Margaret Bicknell (1695?–1723) was a Scottish

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

actress and dancer.

Early life and education

She was sister of

Elizabeth Younger Elizabeth Younger whose married name was Elizabeth Finch (2 September 1699 – 24 November 1762), was an actress and dancer. Her sister was the singer and actress Margaret Bicknell.''Younger arried name Finch Elizabeth (1699–1762), actress and ...

, an actress, who survived her some years. Younger informed Mrs. Saunders, a well-known actress who had for some years quitted the stage, that her father and mother, James and Margaret Younger, were born in Scotland.

Career

Bicknell's first known appearance was at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

, located in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on 20 August 1702. On 7 November 1706 we hear of Mrs. Bicknell playing, at the Haymarket Theatre, "Edging, a Chambermaid," in ''

The Careless Husband ''The Carless Husband'' is a comedy play by the English writer Colley Cibber. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 7 December 1704. The original cast featured Cibber as Lord Foppington, George Powell as Lord Morelove, Robert Wilks as ...

'' of

Cibber Cibber is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Caius Gabriel Cibber, Danish sculptor; father of Colley Cibber * Charlotte Cibber, English actress, playwright, novelist, autobiographer, and noted transvestite *Colley Cibber, British ...

, her associates including Wilks, Cibber, Mrs. Oldfield, and Mrs. Barry. Subsequent years saw her appear as Miss Prue in Congreve's "Love for Love," Miss Hoyden in the "Relapse" of

Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restorat ...

, Melantha in "Marriage à la Mode," and other characters of which sauciness and coquetry are the chief features. Her name appears to a petition signed by

Barton Booth Barton Booth (168210 May 1733) was one of the most famous dramatic actors of the first part of the 18th century. Early life Booth was the son of The Hon and Very Revd Dr Robert Booth, Dean of Bristol, by his first wife and distant cousin An ...

and other actors of Drury Lane Theatre, presented apparently about 1710 to Queen Anne, complaming of the restrictions upon the performances of the petitioners imposed by the lord chamberlain. In 1713 she appeared in John Gay's comedy '' The Wife of Bath'' and two years later in '' The What D'Ye Call It''. She remained at Druiy Lane from 1708 to 1721, on 14 February of which year she 'created' the character of Lady Wrangle in Cibber's comedy, the "Refusal." Her last recorded appearance was on 2 April 1723. The 'Daily Journal' of 25 May following announces her death from consumption.

Personal life

Her sister

was also a stage actress and dancer.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bicknell, Margaret 1690s births 1723 deaths 18th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in England Actresses from London Actresses from Edinburgh Scottish stage actresses Scottish female dancers 18th-century British dancers 18th-century Scottish actresses