland, New Zealand. Cathcart was famous in mid 19th-century Australia for both her comedy and Shakespearean roles. She was admired for her precise attention to detail in her acting and described as a talented beauty. She had her base in Melbourne but toured all over Australia and was given jewels by her audience. Cathcart died at her home in the Melbourne suburb of

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

on 3 January 1880, survived by her second husband. She was buried in the

Melbourne General Cemetery The Melbourne General Cemetery is a large (43 hectare) necropolis located north of the city of Melbourne in the suburb of Carlton North. The cemetery is notably the resting place of four Prime Ministers of Australia, more than any other nec ...

. The actor

James Faucett Cathcart James Faucett Cathcart (30 December 1827 – 18 December 1902), generally referred to as J. F. Cathcart, was an English actor, whose late career was in Australia. He was a brother of Fanny Cathcart. History Cathcart was born in Hampshire, England ...

( –1902) was a brother. Cathcart Close in the Canberra suburb of Chisholm is named in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathcart, Fanny 1833 births 1880 deaths 19th-century Australian actresses People from the Colony of Victoria Australian stage actresses British emigrants to Australia