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Harriet Elizabeth Savill née Diddear, later married name Farren, known as Mrs Faucit) (1789–1857) was an English actress.
Harriet Diddear was the child of a theatre manager John Diddear and his wife Anne. She first appeared on stage at the age of six at the Theatre Royal,
Harriet Elizabeth Savill née Diddear, later married name Farren, known as Mrs Faucit) (1789–1857) was an English actress.
Harriet Diddear was the child of a theatre manager John Diddear and his wife Anne. She first appeared on stage at the age of six at the Theatre Royal, Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, and performed in Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
, Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
and Margate
Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and Westbrook, Kent, ...
in her childhood. At the age of 15 she eloped with, and on 2 September 1805 married, John Faucit Savill; shortly afterwards they appeared on stage at Margate and then Dover and as "Mr & Mrs Faucit". They had six children, including Helena or Helen Faucit (1817-1898), a celebrated actress.
In 1813 she appeared as Desdemona
Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moorish Venetian ...
at Covent Garden Theatre
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...
on 7 October, her London debut, and she played Cleopatra there on 15 November. For the next twenty years she performed at Covent Garden, the Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...
and Drury Lane
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster.
Notable landmarks ...
.
The ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' summarises her acting career thus:
In 1821 she sought an annulment of her marriage, unsuccessfully; she left her husband for William Farren
William Farren (13 May 1786 – 24 September 1861) was an English actor, who was the son of an actor (born 1725) of the same name, who played leading roles from 1784 to 1795 at Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.
Life
Raised on Gower Street in Lo ...
(1786-1861), whom she married in 1853 after her first husband's death. He had two sons, actors Henry Farren
Henry Farren (1826?–1860), was an English actor known mostly in comedy. Beginning his career in plays in the British provinces starring his actor father, William Farren, Henry played in London for several years before moving to America, where h ...
(1826?-1860) and William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
(1825-1908); while the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' states that these were Harriet's sons, the records of the Garrick Club Collections describe them as the sons of "an unknown woman (his first wife?)".
She died in London on 16 June 1853.
References
1789 births 1857 deaths 18th-century English actresses English stage actresses 19th-century English actresses {{England-actor-stub