Maria Bland
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Maria Theresa Bland (1769–1838) was a
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
singer who enjoyed high popularity in the
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theatre during the last decade of the 18th century and the first two decades of the 19th century.


Life

Maria Bland, the daughter of
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, was born with the surname of Romanzini. The year of her birth is assumed to be historically correct, but as was common in the 18th century, the day and month went unrecorded. Her parents came to London soon after their daughter's birth, and in the spring of 1773, through the influence of a hairdresser named Cady, obtained an engagement for their child at Hughes's Riding School. Her vocal talent developed at a very early age, and after singing at the Royal Circus she was engaged by
Richard Daly Richard Daly (1758–1813) was an Irish actor and theatrical manager who, between 1786 and 1797, held the Royal patent for staging dramatic productions in Dublin and became such a dominant figure in Irish theatre that he was referred to as "Kin ...
for the Dublin Theatre, where she sang with great success. In 1782, on the retirement of Mary Ann Wrighten, she was engaged at
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 ...
to take her parts, which were those known as 'singing chambermaids.' Miss Romanzini's first appearance at Drury Lane took place on 24 October 1786, when she played Antonio in an English version of Grétry's '' Richard Coeur-de-lion''. In 1789 she went to Liverpool, and sang there with such success, both on the stage and at concerts, that she refused to return to Drury Lane unless her salary were raised. The management declining to grant her request, after waiting a few weeks, she came back to London and resumed her place at Drury Lane. Mrs. Bland remained attached to the Drury Lane company for the greater part of her life, but she also sang at 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 ...
under Colman's management, where her first appearance took place in 1791, as Wowski in Arnold's ''
Inkle and Yarico ''Inkle and Yarico'' is a comic opera first staged in London, England, in August 1787, with music by Samuel Arnold and a libretto by George Colman the Younger. Plot Inkle, an English trader, is shipwrecked in the West Indies, and survives ...
''. She also sang for several seasons at
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. In 1824, she began to exhibit symptoms of imbecility, which developed into a kind of melancholy. On 5 July 1824 a performance was given for her benefit at Drury Lane, which produced (together with a public subscription) about £800. The money was handed over to Lord Egremont, who allowed her an annuity of £80. She lived for the rest of her life with a family named Western, at the Broadway, Westminster, where she died of a fit of apoplexy on 15 January 1838. She was buried at St. Margaret's, Westminster, on 25 January.


Critical assessment

Mrs. Bland's voice was a mezzo-soprano of very sweet quality. Her powers were limited, but as a singer of English ballads she was singularly perfect and free from any blemish of style or taste. In person she was short and dark, but her acting was very bright and vivacious. The following is a list of the principal engraved portraits of her: 1, in the 'Thespian Magazine,' vol. i., by J. Condé (publisher 23 June 1795); 2, as Miss Notable in the 'Lady's Last Stake,' by De Wilde (published 23 June 1795); 3, as Nina in the 'Prisoner' (published 1 Feb. 1796); 4 and 5, as Mary Ann in ''
The School for Guardians ''The School for Guardians'' is a 1767 comedy play by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in London on 10 January 1767.Nicoll p.290 The original cast included John Walker as Sir Theodore Brumpton, He ...
'' by Graham (published 21 Jan. 1796); 6, 'The Bland Melodist' (coloured) (published 12 March 1805); 7, as Madelon in ''
The Surrender of Calais ''The Surrender of Calais'' is a 1791 historical play by the British playwright George Colman the Younger with elements of tragedy and comedy. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket in London on 30 July 1791. The original cast included J ...
'' (n.d.).


Family

On 21 October 1790 she married George Bland, a minor actor and a brother of
Dorothea Jordan Dorothea Jordan (née Bland; 22 November 17615 July 1816) was an Anglo-Irish actress, as well as a courtesan. She was the long-time partner of Prince William, Duke of Clarence (later King William IV), and the mother of 10 illegitimate children ...
. Her husband, whom it was said that she had treated badly, left her and went to America, where he died in 1807. She lived for more than a decade with the English actor Thomas Caulfield before he also left for America. Mrs. Bland had had two sons: Charles, a tenor singer, who was the original
Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...
in
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's opera, and James, a bass, who began life as an opera singer, but later better known as an actor of burlesque, and who died at the Strand Theatre on 17 July 1861.


References

;Attribution Endnotes: * Ann. Register, lxxx. 197; * Georgian Era, iv. 297; * Genet's Hist. of the Stage vi. 424 ix. 240; * Musical World. 19 and 26 Jan. 1838; * Thespian Magazine, 1. 298; * ''Gent. Mag''. 1790, 956; * Kelly's ''Reminiscences'', ii. 80; * information from
William Henry Husk William Henry Husk (1814–1887) was an English historian of music and critic. Life Husk was born in London on 4 November 1814. From 1833 to 1886 he was clerk to a firm of solicitors. As an amateur musician, taught by his godfather John Bernard S ...
.


External links

* * https://anthonyjcamp.com/pages/anthony-j-camp-ancestry-0f-mrs-jordan {{DEFAULTSORT:Bland, Maria British musical theatre actresses British women singers British Jews Jewish classical musicians 1769 births 1838 deaths Place of birth unknown Date of death unknown Place of death unknown Date of birth unknown 18th-century English actresses