Mary Ann Davenport ée Harvey(1759 – 8 May 1843) was a British Shakespearean actress.

Life

She was born at Launceston,

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. She first appeared on the stage at Bath in December 1784, as Lappet in

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist, irony writer, and dramatist known for earthy humour and satire. His comic novel ''Tom Jones'' is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders ...

's ''The Miser''. After two seasons at Bath she performed in Exeter and Bristol, where in 1786 she married George Gosling Davenport (1758?–1814), a provincial actor. They later worked at the

Crow Street Theatre Crow Street Theatre was a theatre in Dublin, Ireland, originally opened in 1758 by the actor Spranger Barry. From 1788 until 1818 it was a patent theatre. History Spranger Barry and Henry Woodward The actor Spranger Barry (1719–1777), born i ...

in Dublin, and at Covent Garden. In 1806 she appeared as Lady Denny in Henry VIII (play) with

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of Joh ...

as Queen Katherine,

John Philip Kemble John Philip Kemble (1 February 1757 – 26 February 1823) was a British actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him o ...

as Cardinal Wolsey. Her husband’s acting talents were unequal to hers, though he was regarded as a useful member of the company, serving as secretary to the Covent Garden Theatrical Fund until he retired in 1812. After his death, Mary Ann lived in seclusion with her daughter. In 1817 she appeared again as Lady Denny in Henry VIII when the painting by Benjamin Burnell was created for an exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. She retired from the stage on 25 May 1830. She died at her house, 17 St Michael's Place, Brompton,

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 ...

, on 8 May 1843, and was buried at St Paul's, Covent Garden.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davenport, Mary Ann 1759 births 1843 deaths People from Launceston, Cornwall English stage actresses 18th-century English actresses 19th-century English actresses