Sarah Walmsley
Sarah Walmsley | |
|---|---|
| Died | 8 January 1794 London |
| Other name | Mrs. Edwin (stage name) |
| Occupations | Actress; milliner |
| Years active | 1777–1793 |
| Organization(s) | Theatre Royal Haymarket Theatre Royal, Drury Lane |
| Partner | John Edwin |
| Children | 5, including John Edwin |
Sarah Walmsley (d. 8 January 1794) was an English stage actress and milliner, and long-time partner of actor John Edwin.[1]
Biography
Hatmaking and meeting John Edwin
Walmsley had acquired a reputation for being a "respectable milliner" based in Horse Street, Bath by 1768.[2] At this time, she held shares in her millinery amounting to £1,000 (equivalent to £158,857 in 2024).[3]
Walmsley met Edwin at some point in 1768, shortly after he joined the Bath acting company.[2][4] Walmsley's financial position exceeded him, as Edwin's acting career was not particularly successful, nor was he financially stable.[3][5] Edwin convinced Walmsley to sell her shares, amounting to £1,000 (equivalent to £158,857 in 2024); he used the money to finance his career, but also to satisfy his personal whims.[3][5]
Though Walmsley went by the name Sarah Edwin, and later performed under the name Mrs. Edwin when she began acting,[6][7] they were never formally married.[3][5] Their relationship lasted for around twenty years, and they would have five children:[7][8]
- John Edwin the Younger (c. 1769 – 1805), who became a successful stage actor in his own right[8][9] and married Elizabeth Rebecca Edwin, an actress popular in Ireland and Britain[10]
- Richard (c. 1774)
- David (1776–1841), who briefly followed his parents into acting
- Sarah (d. 1793), briefly an actress; died young
- An unnamed son[4]
Acting career
Before meeting Edwin, Walmsley had no acting experience.[1] With his encouragement, she began participating in occasional performances with the Bath company by 1777.[1] Writing to friend George Colman in March of that year, Edwin described Walmsley as modest about her ability, though he felt she was a "very good study" and "might upon an emergency supply the place of a better actress."[1]
Soon afterwards, Walmsley relocated to London with Edwin; the family maintained a residence on Bedford Street.[1][11] Edwin earned a permanent contract to perform at Covent Garden in 1779, establishing him in the city's theatre circles.[12] The first record of Walmsley participating in a London play was a July 1781 production of The Baron Kinkvervankotsdorsprakingatchdern, a comedic opera.[1]
Walmsley performed intermittently, though the annual frequency of her appearances increased throughout the 1780s.[1] According to one biography, theatre producers may have offered Walmsley more roles to ensure she was in a better position to provide for her children, as Edwin's behaviour was growing increasingly erratic.[1]
Separation from Edwin
Edwin was not faithful to Walmsley throughout their relationship.[5][13] In 1789, he rekindled a particularly intense affair with a former partner, to the upset of Walmsley and the disgust of their eldest son, John the Younger.[5] Edwin retaliated by evicting Walmsley and their children from their home; he also demanded that Walmsley cease acting at any theatre where Edwin himself performed.[1]
Edwin's actions resulted in a media circus focused on his apparent neglect of his first family.[1][14] His son, John the Younger, published an article claiming that he was his mother's primary source of financial support, and had been for some time.[14] This article elicited a lengthy response from Edwin the Elder.[14] London's theatre-goers perceived the elder Edwin's actions poorly,[2] partly because it was understood that Walmsley had effectively financed his career, and partly because Walmsley herself was "highly respected."[5] Though Walmsley acquiesced to her partner's demands, the public effectively "drove Edwin... from the stage," as audiences occasionally "hissed" when he appeared.[2][13]
In June 1790, Edwin married a woman named Mary Hubbard.[4] Edwin died in October 1790,[15][16] after what the Ipswich Journal described as a period of "gradual decay."[17] Walmsley and her daughter did not attend the funeral, though her sons did.[4]
Later career
Walmsley continued to act intermittently under the name 'Mrs. Edwin,' starring in tertiary comedic and singing roles.[1][8] She died 8 January 1794, shortly after the death of her daughter, who had died suddenly in September 1793.[1]
Notable roles
As 'Mrs. Edwin' at the Haymarket and Drury Lane theatres:[1]
- Mistress Quickly in The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
- Garnet in The Good-Natur'd Man by Oliver Goldsmith
- Lady Pedigree in The Young Quaker by John O'Keeffe[18]
- Ursula in The Widow's Vow by Elizabeth Inchbald
- Mrs. Cheshire in The Agreeable Surprise by Samuel Arnold
- Dorcas in Richard Coeur de Lion by John Burgoyne[19]
- Mrs. Cloggit in The Confederacy by John Vanbrugh
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Highfill, Philip H.; Burnim, Kalman A.; Langhans, Edward A. (1978). A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Volume 5, Eagan to Garrett: Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800. SIU Press. pp. 28–30. ISBN 978-0-8093-0832-3.
