Charlotte Tidswell

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Charlotte Tidswell
Bornc. 1760
Died3 September 1846
Chelsea
NationalityGreat Britain
Occupationactor
Known forcaring for Edmund Kean

Charlotte Tidswell (c. 1760 – 3 September 1846) was an English actress.

Life[edit]

Tidswell was born in 1759 or 1760 and her father may have been a soldier. She may have been acting for five years when her name was first mentioned when she appeared with the company creating "The Busy Body" at Drury Lane. This would end up being her main theatre. She had been the mistress of Charles Howard who was a Duke of Norfolk[1] and it was conjectured that this was the reason she started at Drury Lane.[2]

In 1787 Edmund Kean was born. The identity of his mother is unknown and many suspected that Tidswell, who was known to him as "Aunt Tid", was his mother. She certainly mothered him and took an interest in him as he developed into an acting prodigy and she steered his career. His father figure was Moses Kean who was a solo performer, but it is not certain who Edmund's father was.[2] One source says that it was Moses's younger brother.[1] Moses died in 1792.[2]

Richard III, 23 September 1800, with Miss Tidwell as the Duchess of York

Tidswell would act during the winter at Drury Lane but she never took a leading role. She changed address frequently and that is thought to have been due to finances. She was earning about three pounds a weeks although in time she would get an annual benefit performance and during the summer she would take other acting roles. In the summer she was usually in Liverpool, but sometimes in Brighton. In the winter she might play a named Shakespearean role like the Duchess of York in Richard III or Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet.[2] It was noted at the time that although she never played a leading part she attracted a large amount of attention from the critics. She played courtesans and women of poor character but she was applauded for not confusing her character's shortcomings with her own private life.[3]

She was a respectable actor when she decided to retire on 21 May 1822. As was the custom, there was a benefit performance for her and Edmund Kean was there to oversee proceedings and convey her thanks to those present. She returned Kean's kindness and as he went into old age she would care for him at his home in Richmond. He died in 1833.[2]

Tidswell died at her home in Chelsea in 1846.

Selected roles[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Charlotte Tidswell | British actress". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Thomson, Peter (2004). "Tidswell, Charlotte (1759/60–1846), actress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/64358. Retrieved 21 July 2020. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ Highfill, Philip H.; Burnim, Kalman A.; Langhans, Edward A. (1973). A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800: Tibbett to M. West. SIU Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-1802-5.
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