Eva Marie Veigel (also Eva Maria Violette, with variants Eva Maria and Ava-Maria) (29 February 1724 16 October 1822) was a dancer and the wife of actor

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

Life

Eva Marie Veigel was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. She was a well-known dancer of her day, using the stage name Violette or Violetti, said to be a nickname given to her by Empress Maria Theresa based on the meaning of her surname—a corruption from the

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...

''viol'', "violet." As

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

says, "Nothing appears to be absolutely known concerning her origin." There is some doubt as to her paternity, with some saying she was the daughter of a respectable Viennese businessman named John Veigel; but Veigel and her husband were known to say she was of noble paternity. Guido Wald Rüdiger, Count of Starhemberg and Richard Boyle, the

Earl of Burlington Earl of Burlington is a title that has been created twice, the first time in the Peerage of England in 1664 and the second in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1831. Since 1858, Earl of Burlington has been a courtesy title used by the duk ...

are thought the most likely candidates if this claim is true. Boyle was reported to have given £6,000 as a marriage portion and to have acknowledged her as a natural daughter. She had a brother, Ferdinand Charles, who was also a ballet dancer. One French biography of her life claimed she was known to be one of the most beautiful women in all of Europe. She emigrated to

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 ...

in 1746, speaking little English. It is rumored that the Empress sent her there as a banishment, after noticing the Emperor taking too great a fancy to her for her beauty, though this story is often thought unlikely.

Marriage

Veigel married

on 22 June 1749. As she was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and he a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, the couple went through two marriage ceremonies. According to Bailey, Veigel first fell in love with Garrick after seeing him perform on the stage, and their respective entertainment careers caused them to meet socially soon thereafter. He was taken with her just as quickly, but her wealthy patron, Dorothy Boyle, the Countess of Burlington (wife of the 3rd Earl of Burlington), discouraged her from marrying him as Veigel had performed in the royal courts of Europe and Garrick was seen as being a match much beneath her. Reportedly the Countess asked Garrick to use his performance abilities to make Veigel fall out of love with him, which he did attempt. The scheme did not work, but Burlington was nevertheless impressed enough with the effort that she changed her opinion of Garrick and decided Veigel would be well to marry him. This reported incident may have been the inspiration for such plays as Robertson's ''

''. By all accounts, the match between Garrick and Veigel was a happy one. They were childless, and Veigel outlived her husband by forty-three years. On marrying, she retired from dancing. Garrick's increasing wealth enabled him to purchase a palatial estate for Eva Marie and himself to live in, naming it

Garrick's Villa Garrick's Villa is a Grade I listed country house located on Hampton Court Road in Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its park and gardens are listed at Grade II by Historic England in the Register of Historic Parks and Gar ...

, that he bought at Hampton in 1754. At the time of her death, she was living at

Adelphi Terrace Adelphi (; from the Ancient Greek, Greek ἀδελφοί ''adelphoi'', meaning "brothers") is a district of the City of Westminster in Greater London.Mills, A., ''Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) The small district includes th ...

, in London's borough of

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

. Her will, dated 28 January 1819, with codicils of 28 November 1821 and 15 August 1822, was proved on 30 October 1822. The only relations of her own whom she named were her niece Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Peter de Saar, of Vienna; and her god-daughter Eva-Maria de Saar, daughter of her late nephew Louis de Saar, of Oldenburgh, in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. She reportedly lived to 99 years of age, though her stated birthdate of leap-year's day would make her 98 at the time of her death. She was buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

with her husband.

References

Sources

* Percy Hetherington Fitzgerald, ''The Life of David Garrick'' * John Burn Bailey, ''Modern Methuselahs'' * Joseph Lemuel Chester, ''The Marriage, Baptismal and Burial Registers of the Collegiate Church'' * ''

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'' * https://web.archive.org/web/20071117093640/http://www.familyeducation.com/home/ * Talia Felix and T.W. Robertson, ''David Garrick: The Play and the Novel'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Veigel, Eva Marie 18th-century English dancers English female dancers 18th-century Austrian dancers Dancers from Vienna Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire to the Kingdom of Great Britain 1724 births 1822 deaths 18th-century English women 18th-century Austrian women