"[57] Her will and codicil were proved on 7 December 1687. 8 May 1670, d. 11 May 1726, James Beauclerk, Lord Beauclerk b. Her childhood occupations have been variously described as bawdyhouse servant, a street hawker of herring, oysters, or turnips, and cinder-girl. and subsequently officially created the peerage, saving his son's life. In a stunt rivalling Michael Heseltine's legendary jungle swing of the Commons mace, the 34-year-old son of the Duke of St Albans caused uproar when he leapt on to the Lord Chancellor's woolsack to condemn the Government's plans. Perhaps she just served the drinks and dreamed of treading the boards French fashions were hugely popular, so it's not surprising that London was keen to follow in the Parisian's footsteps. The obscurity surrounding Gwyn's date of birth parallels numerous other obscurities that run through the course of her life. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Her mother 'Madam Gwynn', was born within the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, and is thought to have lived most of her life in the city, she was by most accounts an alcoholic who ran a bawdy house or brothel, where the young Nell is said to have 'served strong waters to gentlemen.'. Its just as well that Nell Gwynn was a real person because shed be entirely unbelievable as an invented character. The specific details are hard to pin down. Her father was of Welsh descent, a soldier ruined by the civil war, he is said to have died in a debtors prison in Oxford, Nell probably had no memory of him. Husband of Helen / Eleanor "Old Madam" Smith Father of Eleanor "Nell" Gwyn. Madam Gwyn is sometimes said to have had the maiden surname Smith. She was probably his favourite mistress. She had none of the political aspirations of his other mistresses. Sir John Wynn (d.1626, aet 73) is famous as the author of 'The History of the Gwydir Family' and one of the most prominent Welshmen of his day. Complete opposites, Louise was very proud woman of her noble Breton birth, Nell a true child of the London streets, scathingly nicknamed her "Squintabella" and the "Weeping Willow" for her tendencies to weep. When Charles Beauclerk (pictured above right and left) was six years old, on the arrival of the King, Nell said, "Come here, you little bastard, and say hello to your father." The Prime Minister's official spokesman, however, had the last word: "It sounds to me like the desperate act of the spent forces of conservatism. Children of Eleanor Gwynne and Charles II Stuart, He aimed to provide King Charles II with someone who would supplant Barbara Palmer, his principal current mistress and Buckingham's cousin, moving Buckingham closer to the King's ear. She was taught her craft of performing at a school for young actors developed by Killigrew[19] and one of the fine male actors of the time, Charles Hart, and learned dancing from another, John Lacy; both were rumoured by satirists of the time to be her lovers, but if she had such a relationship with Lacy (Beauclerk thinks it unlikely), it was kept much more discreet than her well-known affair with Hart. There is also the legend that Nell Gwynne chose red coats for the Chelsea Pensioners of the Royal Hospital Chelsea she allegedly influenced Charles II to found because she remembered the pensioners of Coningsby Hospital in Hereford wore coats of the same colour. An excellent singer and dancer and much in demand as a speaker of impudent prologues and epilogues, pretty, witty Nell was ill-suited to serious parts, yet she was often cast for roles in romantic dramas. There, or in the bawdy house of one Madam Ross, Nell would spend at least some time. There are occasions when we are unsure of the identity of a sitter or artist, their life dates, occupation or have not recorded their family relationships. It was a great success: King Charles "graced it with the Title of His Play"[29] and Pepys' praise was effusive: to the King's house to see 'The Maiden Queen', a new play of Dryden's, mightily commended for the regularity of it, and the strain and wit; and the truth is, there is a comical part done by Nell, which is Florimell, that I never can hope ever to see the like done again, by man or woman. One of Charles' early acts as king was to license the formation of two acting companies and to legalise acting as a profession for women. Several of their children went on to become prominent members of society, such as Vere Connect to the World Family Tree to find out, Feb 2 1650 - Pipewall Lane, Hereford, England, Nov 14 1687 - Pall Mall, Westminster, London, England, Feb 2 1650 - Westminster, London, England, Nov 14 1687 - Westminster, Middlesex, England, Charles Ii Stuart, King Of England, Scotland, And Ireland, Feb 2 1650 - Convent Gardens, Kensington, Middlesex, England, Nov 14 1687 - Pall