FRANCES

ABINGTON (1737-1815)  , English actress, was the daughter of a private soldier named Barton, and was, at first, a flower girl and a street singer . She then became servant to a French milliner, obtaining a taste in dress and a knowledge of French which afterwards stood her in good stead . Her first appearance on the stage was at the Haymarket in 1755 as Miranda in Mrs Centlivre's Busybody . In 1756, on the recommendation of Samuel Foote, she became a member of the Drury Lane company, where she was overshadowed by Mrs Pritchard and Kitty Clive . In 1759, after an unhappy marriage with her music-master, one of the royal trumpeters, she is mentioned in the bills as Mrs Abington . Her first success was in Ireland as Lady Townley, and it was only after five years, on the pressing invitation of Garrick, that she returned to Drury Lane . There she remained for eighteen years, being the original of more than thirty important characters, notably Lady Teazle (1797) . Her Beatrice, Portia, Desdemona and Ophelia were no less liked than her Miss Hoyden, Biddy Tipkin, Lucy Lockit and Miss Prue . It was in the last character in Love for Love that Reynolds painted his best portrait of her . In 1782 she left Drury Lane for Covent Garden . After an absence from the stage from 1790 until 1797, she reappeared, quitting it finally in 1799 . Her ambition, personal wit and cleverness won her a distinguished position in society, in spite of her humble origin .

Women of fashion copied her frocks,-and a head-dress she wore was widely ABIOGENESIS adopted and known as the " Abington cap." She died on the 4th of March 1815 .