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ABINGTON, FRANCES (1737-1815)

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 64 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ABINGTON, FRANCES (1737-1815) , See also:English actress, was the daughter of a private soldier named See also:Barton, and was, at first, a See also:flower girl and a See also:street See also:singer. She then became servant to a See also:French See also:milliner, obtaining a See also:taste in See also:dress and a knowledge of French which afterwards stood her in See also:good See also:stead. Her first See also:appearance on the See also:stage was at the Haymarket in 1755 as See also:Miranda in Mrs See also:Centlivre's Busybody. In 1756, on the recommendation of See also:Samuel See also:Foote, she became a member of the See also:Drury See also:Lane See also:company, where she was overshadowed by Mrs See also:Pritchard and Kitty See also:Clive. In 1759, after an unhappy See also:marriage with her See also:music-See also:master, one of the royal trumpeters, she is mentioned in the bills as Mrs Abington. Her first success was in See also:Ireland as See also:Lady See also:Townley, and it was only after five years, on the pressing invitation of See also:Garrick, that she returned to Drury Lane. There she remained for eighteen years, being the See also:original of more than See also:thirty important characters, notably Lady Teazle (1797). Her See also:Beatrice, Portia, Desdemona and Ophelia were no less liked than her See also:Miss Hoyden, Biddy Tipkin, See also:Lucy Lockit and Miss Prue. It was in the last See also:character in Love for Love that See also:Reynolds painted his best portrait of her. In 1782 she See also:left Drury Lane for Covent See also:Garden. After an See also:absence from the stage from 1790 until 1797, she reappeared, quitting it finally in 1799. Her ambition, See also:personal wit and cleverness won her a distinguished position in society, in spite of her humble origin.

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Women of See also:fashion copied her frocks,-and a See also:head-dress she wore was widely See also:ABIOGENESIS adopted and known as the " Abington cap." She died on the 4th of See also:March 1815.

End of Article: ABINGTON, FRANCES (1737-1815)

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