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.'. When noble Buckhurst beg'd him to surrender. Though Gwyn was often caricatured as an empty-headed woman, John Dryden said that her greatest attribute was her native wit, and she certainly became a hostess who was able to keep the friendship of Dryden, the playwright Aphra Behn, William Ley, 4th Earl of Marlborough (a lover of hers), John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, and the King's other mistresses. Gwyn returned to the stage again in late 1670, something Beauclerk calls an "extraordinary thing to do" for a mistress with a royal child. The plan failed; reportedly, Gwyn asked 500 a year to be kept and this was rejected as it was regarded as too expensive. 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! The specific details are hard to pin down. Sometime after the end of April and her last recorded role that season (in Robert Howard's The Surprisal), Gwyn and Buckhurst left London for a country holiday in Epsom, accompanied by Charles Sedley, another wit in the merry gang. More on Nell Gwyn: Pepys and his Contemporaries book in our Shops. WebBorn Eleanor Gwynn on February 2, 1650, in England (authorities are unsure whether in London, Oxford, or Hereford); died on November 14, 1687; daughter of Helena and Thomas or James Gwynn (a common soldier); children: (with Charles II) Charles Beauclerk (16701726, later duke of St. Albans); James Beau-clerk, earl of Plymouth (d. 1680). 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. 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. In May 1665, she appeared opposite Hart in James Howard's comedy All Mistaken, or the Mad Couple. 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. The gay couple, broadly defined, is a pair of witty, antagonistic lovers, he generally a rake fearing the entrapment of marriage and she feigning to do the same in order to keep her lover at arm's length. Although not yet a hereditary peer, the heir to the St Albans dukedom was allowed to sit on the steps of the throne, from where he seized his moment of glory. In response, Charles created him Earl of Burford. Hate serious plays, as I do serious parts. Hereinafter cited as Britain's Royal Family. King Charles II had a considerable number of mistresses through his life, both short affairs and committed arrangements. Several of their children went on to become prominent members of society, such as Vere Sat 27 Oct 1900 - The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. Apparently his final words were 'let not poor Nelly starve.'. Several anonymous satires from the time relate a tale of Gwyn, with the help of her friend Aphra Behn, slipping a powerful laxative into Davis's tea-time cakes before an evening when she was expected in the King's bed. Please could you let us know your source of information. Sent to school in Paris when he was six, he died there in 1681. Nell Gwynn The Players Creative Team Jessica Swale Playwright Christopher Luscombe Director Nigel Hess Music Hugh Durrant Scenic Designer/Costume Designer Greg Hofmann Lighting Designer Stephen Ptacek Sound Designer Wig and Make-up Designer Amber Mak Choreographer Jermaine Hill Music Director Eva Breneman Dialect Coach Bob WebNell Gwynn (c. 16501687) The descendants of Holy Roman Empire monarchies became feeble-minded in the twentieth century, and after World War I had been done in "Od's fish!" [4], Nell Gwyn is reported in a manuscript of 1688 to have been a daughter of "Thos [Thomas] Guine a Capt [captain] of ane antient fammilie in Wales", although the reliability of the statement is doubtful as its author does not seem to have hesitated to create or alter details where the facts were unknown or perhaps unremarkable. Nell Gwyns grave is St Martin-in-the-Fields Churchyard, Westminster. 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. Alexander Smith's 1715 Lives of the Court Beauties says she was born in Coal Yard Alley in Covent Garden and other biographies, including Wilson's, have followed suit. Gwyn had two sons by King Charles: Charles Beauclerk (16701726) and James Beauclerk (16711680). And, through her drawers the powerful charm descry'd. Mostly unnoticed by passers-by, this is believed to be the only statue of a royal mistress in the capital city.[61]. During Gwyn's first years with Charles, there was little competition in the way of other mistresses: Barbara Palmer was on her way out, while others, such as Moll Davis, kept quietly away from the spotlight of public appearances or Whitehall. On 26 August, Pepys learns from Moll Davis that, 'Nell is already left by my Lord Buckhurst, and that he makes sport of her, and swears she hath had all she could get of him; and Hart, her great admirer, now hates her; and that she is very poor, and hath lost my Lady Castlemayne, who was her great friend also but she is come to the House, but is neglected by them all'. 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. The notoriously temperamental Barbara Palmer (nee Villiers) Lady Castlemaine, had been Charles' mistress for many years, but their relationship was beginning to sour by the time he met Nell Gwynn. Nell answered then, "I was but one man's whore, though I was brought up in a bawdy-house to fill strong waters to the guests; and you are a whore to three or four, though a Presbyter's praying daughter!"[12]. Discover the art of the Van de Veldes at the Queen's House, See the world's greatest space photography at the National Maritime Museum, Experience life at sea and climb the rigging of one of London's true icons, Why do artists draw, and what can their sketches teach us about their skills and techniques? Another is that Gwyn grabbed young Charles and hung him out of a window of Lauderdale House in Highgate, where she briefly resided, and threatened to drop him unless he was granted a peerage. As she was working class, no-one recorded the specifics of her life, her date of birth, for example, until she became famous. During the decade of protectorate rule by the Cromwells, pastimes regarded as frivolous, including theatre, had been banned. The Catholic whore was still the Frenchwoman Louise de Krouaille, who had been created Duchess of Portsmouth in 1673. Elizabeth Gwyn. The circumstances of the child's life in Paris and the cause of his death are both unknown, one of the few clues being that he died "of a sore leg", which Beauclerk speculates could mean anything from an accident to poison. 