Mall, Westminster, Middlesex, England, Charles Ii Francis (The Merry Monarch) STUART, KING OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND, ATE SON OF KING OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND, EARL OF BURFORD,ST DUKE OF ST ALBANS, James FITZROY BEAUCLERCK, ILLEGITIMATE SON OF KING CHARLES II, Feb 2 1648 - Westminster, Middlesex, England, Nov 14 1687 - Her House At 79 Pall Mall, City Of Westminster, London, England, Feb 2 1650 - Westminster (Middlesex) England, Nov 14 1687 - Pall Mall, Comt De Fentress, Tennessee, tats-Unis, Charles Stewart Ii The Merry Monarch, Duke Of Cornwall TH KING OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND AND IRELAND, Charles Ii The Merry Monarch King Of Scots, England And Ireland STUART, James Duke Of Monmouth And Buccleuch CROFT-SCOTT, Cause of death: Stroke - Nov 14 1687 - London, Feb 2 1649 - Westminster, London, England, Nov 14 1687 - Westminster, London, England, Charles Ii 'The Merry Monarch' "King of Scotland England And Ireland" Stuart, Feb 1650 - Convent Gardens, Kensington, Greater London, England, Nov 14 1687 - Pall Mall, London, Greater London, England, Nov 14 1687 - 79 Pall Mall, London, Middlesex, England, Convent Gardens, Kensington, Greater London, United Kingdom, Lincoln's Inn Fields, Westminster, Middlesex,, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Pall Mall, London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom, Pall Mall, London, Greater London, United Kingdom, St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, St. Martin's Place, London, Middlesex, England (United Kingdom), Burials - St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, London, Charles Beauclerk, 1st Duke of St. Albans, Eleanor GWYN, DAUGHTER OF CAPTAIN THOMAS, MISTRESS OF KING CHARLES II. Since you've made it this far, we want to assume you're a real, live human. [37] Pepys reports that by 22 August 1667, Gwyn had returned to the King's Playhouse in The Indian Emperour. Here Mrs. Pierce tells me [] that Nelly and Beck Marshall, falling out the other day, the latter called the other my Lord Buckhurst's whore. It is around this time when she is first mentioned in Pepys' diary, specifically on Monday 3 April 1665, while attending a play, where the description 'pretty, witty Nell' is first recorded. The author of her 1752 biography relates a conversation (more than likely fabricated) between Gwyn and Charles II in which he, feeling at a loss, said, "O, Nell! Aphra Behn, Britain's first female professional playwright, wasn't far behind. [20] The use of 'Mrs' would imply that Gwyn was more likely born in 1642 than 1650 as it indicates an actress over the age of 21 (not her marital status) for which certain roles would be more suitable. Census Information is Crown Copyright, from, See "A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain". For access to nell gwynn's full information you must be on the Trusted List. Although he had twelve children - ten of whom were sons - his line ended with a grandson, Sir John Wynn (d.1719) who had no issue. It is not out of the question that Gwyn was merely echoing the satirists of the day, if she said this at all. She is especially remembered for one particularly apt witticism, which was recounted in the memoirs of the Comte de Gramont, remembering the events of 1681: Nell Gwynn was one day passing through the streets of Oxford, in her coach, when the mob mistaking her for her rival, the Duchess of Portsmouth, commenced hooting and loading her with every opprobrious epithet. During Samuel Pepys's life women were first allowed to take to the stage as professional actresses. 'Tis our joint cause; I know you in your hearts And, through her drawers the powerful charm descry'd. This was the King's seventh sonby five separate mistresses. This play, a tragicomedy written by the theatre's house dramatist, John Dryden, was performed in March 1667. Theatre historian Elizabeth Howe goes so far as to credit the enduring success of the gay couple on the Restoration stage entirely to "the talent and popularity of a single actress, Nell Gwyn". The anecdote turns charming if perhaps apocryphal at this point: the King, after supper, discovered that he had no money on him; nor did his brother, and Gwyn had to foot the bill. Gwyn and the other ten "women comedians in His Majesty's Theatre" were issued the right (and the cloth) to wear the King's livery at the start of this exile, proclaiming them official servants of the King. Her last stage appearance occurred in late 1670, as Almahide in The Conquest of Granada by Dryden. On 21 December 1676, a warrant was passed for "a grant to Charles Beauclerc, the King's natural son, and to the heirs male of his body, of the dignities of Baron of Heddington, co. Oxford, and Earl of Burford in the same county, with