- 1 2 3 4 Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sir Sidney (1973). The Dictionary of National Biography: From the Earliest Times to 1900. Oxford University Press. p. 138.
- 1 2 3 4 Werkmeister, Lucyle Thomas (1963). The London Daily Press, 1772–1792. University of Nebraska. p. 304.
- 1 2 3 4 Edwin, John (1791). Pasquin, Anthony (ed.). The Eccentricities of John Edwin: Comedian. Collected from His Manuscripts, and Enriched with Several Hundred Original Anecdotes. Zachariah Jackson. pp. 260, 325, 332.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The Manager's Note-Book: John Edwin". The New Monthly Magazine. 53 (211): 402. August 1838 – via Internet Archive.
- ↑ Egan, Pierce; Greenwood, Thomas Longdon (1825). The Life of an Actor. C.S. Arnold. pp. 13–14.
- 1 2 The Garrick Club Collections. "Edwin, John". garrick.ssl.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-03-31.
- 1 2 3 Hopkins, Frank (2008-08-28). "Born To Act, Killed By Brandy". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2026-03-31.
- ↑ Hopkins, Frank (1 March 2005). "Life was one big drama for stage clan". The Herald (Ireland). p. 49.
- ↑ Clarke, Frances (2009-10-01), Quinn, James (ed.), "Edwin (Richards), Elizabeth Rebecca", Dictionary of Irish Biography, Royal Irish Academy, doi:10.3318/dib.002890.v1, retrieved 2026-04-01
- ↑ "DIED Saturday in Bedford Street". Sherborne Mercury. 8 November 1790. p. 2.
- ↑ Ballaster, Ros (2020). Fictions of presence: theatre and novel in eighteenth-century Britain. Studies in the eighteenth century. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. p. 209. ISBN 978-1-78327-558-8.
- 1 2 Oxberry, C.E., ed. (1826). "Memoir of Mrs. Edwin". Oxberry's dramatic biography and histrionic anecdotes. London: George Virtue. p. 203.
- 1 2 3 Lowe, Robert William (1888). A Bibliographical Account of English Theatrical Literature from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. J.C. Nimmo. p. 115.
- ↑ "LONDON". Stamford Mercury. 5 November 1790. p. 2.
- ↑ Ballaster, Ros (2020). Fictions of presence: theatre and novel in eighteenth-century Britain. Studies in the eighteenth century. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. p. 209. ISBN 978-1-78327-558-8.
- ↑ "For the Ipswich Journal". Ipswich Journal. 6 November 1790. p. 4.
- ↑ "London Stage Event: 31 July 1787 at Haymarket Theatre". londonstagedatabase.uoregon.edu. Retrieved 2026-04-01.
- ↑ "Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | London, England | Playbill | October 13, 1792 | The Fugitive and Richard Cœur de Lion". blplaybills.org. Retrieved 2026-04-01.