Memoirs of the Celebrated Mrs Woffington: Entering 18th-century London

I've been trawling through my picture archive, looking at the snaps that my partner and I took on various research trips for the novel I'm writing. This one was for a scene at the historic 'entrance' to the city of London, Temple Bar.

Part of Wren's original gateway is pictured above. It's no longer at its original location on The Strand (there's a modern-day marker outside Royal Courts of Justice to show where it once stood), having been shifted to Paternoster Square in 2004. It must have been a gruesome sight in the 18th century, when you consider that the heads of traitors were mounted on pikes on the roof; quite a sight for my Catholic heroine, entering London for the first time.

Photograph © Memoirs of the Celebrated Mrs Woffington.

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Who was Mrs Woffington?

Virtually forgotten today, Margaret Woffington (also known as Peg or Peggy) would rise from humble origins to become one of Georgian London’s most famous actresses, sharing the stage with the likes of David Garrick and excelling in so-called ‘breeches roles’. Born around the year 1720 in Dublin, her childhood years were marred by the death of her father, which plunged her family into poverty. Having reputedly sold watercress barefoot in the streets of the Irish capital, she was soon talent-spotted by a tumbler known as Violante, who staged populist entertainments in booths around the city. Violante had a troupe of child actors called the Liliputians, and before long Woffington was making her debut as Polly Peachum in their version of The Beggar’s Opera. Moving to London, she gained plaudits for both her outstanding beauty and her talent – particularly in comedy – appearing at both Covent Garden and Drury Lane. Known for her quick wit and no-nonsense attitude, she had high-profile affairs with Garrick, Lord Darnley and Charles Hanbury Williams; she was also a generous benefactor, supporting her elderly mother and may even have endowed some almshouses in Teddington, where she had settled at the height of her success. She died, unmarried, in 1760, having suffered a long wasting illness, and is buried in Teddington's parish church of St Mary’s.

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