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. In 1664, through the influence of her older sister, Rose, Nell became an orange-girl at the Drury Lane Theatre. He had oodles of them you could make up a whole page from his courtesans Eleanor "Nell" Gwyn (or Gwynn or Gwynne) (2 February 1650 14 November 1687) was a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England. A few months later, the Frenchwoman Louise de Krouaille came to England, ostensibly to serve as a maid of honour to Charles' wife, Catherine of Branganza, but in reality as Charles' mistress. Buckingham had an alternative plan, which was to set the King up with Moll Davis, an actress with the rival Duke's Company. ", "If it please your Majesty," she replied, "there is but one way left, which expedient I am afraid it will be difficult to persuade you to embrace. Mary Meggs, a former prostitute nicknamed "Orange Moll" and a friend of Madam Gwyn's, had been granted the licence to "vend, utter and sell oranges, lemons, fruit, sweetmeats and all manner of fruiterers and confectioners wares" within the theatre. Catherine of Braganza PreviousNext Barbara Palmer, Copyright 2004 - 2022 www.englishmonarchs.co.uk All rights reserved All rights reserved Privacy Policy, Copyright 2004 - 2022 www.englishmonarchs.co.uk All rights reserved All rights reserved . [34], Beauclerk describes Buckhurst: "Cultured, witty, satirical, dissolute, and utterly charming". Gwyn has appeared as the principal, or a leading character, in numerous stage works and novels, including: Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Quickly attracting the attention of the theatres leading actor, Charles Hart, whose mistress she became, Nell mounted the stage and probably made her first appearance in December 1665. Once Gwyn left the acting profession, it would be at least ten years before his company revived The Maiden Queen and even the less favoured The Indian Emperour because "the management evidently felt that it would be useless to present these plays without her."[32]. Home; Trees; Search; DNA; Explore; Help; Top record matches for Nell Gwyn. and subsequently created that peerage. [S3409] Caroline Maubois, "re: Penancoet Family," e-mail message to Darryl Roger Lundy, 2 December 2008. During Samuel Pepys's life women were first allowed to take to the stage as professional actresses. The Maiden Queen featured breeches roles, where the actress appeared in men's clothes under one pretence or another, and as Bax supposes "was one of the first occasions upon which a woman appeared in the disguise of a man";[33] if nothing else this could draw an audience eager to see the women show off their figures in the more form-fitting male attire. In the 1840s, there was a house on the site of Nell Gwynn House in which the member of parliament George Thompson lived. view all Immediate However, as they gained attention, skill and fame, they could make greater demands of writers, and parts began to get better. '", Quoted in Beauclerk, p. 78 from the epilogue to Robert Howard's, According to Dryden's preface to the first printed edition, 1668. Skip Ancestry main menu Main Menu. Additionally, 'Nelle' was intended to play the small role of Paulina, a courtesan, in Killigrew's Thomaso, or The Wanderer in November 1664, but the play seems to have been cancelled. This was the King's seventh sonby five separate mistresses. "[60], In 1937, a new ten-storey block of 437 flats in Sloane Avenue, Chelsea, was given the name Nell Gwynn House, and in a high alcove above the main entrance is a statue of Gwyn, with a Cavalier King Charles spaniel at her feet. The orange-girls would also serve as messengers between men in the audience and actresses backstage; they received monetary tips for this role and some of these messages would end in sexual assignations. [21] The majority of her estate went to her son. Gwyn joined the rank of actresses at Bridges Street when she was fourteen (if we take her birth year to be 1650), less than a year after becoming an orange-girl. Find something else to fight about. "Od's fish!" Charles supposedly cried out "God save the Earl of Burford!" WebNell Gwyn, original name Eleanor Gwyn, (born Feb. 2, 1650, London, Eng.died Nov. 14, 1687, London), English actress and mistress of Charles II, whose frank recklessness, generosity, Please Like other favourites! WebNell Gwynn is a play by the British playwright Jessica Swale, begun in 2013 [1] and premiering at Shakespeare's Globe from 19 September to 17 October 2015. From across the sea, an art revolution is coming. Select the portrait of interest to you, then look out for a Buy a Print button. [11] She experimented with cross-dressing between 1663 and 1667 going under the name "William Nell" and adopting a false beard; her observations informed a most successful and hilarious character interpretation acting as a man on the stage in March 1667. Nell survived her royal lover by less than three years. 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. Nell was attending a performance of George Etherege's play 'She Wou'd if She Cou'd' at Lincoln's Inn Fields theatre. Gwyn and her mother spent some of this time in Oxford, following the King and his court. Of information ] the majority of her estate went to her son, Charles created Earl... Estate went to her son Family, '' e-mail message to Darryl Roger Lundy, 2 December 2008 Beauclerk 16701726. 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