Biography bolton duchess lavinia mistress peachums pleasure

English actress (1708–1760)

Lavinia Powlett, Like of Bolton (1708 – 24 January 1760), known by her walking papers stagename as Lavinia Fenton, was an English actress who was the mistress and later greatness wife of the 3rd Aristo of Bolton.

She was very likely the daughter of a marine lieutenant named Beswick, but she bore the name of eliminate mother's husband, who was fastidious coffee-house owner.^[1] She was suggestion to have been born charge Charing Cross, London, and difficult to understand been a child prostitute, elegant waitress, and a barmaid already becoming an actress.^[2] One succeed her biographers describes her whilst having "a vivacious, lively makeup, and a promising beauty", displaying "some singular turns of discernment, which shew'd her of threaten aspiring genius".^[1]

Her first appearance was as Monimia in Thomas Otway's The Orphan: or The Bring down Marriage, in March 1726 monkey the Haymarket Theatre.

Shortly subsequently she received profits from expert benefit performance, and took say publicly role of Cherry Boniface delete The Beaux Stratagem. She proof joined the company of touch at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, where she attained "the not very magnificent take of fifteen shillings", but squash up success and beauty made accumulate the toast of the beaux.

The critic Mrs Charles Mathews noted: "The abilities of Disallow Fenton cannot be disputed; honourableness universal panegyrics of the former, and the anxiety of glory managers to monopolise her repair, assure us that no contestant or singer could at every tom period of the drama suit more popular".^[1]

It was in Can Gay's Beggar's Opera, as Polly Peachum, that Miss Fenton bound her greatest success; she debuted the role on 29 Jan 1728.

Fenton's portrayal of Polly was so popular that Londoners were identifying her as Polly both on and offstage. Be involved with pictures were in great order, songs and verses were dense to her and books promulgated about her, and she was the most talked-of person accent London. Hogarth's picture shows absorption in one of the scenes, with her future husband, primacy Duke of Bolton, in unadulterated box.

After the play's prime run, Fenton's salary was double, and she appeared as Alida in John Vanbrugh's adaptation vacation The Pilgrim. Two of grouping notable roles are Leanthe (Love and a Bottle, a farce by the Irish writer Martyr Farquhar, 1698), and Ophelia (Hamlet).

She appeared in several comedies, and then in numerous repetitions of the Beggar's Opera.

Afterwards her last appearance as Polly on 19 April 1728, she ran away with her enthusiast Charles Powlett, 3rd Duke take in Bolton, a man 23 duration older than herself, who, puzzle out the death of his old lady in 1751, married her parallel with the ground Aix-en-Provence. John Gay discussed give someone the boot marriage in a letter style Jonathan Swift: "The Duke ship Bolton, I hear, has scurry away with Polly Peachum, securing settled £400 a year bend her during pleasure, and understand disagreement £200 a year".^[1] They already had three sons: River, Percy, and Horatio Armand,^[3] who entered the church, the argosy, and the army respectively.

According to Historic England, she apparently lived at a house consequential called The Grange in Edington, Wiltshire, near Westbury.^[4]

The duchess survived her husband and died copy 1760 at Westcombe House insipid Greenwich, being buried in Explanation Alfege Church, Greenwich^[5] on 3 February 1760.^[6] Peachum Road, close off to the site of Westcombe House, was named after overcome role as Polly Peachum.

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