Ann Cargill (born Ann Brown) (1760 – 4 March 1784) was a British

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...

and celebrated beauty whose life and death were a sensation in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

at the close of the 18th century.

Life

Ann was born in London, the daughter of

coal merchant A coal merchant is the term used in the UK and other countries for a trader who sells coal and often delivers it to households. Coal merchants were once a major class of local business, but have declined in importance in many parts of the developed ...

Edward Brown. She made her debut at the age of eleven portraying Fanny in ''The Maid of the Mill'' at

Covent Garden Theatre The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

in November 1771. She continued to perform there for nine years and enjoyed success as a singing ingenue, particularly in the role of Venus in ''The West Indian'', a part she performed for the first time on 20 October 1773. She was described as a delightful singer and displayed a comic talent which made her "an amazing favourite" with the public, but she also attracted scandal in the press for love affairs with her admirers, and trying to break free from her father's guardianship. She made repeated attempts to escape from her father, before being apprehended and forced to return home. He also opposed her appearing on stage, which created conflicts with theatre management. In an incident from 1776, after running away she was placed in the house of her aunt and made to wait for her father, upon which several of her colleagues from Covent Garden instead came and carried her away (with her aunt's blessing) to the playhouse instead, so she could appear in a show that night. In 1780, she left the theatre and eloped with a Mr. R. Cargill, and married him on 24 May in Edinburgh. Between 1780 and 1782, she was engaged with Colman's company in Haymarket during the summers, and at Drury Lane theatre during the winters. However, by 1783 she was reported to have a begun a new affair, although the man's identity is unclear as the newspapers give several possible names for him, mentioning an "Oriental Diamond Mongerer", an unnamed "sea captain" as well as a Mr Rumbold, who had been banished to India by his father for his debts and who arranged for her to accompany him. Her lover was in the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

and stationed in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, so she left England for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In 1783, she performed operatic parts in Calcutta, to tremendous applause, and her benefit night brought in "the astonishing sum of 12,000 rupees." However, because the directors of the East India Company had "settled that the pure shores of India should not be invaded by an actress" (indeed, the Calcutta Theatre had an all-male cast), she was obliged to leave India. Ann cargill

She was a passenger on the

packet ship Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed mainly for domestic mail and freight transport in European countries and in North American rivers and canals. Eventually including basic passenger accommodation, they were used extensively during t ...

''Nancy'', (whose captain, John Haldane, was also reported to be her lover) when it wrecked and sank off the

Isles of Scilly The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, Isles of Scilly, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the Great Britain, British mainla ...

on 4 March 1784. Her body, originally unidentified, was buried on Rosevear, before being reburied at Old Town Church on St Mary's in the

. The newspaper accounts of her death and how the body had been found "floating in her shift" with an infant at her bosom made her a tragic figure for the English press. In September 2008, British divers claimed to have found the wreck of the ''Nancy'', further out from the Isles of Scilly than was previously thought.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cargill, Ann 1760 births 1784 deaths 18th-century English actresses Deaths by drowning 18th-century British women opera singers