Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol III (1901).djvu/71

  in 'No Song, No Supper,' her first appearance at Covent Garden. Her name appears to Sophia in the 'Road to Ruin,' Norah in 'Norah, or the Girl of Erin,' Matilda in 'Three Deep,' Lucette in 'Shepherd's Boy,' and very many parts, original and other. In 1834 she was a comic support of the Adelphi, where in November 1838 she made a great success as Smike; and in 1839 one still greater as Jack Sheppard. With Macready at Drury Lane in 1842 she played Nerissa, Audrey, Mrs. Placid in Mrs. Inchbald's 'Every one has his Fault,' and Polly Pallmall in Jerrold's 'Prisoner of War.' (For her share in the management of various theatres, for many of her characters, and for her family, see art. ). Mrs. Peerybingle, Clemency Newcome, Maud in the 'Wife's Secret,' Jane in 'Wild Oats,' Rosemary in the 'Catspaw,' Maria in 'Twelfth Night,' in which she was seen at different theatres, were so many triumphs. Betty Martin in an adaptation so named of 'Le Chapeau de l'Horloger' of Madame Emile de Girardin, in which she was seen at the Adelphi (8 March 1855 ), was a comic masterpiece. As much may be said for her Mary Jane (February 1856) in Moore's 'That Blessed Baby,' and Frank Oatlands in 'A Cure for the Heartache.' Betsy Baker, Dame Quickly, Mrs. Page, and Miss Prue in 'Love for Love,' must also be mentioned. When, indeed, Mrs. Keeley in 1859 followed her husband into retirement, it was with the reputation of the finest comedian in her line of modern days. Her last professional appearance was at the Lyceum in 1859 as Hector in Brough's burlesque, 'The Siege of Troy.' She came frequently for benefits before the public in her old parts, and often delivered addresses by her friend, Mr. Joseph Ashby Sterry, and others. On 22 Nov. 1895 her ninetieth birthday was celebrated at the Lyceum by a miscellaneous entertainment, in which many leading actors took part. She preserved to the last an unconquerable vivacity. Mrs. Keeley died on 12 March 1899 at 10 Pelham Crescent, Brompton, the house in which thirty years previously her husband breathed his last. Her daughter, Louisa Mary, married [q. v.] In her latest years she was fêted and caressed beyond the wont of womanhood by almost all people from the queen downwards, and her funeral at Brompton cemetery on 16 March was almost a public ceremonial.



KEMBLE, FRANCES ANNE, afterwards, generally known as (1809–1893), actress and writer, the daughter of  [q. v.] and [q. v.], was born in Newman Street, London, on 27 Nov. 1809, and educated principally in France. When her father's management of Covent Garden was in extremis she made her first appearance on the stage on 5 Oct. 1829 as Juliet to her father's Mercutio and the Lady Capulet of her mother, who returned to the stage after a long absence. Fanny Kemble's success was overwhelming. She appeared on 9 Dec. as Belvidera in 'Venice Preserved;' on 18 Jan. 1830 as Euphasia in the 'Grecian Daughter;' on 25 Feb. as Mrs. Beverley in the 'Gamester;' on 28 April as Isabella in the piece so named; and on 28 May as Lady Townley in the 'Provoked Husband.' So profitable were her appearances that 13,000l. of debt were wiped off the theatre. In the following season she was seen as Mrs. Haller in the 'Stranger,' Calista in the 'Fair Penitent,' Juliana in the 'Honeymoon,' Lady Macbeth, Portia, Beatrice, and Constance. In 1833 she was the first Louise de Savoie in her own 'Francis the First,' which was not a success; the first Duchess of Guise in an adaptation of the 'Henri III' of Dumas, which was a failure; and the first Julia in Knowles's 'Hunchback.' In the autumn she accompanied her father to America, appearing on 18 Sept. at the Park theatre, New York, as Bianca in 'Fazio,' a part she repeated in Philadelphia and Boston. On 7 Jan. 1834 she married Pierce Butler, a southern planter, whom in 1848 she divorced (he died in 1867). On 16 Feb. 1847, at Manchester, she reappeared on the stage as Julia, which with Lady Teazle, Mariana, and Queen Katherine, she repeated at Liverpool. In May she reappeared in London, playing at the Princess's with [q. v. Suppl.] After a short visit to America she began in April 1848 a series of Shakespearean readings at Willis's rooms. In October 1849 at Sansom Street hall, Philadelphia, she gave a reading from 'King John.' Resuming her maiden name she retired for twenty years to Lennox, Massachusetts, reappearing in 1868 as a reader at Steinway hall, New York. In 1873 she resided near Philadelphia, and in 1877-8 returned to England, dying at 86 Gloucester Place, London, the residence of her son-in-law, the Rev. Canon Leigh, on 15 Jan.