Harriet Pye Esten or Harriet Pye Scott-Waring born Harriet Pye Bennett (1760s? – 1865) was an English actress and briefly a theatre manager.

Life

Esten was born in

Tooting Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and partly in the London Borough of Merton. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross. History Tooting has been settled since pre- Saxon times ...

in or around the 1760s. She was the daughter of housekeeper

Anna Maria Bennett Anna Maria Bennett (ca. 1750 – 12 February 1808) was a Welsh novelist who wrote in English. Some sources give her name as Agnes Maria Bennett. Her best-known work is the epistolary novel '' Agnes de-Courci'' (1789).Available from Chawton Hous ...

and her employer and lover Admiral Sir

Thomas Pye Sir Thomas Pye ( – 26 December 1785) was an admiral of the Royal Navy who served during the War of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years' War, and the American War of Independence. He was briefly Member of Parliament for Rochester, and ser ...

. In 1784 she married James Esten who was in the navy. Esten was taught to act by her mother, who assisted her daughter throughout her career. She initially appeared in Bath and Bristol before moving on to appear at the

Smock Alley Theatre Since the 17th century, there have been numerous theatres in Dublin with the name Smock Alley. The current Smock Alley Theatre () is a 21st-century theatre in Dublin, converted from a 19th-century church building, incorporating structural mat ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. Whilst she was there in 1789 she and her mother negotiated a formal separation with James Esten. Her mother, who was a successful novelist, paid off her husband's debts in exchange for his agreement. The following year she made her first appearance on the London stage at Covent Garden on 20 October. She appeared as ''Rosalind'' in "As You Like It", a role she had portrayed successfully in York. She appeared in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

for a year at her own expense but after that she was engaged at £11 a week for a further three years. left, Esten's Theatre Royal in Edinburgh In July 1792 she became a theatre manager when she purchased the lease of the

Theatre Royal, Edinburgh The history of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh involves two sites. The first building, on Princes Street, opened 1769 and was rebuilt in 1830 by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd. The second site was on Broughton Street. History The first Theatre Royal wa ...

. The theatre had been run by

Stephen Kemble George Stephen Kemble (21 April 1758 – 5 June 1822) was a successful English theatre manager, actor, and writer, and a member of the famous Kemble family. He was described as "the best Sir John Falstaff which the British stage ever saw" thoug ...

but he lost the rights to perform under the powers of Esten's lover

Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton, 5th Duke of Brandon and 2nd Baron Hamilton of Hameldon, (24 July 1756 – 2 August 1799) was a Scottish peer, nobleman, and politician. Life Hamilton was born at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the son o ...

. In 1794 she gave birth to the Duke's child. She had previously retired from Covent Garden whilst pregnant and returned the rights to Stephen Kemble to perform in Edinburgh for £200 a year.

Samuel De Wilde Samuel De Wilde (1751–19 January 1832), born and died in London, was a portrait painter and etcher of Dutch descent famous for his theatrical paintings. He was the leading painter of actors and actresses between 1770 and 1820. He lived in Cla ...

painted Esten as ''Lady Flutter'' in the comedy by Mrs Sheridan called ''The Discovery''. This was a role that she never played in London. The painting is now owned by the

Garrick Club The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in the heart of London founded in 1831. It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world and, since its inception, has catered to members such as Charles Kean, Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, A ...

. On 15 October 1812 Esten married the former Member of Parliament Major

John Scott-Waring John Scott-Waring (at first John Scott) (1747–1819) was an English political agent of Warren Hastings, publicist and Member of Parliament. Early life Born at Shrewsbury, his father was Jonathan Scott of Shrewsbury (died August 1778), who mar ...

. He was

Warren Hastings Warren Hastings (6 December 1732 – 22 August 1818) was a British colonial administrator, who served as the first Governor of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal), the head of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and so the first Governor-Genera ...

' agent and she was his third wife. They had two children. He died in 1819. In 1820 her daughter, Anne Douglas-Hamilton, married

Henry Westenra, 3rd Baron Rossmore Henry Robert Westenra, 3rd Baron Rossmore (24 August 1792 – 1 December 1860), was an Anglo-Irish Member of Parliament and peerage of the United Kingdom, peer, from 1843 to 1852 Lord Lieutenant of Monaghan. Life The eldest son of Warner Westenr ...

. Esten died at her house in

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End of London, West End. ...

in 1865 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. Her death certificate is the source of her presumed date of birth.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esten, Harriet Pye 1760 births 1865 deaths People from Tooting 18th-century British actresses British stage actresses 19th-century British actresses 18th-century theatre managers 19th-century theatre managers 18th-century British businesswomen