remainder to his brother, James Beauclerc, and the heirs male of his body." Among the, descendants of Nell Gwynn are his sisters. Nell'. "[59], She is noted for another remark made to her coachman, who was fighting with another man who had called her a whore. nell gwynn. Various anonymous verses are the only other sources describing her childhood occupations: bawdyhouse servant, street hawker of herring, oysters, or turnips, and cinder-girl have all been put forth. Edward J. Davies, "Nell Gwyn and 'Dr Gwyn of Ch. Whatever her first role as an actress may have been, it is evident that she had become a more prominent actress by 1665. Nell was attending a performance of George Etherege's play 'She Wou'd if She Cou'd' at Lincoln's Inn Fields theatre. Gwyn was assigned arms similar to those of the Gwynnes of Llansannor. His Whig sentiments prevented his advancement under Queen Anne, but he was restored to favour at the accession of King George I. Certainly their relationship stood the test of time and she One way or another, Gwyn's father seems to have been out of the picture by the time of her childhood in Covent Garden, and her "dipsomaniac mother, [and] notorious sister", Rose, were left in a low situation. [5][6] However, administration records show that Edmund Gwyn died unmarried. [3] Nell's mother is said to have drowned when she fell into the water at her house near Chelsea. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Eleanor Gwyn (2 February 1650 14 November 1687; also spelled Gwynn, Gwynne) was a celebrity figure of the Restoration period. Elizabeth Gwyn. RootsChat.com is a totally free family history forum to help you. All Census Lookups are Crown Copyright, National Archives for academic and non-commercial research purposes only. She had two sons by the King, and the elder, Charles Beauclerk, was created Duke of St Albans. RootsChat.com cannot be held responsible directly or indirectly for the messages or content posted by others. A few weeks later, James was given "the title of Lord Beauclerc, with the place and precedence of the eldest son of an earl." Hereinafter cited as "re: Penancoet Family.". While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. This was the first of many appearances in which Gwyn and Hart played the "gay couple", a form that would become a frequent theme in restoration comedies. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). The spelling of 'Gwin' does not refer to Nell Gwyn, but to Mrs. Anne Quin. James II, obeying his brother's deathbed wish, "Let not poor Nelly starve," eventually paid most of Gwyn's debts and gave her an annual pension of 1,500. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Descendant of Nell Gwynn makes last stand for lords, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Get up to 10% off using the Booking.com app, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 15% off orders over 15 using this eBay discount code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK April 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this April, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. We digitise over 8,000 portraits a year and we cannot guarantee being able to digitise images that are not already scheduled. Her mother was drowned in a pond at Chelsea, probably while drunk, in July 1679. Called "pretty, witty Nell" by Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of Cinderella. Louise and Nell would prove rivals for many years. She died eight months later and was buried in the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. During the decade of protectorate rule by the Cromwells, pastimes regarded as frivolous, including theatre, had been banned. Omissions? [25], There is some debate over the year The Mad Couple debuted, with earlier authorities believing it to be 1667. The playwright Dryden supplied her with a series of saucy, bustling parts, ideally suited to her talents. The information we have about Gwyn is collected from various sources, including the plays she starred in, satirical poetry and pictures, diaries, and letters. Started by Private User on Wednesday, December 29, 2010. Beauclerk, pp. In March 1687, she suffered a stroke that left her paralysed on one side. We would welcome any information that adds to and enhances our information and understanding about a particular portrait, sitter or artist. James II, following his brother's deathbed wish, "Let not poor Nelly starve," paid most of her debts and gave her a pension. The attraction had another dynamic: the theatres sometimes had a hard time holding onto their actresses, as they were swept up to become the kept mistresses of the aristocracy. I am torn to pieces by their clamours. She was 37 years old (if she was born in 1650). 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