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Frances Maria Kelly Papers: Finding Aid
mssHM 62598-62775
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Title: Frances Maria Kelly Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1800-1883
Bulk dates: 1816-1849
Collection Number: mssHM 62598-62775
Creator:
Kelly, Frances Maria,
1790-1882.
Extent:
221 items in 4 boxes and oversize folders.
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection contains the papers of Frances Maria Kelly (1790-1882), a popular actress on the 19th century British stage,
and includes 176 manuscript and correspondence items and 45 items of ephemera.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Frances Maria Kelly Papers, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Purchased from Sotheby's, July 22, 1969.
Frances Maria Kelly was born to Mark Kelly and Mary Jackson Kelly in 1790. Mary was
already the young widow of an actor when she married Mark. Mark was a frustrated
actor who could not support his family and finally abandoned them. Frances Maria
Kelly's half sister, Anne (from Mary's first union), was an actress and singer until
she married actor Charles Mathews whose biography she eventually wrote. Frances
Maria Kelly acted in small parts at the age of ten while being taught and guided by
her uncle, Michael Kelly. After more training for her acting and her voice she
became better known and respected and, even as a child, began contributing to her
family's finances. During her esteemed career she developed close acquaintances with
Charles Dickens, the Duke of Devonshire, and the Earl of Essex. She maintained a
close friendship with Charles Lamb who proposed marriage to her in 1819. She refused
him and never married. In 1829, Frances Maria Kelly came to have a
daughter—illegitimate or adopted, it's still not clear. Her daughter, Mary
Ellen Greville lived with Frances Maria until the actress's death in 1882 and became
the executrix of her estate. After Frances Maria had retired from the stage in the
1830s she opened The Royal Dramatic School and Theater with the plan to support and
encourage young actors. The school was never a financial success and in 1849 Frances
Maria Kelly was forced to give it up. She lived out the rest of her life in relative
poverty and died just before receiving the monetary prize associated with the
Literary Fund award conferred on her by Queen Victoria.
This collection contains the papers of Frances Maria Kelly (1790-1882), a popular actress on the 19th century British stage,
and includes 176 manuscript and correspondence items and 45 items of ephemera.
The correspondence in this collection deals with the social obligations and other
concerns of an established actress in the 19th century
Great Britain. Frances Maria Kelly corresponded with Dukes and Countesses as well as
actresses and writers. This collection also includes Frances Maria Kelly's
"Dramatic Recollections" a notebook filled with descriptions of her
theatrical career.
Related Materials in the Huntington Library
- Frances Maria Kelly letter to Robert William Elliston, 1822. (Call number: mssHM 63347)
The collection is arranged in the following 2 series: 1. Manuscripts and correspondence, 2. Ephemera.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Kelly, Frances Maria, 1790-1882 -- Archives.
Essex, George Capel-Coningsby, Earl of, 1757-1839.
Theater -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain -- 19th century.
Manuscript drafts -- Great Britain -- 19th century.
Ephemera -- Great Britain -- 19th century.
Wills -- Great Britain -- 19th century.
Essex, George Capel-Coningsby, Earl of, 1757-1839.