Sarah Harlowe (c. 1765–1852) was a popular

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

of the

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stage around the turn of the 19th century.

Biography

Harlowe was born in London in about 1765. Under the name of Mrs.Harlowe, she made her first appearance on the stage at

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, near

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, in 1787, removing in the following year to Windsor, where she met

Francis Godolphin Waldron Francis Godolphin Waldron (1744–1818) was an English writer and actor, known also as an editor and bookseller. Life Waldron became a member of David Garrick's company at Drury Lane, and is heard of on 21 October 1769, when he played a part i ...

(1743–1818) and became his wife.

Stage life

Waldron was prompter of 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 ...

, London, manager of the Windsor and

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theatres, a bookseller, an occasional actor at the Haymarket and

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 ...

, manager of the Drury Lane Theatrical Fund, the writer of several comedies, and a

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

scholar. Through her husband's interest, Mrs. Harlowe got an engagement at

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

, where she gained some celebrity as a singer, actor, and performer in

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

s. She appeared 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 ...

on 4 November 1790 in the ''Fugitive''. She was the original singer of ''Down in the country and lived a lass''. The song was generally introduced to ''Lady Bell''. In 1792, she was at the Haymarket, whence she went to Drury Lane, where she sustained the characters of smart chambermaids, romps, shrews, and old women, and then removed to the English Opera House. At the opening of the Royalty Theatre,

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, under the direction of William Macready, the elder, on 27 November 1797, Mrs. Harlowe played in the musical sketch entitled ''Amurath the Fourth, or the Turkish Harem'', and also in the pantomime, the ''Festival of Hope, or Harlequin in a Bottle''. In 1816, she played Lady Sneerwell at Drury Lane. Her husband died in March 1818, in his seventy-fifth year. She was a low comedy actress who, without any splendid talent, had such a complete knowledge of stage requirements that her services were most useful in any theatre. Her figure was neat, and she often assumed male characters. Her best parts were Lucy in the ''Rivals'', the Widow Warren in the ''Road to Ruin'', Miss Mac-Tab in '' The Poor Gentleman'', and the old Lady Lambert in the ''Hypocrite''. However, she essayed most of Mrs. Jordan's characters and successfully played them. In 1826, she retired from the stage, having on 21 February in that year played Mrs. Foresight in the farce of ''

John Bull John Bull is a national personification of England, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter-of-fact man. He originated in satirical works of ...

'' at Drury Lane. She was one of the original subscribers to the Drury Lane Theatrical Fund, from which, in 1827, she received an annuity of £140 per annum, which, in 1837, was reduced to £112.

Death

She died suddenly of heart disease at her lodgings, 5 Albert Place,

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, on 2 January 1852, aged 86, and her death was registered at

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as that of "Sarah Waldron, annuitant".

Selected roles

* Jenny in '' The Road to Ruin'' by

Thomas Holcroft Thomas Holcroft (10 December 174523 March 1809) was an English dramatist, miscellanist, poet, novelist and translator. He was sympathetic to the early ideas of the French Revolution and helped Thomas Paine to publish the first part of ''The Ri ...

(1792) * Diana Grampus in '' The Box-Lobby Challenge'' by Richard Cumberland (1794) * Mariguita in '' Don Pedro'' by Richard Cumberland (1796) * Licia in '' The Inquisitor'' by

(1798) * Trimming in '' Fashionable Friends'' by

Mary Berry Dame Mary Rosa Alleyne Hunnings (''née'' Berry; born 24 March 1935) is an English food writer, chef, baker and television presenter. After being encouraged in domestic science classes at school, she studied catering at college. She then move ...

(1802) * Fanny in '' Hearts of Oak'' by John Till Allingham (1803) * Harriet in '' The Vindictive Man'' by

(1806) * Mrs O'Shanauhan in '' Ourselves'' by

Marianne Chambers Marianne Chambers (fl. 1799-1811 or 1812) was an English playwright. In 1799 she published a novel, ''He Deceives Himself: A Domestic Tale'' in three volumes, which was favourably reviewed in ''The Gentleman's Magazine'': "in its perusal we have ...

(1811) * Lady Nightshade in '' The Faro Table'' by John Tobin (1816) * Marian in '' The Innkeeper's Daughter'' by

George Soane George Soane (1790–1860) was an English writer and dramatist. Life The younger son of John Soane Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neoclassical architecture ...

(1817) * Mrs Fairweather in '' The Touchstone'' by James Kenney (1817)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harlowe, Sarah 1760s births 1852 deaths Shakespearean scholars 18th-century English actresses 19th-century English actresses Actresses from London