Helena Saville Faucit, Lady Martin (11 October 1817 – 31 October 1898) was an English actress.

Early life

Born in London, she was the daughter of actors John Saville Faucit and Harriet Elizabeth Savill. Her parents separated when she was a girl, and her mother went to live with

William Farren William Farren (13 May 1786 – 24 September 1861) was an English actor, who was the son of the actor of the same name (born 1754), who played leading roles from 1784 to 1795 at Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. Life Raised on Gower Street in ...

in 1825.Carol J. Carlisle, 'Saville , John Faucit (1783?–1853)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 2 Nov 2015
/ref> With her elder sister Harriet, she was trained for the stage by her step-uncle, Percy Farren. She debuted as

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist Ro ...

at a small theatre in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

in 1833. Her performance was praised by critics of '' The Athenaeum'', but Farren delayed her professional debut to give her further training.

Early career

Faucit's first professional appearance was made on 5 January 1836 at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

as Julia in James Sheridan Knowles's '' The Hunchback''. Her debut, a spectacular success, placed her at once among the leading actresses in London, helping to fill the void left by the retirement of

Fanny Kemble Frances Anne Kemble (later Butler; 27 November 180915 January 1893) was a British actress from a Kemble family, theatre family in the early and mid-nineteenth century. She was a well-known and popular writer and abolitionist whose published wor ...

in 1834. Her success in ''The Hunchback'' was followed by turns as Belvidera in

Thomas Otway Thomas Otway (3 March 165214 April 1685) was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for '' Venice Preserv'd'', or ''A Plot Discover'd'' (1682). Life Otway was born at Trotton near Midhurst, the parish of which his father ...

's '' Venice Preserv'd'', and as Margaret in

Joanna Baillie Joanna Baillie (11 September 1762 – 23 February 1851) was a Scottish poet and dramatist, known for such works as ''Plays on the Passions'' (three volumes, 1798–1812) and ''Fugitive Verses'' (1840). Her work shows an interest in moral philoso ...

's ''The Separation''. Though her interpretation of Belvidera was received coldly by critics, she remained a favourite of playgoers; already in that first season, she was signed to a three-year contract at Covent Garden.

Career with Macready

William Charles Macready William Charles Macready (3 March 179327 April 1873) was an English stage actor. The son of Irish actor-manager William Macready the Elder he emerged as a leading West End theatre, West End performer during the Regency era. Career Macready wa ...

joined the Covent Garden company in the middle of 1836. In the following year, Faucit played numerous Shakespearean roles, among them Juliet, Imogen (''

Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' (), also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in British Iron Age, Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concer ...

''), Hermione (''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

''), Beatrice (''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

''), and Cordelia (

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

), alongside both Macready and the soon-to-retire Charles Kemble. Her non-Shakespearean roles during the three years at Covent Garden included the female leads in Lytton's ''Duchess de la Vallière'', ''Lady of Lyons'', ''Richelieu'', ''The Sea Captain'', and ''Money'', in

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...

's '' Strafford'', and in Knowles's '' Woman's Wit''. Faucit followed Macready to the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre in Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in ...

in 1840; in December of that year, however, she suffered an attack of a recurrent lung ailment. While she recuperated at the coast, rumours circulated that she was pregnant with Macready's child; her physicians published diagnoses that scotched these rumours. She returned to the Haymarket by May of 1841 playing the character ClaraDouglas in Bulwer-Lyttons play 'Money' and later performing in Zouch Troughton's ''Nina Sforza.'' After a visit to Paris and a short season at the Haymarket, she joined the

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

company under Macready early in 1842. There she played

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...

, Constance in ''King John'',

Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'' (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venice, Italy, Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello (char ...

, and Imogen, and took part in the first production of John Westland Marston's '' The Patrician's Daughter'' (1842) and Browning's ''Blot on the Scutcheon'' (1843). Her Lady Macbeth of the 1843 season was, however, a failure; Macready found her conception deficient in "heart", and she was physically unable to achieve the commanding presence of

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

, as Macready wished. She was, moreover passed over for Rosalind in favour of Louisa Cranstoun Nisbett; this role would later become one of her best-known Shakespearean roles. Nevertheless, Macready considered her "beyond all compare" the best English actress of the period.

After Macready

When Macready left for America in 1843, Faucit emerged as an even greater celebrity. In the mid-1840s she toured in Scotland and Ireland. Her most celebrated roles included Pauline in ''Lady of Lyons'' at the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh,

Antigone ANTIGONE (Algorithms for coNTinuous / Integer Global Optimization of Nonlinear Equations), is a deterministic global optimization solver for general Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programs (MINLP). History ANTIGONE is an evolution of GloMIQO, a global ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, and various Shakespearean roles, including a revamped and now-successful Lady Macbeth. Acting with Macready in Paris in 1845, she received so much applause that Macready was jealous, and the two did not act together again. Faucit occasionally returned to London, but her main activity for the remainder of her career was touring, especially in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, where her brother owned a theatre. In 1846 she returned to Dublin to perform in

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

' '' Iphigenia at Aulis'', which proved as popular as her Antigone had been the previous year. In October 1846 she took the part of Juliet to the Romeo of Gustavus Brooke at Dublin. In 1850, she acted in the title role of Iolanthe in

Theodore Martin Sir Theodore Martin (16 September 1816 – 18 August 1909) was a Scottish poet, biographer, and translator. Biography Martin was born in Edinburgh, the only son of Mary, the daughter of James Reid, a shipowner from Fraserburgh and James Ma ...

's adaptation of '' King René's Daughter''. The last time she assayed the role was in 1876 at the Lyceum Theatre, London, with

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

's company opposite Irving as Count Tristan.Correspondence of Henry Irving
6 June 1876, Henry Irving Foundation Centenary Project website. Retrieved 12 January 2012 Martin, the official biographer of

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria. As such, he was consort of the British monarch from Wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, th ...

, had begun courting her as early as 1843; she finally accepted his proposal in 1851.

Career after marriage

In 1851 she married

, who was later knighted, making her Lady Martin. She continued to act occasionally for charity. One of her last appearances was as Beatrice, on the opening of the Shakespeare Memorial at

Stratford-on-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-west of ...

on 23 April 1879. In 1881 there appeared in ''

Blackwood's Magazine ''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by publisher William Blackwood and originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine'', but quickly relaunched as ''Blackwood's Edinb ...

'' the first of her ''Letters on some of Shakespeares Heroines'', which were published in book form as ''On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters'' (1885). Lady Martin died at her home at Bryntysilio Hall near

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

in 1898, aged 81. There is a tablet dedicated to her in Llantysilio church. There is also a tablet to her in the Shakespeare Memorial with a portrait figure, and the marble pulpit in the Shakespeare church with her portrait as Saint Helena was given in her memory by her husband. She is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

, London.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Faucit, Helena 1817 births 1898 deaths English stage actresses English Shakespearean actresses 19th-century English actresses Burials at Brompton Cemetery Actresses from London