Harriet Siddons
Harriet Siddons (née Murray; 16 April 1783 – 2 November 1844), sometimes known as Mrs Henry Siddons, was a Scottish actress and theatre manager.
Edinburgh referred to her as "Our" Mrs Siddons to distinguish her from her English mother-in-law, Sarah Siddons.
Life
She was born Harriet Murray, the daughter of actor
As a young child she appeared at
After moving to Edinburgh in 1809 with Henry, to take over the Theatre Royal at the east end of Princes Street[3] she helped her husband in his managerial work, and also appeared alongside him on stage. Her first Edinburgh role was on 9 November 1809 in the play "The Honey Moon" in which she played Juliana.
Together they first lived at 3 Maitland Street[4] then at 3 Forth Street.[5]
In 1814 the Drury Lane management made her a tempting offer to play leading female parts to
Due to English-Scottish tensions and post-Jacobite feelings, the promotion of Scots-based stories had to be placed in the past and labelled as fictions to disguise their anti-English stance and Sir Walter Scott wrote many pieces especially for the theatre. Scott was a close friend to Harriet.[3]
In 1827 Mrs Siddons moved to 23 Windsor Street,[6] a handsome Georgian townhouse designed by William Henry Playfair.[7] The house lies around ten minutes walk from the site of the Theatre.
In 1830 Mrs Siddons paid the final of 21 annual rental payments of £2000 to the trustees of the owner of the Theatre Royal, Mr John Jackson, and thereafter became outright owner of the theatre.[8]
Siddons' farewell benefit took place on 29 March 1830, and
She moved to 29 Abercromby Place in her final years - a more central location for society affairs.[10]
She died at home on Abercromby Place on 2 November 1844 aged 61.[2] She is buried with her husband in Greyfriars Kirkyard in Edinburgh. The grave lies in the south-west corner next to the entrance to the "Covenanters Prison".
Epilogue
Her brother, William Henry Murray took out a 21 year lease on the theatre from Harriet in 1830 and ran the Theatre Royal as manager from 1830 to 1851. The use was relocated to Broughton Street soon after his retiral, built in a high Victorian style. It original theatre was demolished in 1895 to make way for the General Post Office Scottish headquarters building.
All that remains of the original is a cast-iron hitching post on the pavement edge where riders would hitch their horses outside the Theatre.
Selected roles
- Rosa Marchmont in Life by Frederick Reynolds (1800)
- Marian in The School for Prejudice by Thomas Dibdin (1801)
- Lady Memlmoth in Folly as it Flies by Frederick Reynolds (1801)
- Lauretta in Delays and Blunders by Frederick Reynolds (1802)
- Rosalie in The Three Per Cents by Frederick Reynolds (1803)
- Emily in A Prior Claim by Henry James Pye (1805)
- Miss Emily in The School for Friends by Marianne Chambers (1805)
- Emily in The Vindictive Man by Thomas Holcroft (1806)
- Lauretta in Faulkener by William Godwin (1807)
- Adriana in The Siege of St Quintin by Theodore Hook (1808)
- Ellen in Grieving's a Folly by Richard Leigh (1809)
Notes
- ^ a b Highfill, Burnim & Langhans 1991, p. 391.
- ^ a b c Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 52. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ a b "History - Playbills of the Theatre Royal Edinburgh - National Library of Scotland".
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1810
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1814
- ^ Grants Old and New Edinburgh vol V p.158
- ^ Buildings of Scotland: Edinburgh by Gifford, McWilliam and Walker
- ^ Grant's Old and New Edinburgh vol.2 p.350
- ^ Grants Old and New Edinburgh vol V
- ^ Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1844
- Bibliography
- Highfill, Philip H.; Burnim, Kalman A.; Langhans, Edward A. (1991). A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800. SIU Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-1525-3.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Siddons, Henry". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 52. London: Smith, Elder & Co.