Crouch, Anna Maria (1763–1805)

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Crouch, Anna Maria (1763–1805)

English opera singer. Born 1763, probably in London, England; died Oct 2, 1805, in Brighton, England; married to a lieutenant in Royal Navy named Crouch; lived with Irish baritone Michael Kelly, 1784.

Triumphed in the role of Polly Peachum in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera; had brief and profitable relationship with George IV (her husband received £400 per annum for not suing him).

See also M.J. Young, Memoirs of Mrs. Crouch (London, 1806).