Farren, Elizabeth (c. 1759–1829)
Farren, Elizabeth (c. 1759–1829)
English actress and the countess of Derby. Name variations: Eliza Farren. Born around 1759 in Cork, Ireland; died at Knowsley Park, Lancashire, on April 29, 1829;daughter of George Farren (an apothecary and surgeon) and an actress mother; married Edward Stanley, 12th earl of Derby, on May 1, 1797; children: three.
Following the death of her husband, the mother of Elizabeth Farren toured the English provinces as an actress to support her three children. In 1777, Elizabeth made her first London appearance at the Haymarket as Miss Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer. Subsequent successes established her reputation. She was the original Nancy Lovel in George Colman's Suicide and appeared at the Drury Lane, both 1778. Tall and slim, elegant and refined, Farren was popular with London's upper crust, and her character was considered beyond reproach, except by jealous rivals. She retired from the stage on April 8, 1797, following her marriage to the earl of Derby. She was a rival of Frances Abington .