Lydia Webb (1736 or 1737-1793) was an English

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

. She started acting in Norwich. She was married twice. First, she married a man named Mr. Day. Second, she married a Mr. Webb. Her first notable performance was on 21 November 1772 at 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 ...

, performing in ''

The West Indian ''The West Indian'' is a play by Richard Cumberland first staged at the Drury Lane Theatre in 1771. A comedy, it depicts Belcour, a West Indian plantation-owner, travelling to Britain. Belcour tries to overcome his father's lingering disapproval ...

''. She died in 1793.

Career

Webb was a versatile and proactive performer. She was in more than 50 plays. When she was

elderly Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

, she played more "grotesque characters." She performed many parts including: *

Portia Portia may refer to: Biology * ''Portia'' (spider), a genus of jumping spiders *'' Anaea troglodyta'' or Portia, a brush-footed butterfly *Portia tree, a plant native to Polynesia Medication A form of birth control made of ethinylestradiol/lev ...

, ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...

'', 29 November 1773 *Mrs. Peachum, ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...

'',

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 ...

*Mrs. Honeycombe, ''

Polly Honeycombe ''Polly Honeycombe'' is a 1760 afterpiece farce by George Colman the Elder. It comically deals with the effect of novel-reading on not only young women, but on various members of polite 18th-century English society. It was Colman's first play an ...

'',

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 ...

*Glumdalca, ''

Tom Thumb Tom Thumb is a character of English folklore. ''The History of Tom Thumb'' was published in 1621 and was the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangl ...

'', Covent Garden Theatre *Queen, ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' *

Emilia Emilia may refer to: People * Emilia (given name), list of people with this name Places * Emilia (region), a historical region of Italy. Reggio, Emilia * Emilia-Romagna, an administrative region in Italy, including the historical regions of Emi ...

, ''Othello'' and many other performances. In 1786, she was featured in an illustration by

James Sayers James Sayers (or Sayer) (1748 – April 20, 1823) was an English caricaturist . Many of his works are described in the Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum which ha ...

, which is now held in the collection of the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Lydia 1793 deaths Actresses from Norwich 1730s births 18th-century English actresses English stage actresses