Isabella Mattocks

Isabella Mattocks (1746 – June 25, 1826) was a British actress and singer.

Isabella Mattocks
Isabella Mattocks by Gainsborough Dupont 1833
Born
Isabella Hallam

1746
Whitechapel
DiedJune 25, 1826
Kensington
NationalityBritish

Early life

Hallam (later Mattocks) was baptised in Whitechapel in 1746 by Lewis and Sarah Hallam. Her father and her uncle William were also actors.[1] Her grandfather Thomas Hallam had been part of the Drury Lane company when he was killed in a dispute with fellow actor Charles Macklin during a performance. When her parents and William decided to try acting in America in 1752[2] they took three of Isabella's siblings, but she was left in the care of her aunt, Ann, and her husband John Barrington in England.[3]

In 1762 she made her debut in the adult role of Juliet. For most of her childhood except for a few years at school she played small parts in the productions of the Covent Garden company of actors. When she was sixteen she joined the company and in 1765 she married her leading man George Mattocks. Hallam's guardians who she said treated her like true parents opposed the match for reasons that are not certain.[4]

Career

In 1767 she appeared in a revival of Double Falsehood which is a play that claims links to William Shakespeare.[5]

The couple would appear together taking leading roles although Isabella was considered too short for some roles. By the time younger actresses were competing for her roles she was established as a character actor. She was believed to have had an affair with Robert Bensley but her marriage to George survived.

She was known for performing epilogues and these were sometimes written for her by the politician and playwright Miles Peter Andrews. Mattocks was to remain with the Covent garden acting company for 46 years. Thomas Dibdin noted that her last part was on 7 June 1808, noting how long she had amused her audiences.[6] She only daughter who married Nathaniel Huson in 1801. Huson was a barrister who swindled Mattocks out of £6000. However a benefit was staged for her and this replaced over £1000 of what had been lost.

Mattocks died in Kensington in 1826.[4]

Selected roles
Mattocks as Mrs Warren in
Holcroft's The Road to Ruin

References
  1. Jared Brown, ‘Hallam, Lewis (1714?–1756?)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 7 Feb 2015
  2. Matthew, H. C. G.; Harrison, B., eds. (September 23, 2004), "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. ref:odnb/64342, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/64342, retrieved April 1, 2023
  3. The Cabinet: Or, Monthly Report of Polite Literature, Volume 4. 1808. p. 60. Retrieved February 7, 2015.
  4. Olive Baldwin, Thelma Wilson, ‘Mattocks , Isabella (1746–1826)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2013 accessed 7 Feb 2015
  5. Hammond, [William Shakespeare] ; edited by Brean (2010). Double falsehood or The distressed lovers (3rd ed.). London: A & C Black. ISBN 978-1903436776. {{cite book}}: |first1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Dibdin, Thomas (1827). The Reminiscences of Thomas Dibdin, of the Theatres Royal, Covent Garden, Volume 1.
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