Letitia Cross (1681/1682 – 4 April 1737) was a British singer and actor. She appeared at the

Drury Lane Theatre 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 Dru ...

and was the mistress of

Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...

when he visited England.

Life

Cross was born in Surrey and it has been suggested that this was 1681 or 1682 based on later information she volunteered. She was brought up in the theatre by her mother and her grandparents may have been Leonard and Ann Cross. She was baptised in Dorking. In 1694 whilst still a child she was a member of the Drury Lane/Dorset Garden theatre company in London. At that time it was the only theatre company but a group left which included Thomas Betterton. She sang songs by

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer. Purcell's style of Baroque music was uniquely English, although it incorporated Italian and French elements. Generally considered among the greatest En ...

whilst he was still alive as well as appearing in his unfinished opera '' The Indian Queen'' after his death. She sang in ''The Mock Marriage'', '' The Rival Sisters'' and a version of ''The Tempest'' by

John Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the p ...

. She sang in various other productions and in 1696 she appeared as herself in a satire and later in that year she was in ''

The Relapse ''The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger'' is a Restoration comedy from 1696 written by John Vanbrugh. The play is a sequel to Colley Cibber's '' Love's Last Shift, or, The Fool in Fashion''. In Cibber's ''Love's Last Shift'', a free-living Rest ...

'' by

John 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 Restor ...

. In 1697 and 1698

embarked on his

Grand Embassy The Grand Embassy (russian: Вели́кое посо́льство, translit=Velíkoye posól'stvo) was a Russian diplomatic mission to Western Europe from 9 March 1697 to 25 August 1698 led by Peter the Great. Description In 1697 and 1698, Pete ...

. He visited London and Cross became his mistress. She was paid £500 as "a present" although she expected more. The Czar replied that he thought her overpaid. Later that same year she went to France with a "certain baronet". In 1705

Thomas Clayton Thomas Clayton (July 1777 – August 21, 1854) was an American lawyer and politician from Dover in Kent County, Delaware. He was a member of the Federalist Party and later the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. He served in the Delawa ...

opened ''

Arsinoe Arsinoe grc, Ἀρσινόη, Arsinoë, pronounced Arsinoi in modern Greek, may refer to: People * Arsinoe of Macedon, mother of Ptolemy I Soter * Apama II or Arsinoe (c. 292 BC–after 249 BC), wife of Magas of Cyrene and mother of Berenice II ...

'' which was said to be the first English Opera designed "in the Italian style". Cross who had only recently returned to Drury Lane was amongst its principal players. The following month she was in ''Florimel'' and ''The Tender Husband'' in April. In 1706 she married Peter Weir but he was soon killed in Flanders. Cross created new roles such as Miranda in

Susanna Centlivre Susanna Centlivre (c. 1669 (baptised) – 1 December 1723), born Susanna Freeman and also known professionally as Susanna Carroll, was an English poet, actress, and "the most successful female playwright of the eighteenth century". Centlivre's " ...

's successful comedy play '' The Busy Body'' in 1709 which ran for 13 nights. The following year the Drury Lane Theatre became, after much disagreement, subject to new management by

Robert Wilks Robert Wilks (''c.'' 1665 – 27 September 1732) was a British actor and theatrical manager who was one of the leading managers of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in its heyday of the 1710s. He was, with Colley Cibber and Thomas Doggett, one of the ...

Colley Cibber Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757) was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir ''Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber'' (1740) describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling ...

and

Thomas Doggett Thomas Doggett (or Dogget) (20 September 1721) was an Irish actor. The birth date of 1640 seems unlikely. A more probable date of 1670 is given in the Encyclopædia Britannica. Biography Doggett was born in Dublin, and made his first stage app ...

and they refused to honour a five-year contract she had signed the year before with the previous management. The management had to change their minds when 73 of her admirers signed a petition in her support. She was accused of orchestrating the scheme but she denied any complicity. Cross had a benefit in 1732 where she returned to the stage for one night. She died at her home in Leicester Fields 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 ...

on 4 April 1737 leaving shares in the

Lincoln's Inn Fields theatre Lisle's Tennis Court was a building off Portugal Street in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. Originally built as a real tennis court, it was used as a playhouse during two periods, 1661–1674 and 1695–1705. During the early period, t ...

and several mourning rings. There was a painting of her by Sir Godfrey Kneller as St Catherine in the 1690s and a matching print by John Smith.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cross, Letitia 1680s births 1737 deaths Actresses from London Actresses from Surrey 17th-century English actresses 18th-century British actresses British stage actresses 18th-century British women singers Singers from London Musicians from Surrey 18th-century English women Mistresses of Peter the Great