Frances Brett Hodgkinson

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}} {{Short description|American actress (1771–1803)}} {{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Frances Brett Hodgkinson | honorific_suffix = | image = Mrs Hodgkinson in the character of Cora (2).jpg | image_size = 150px | alt = | caption = Frances Brett Hodgkinson | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name =  | birth_date = 1771 | birth_place = Bath, England{{citation needed|date=December 2021}} | baptised =  | death_date = {{death date and age|1803|9|23|1771}} | death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | education = | alma_mater = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | movement = | spouse = John Hodgkinson | partner = | children = | parents = | father = | mother = | relatives = | family = | awards =  | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website =  | module = }} '''Frances Brett Hodgkinson''' (1771–1803) was an English-born American theater actress. She played major roles in high comedy and tragedy plays and was also a noted performer of opera.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last1=Highfill|first1=Philip H.|title=A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800|last2=Burnim|first2=Kalman A.|last3=Langhans|first3=Edward A.|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|year=1982|isbn=0-8093-0918-1|location=Carbondale|pages=351|language=en}}</ref> She was the second wife of John Hodgkinson, a famous American stage actor.<ref name="EAA">{{Cite web|title=Frances Brett Hodgkinson|url=http://www.earlyamericanactresses.com/supporting-actresses/frances-hodgkinson/|access-date=November 12, 2021|website=Early American Actresses|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Biography == Hodgkinson was born in 1771<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Greene|first=John C.|title=Theatre in Dublin, 1745–1820: A Calendar of Performances|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2011|isbn=978-1-61146-114-5|location=Lanham, MD|pages=2453, 2502|language=en}}</ref> in England to a family of performers. Her parents, William and Hannah, also referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Brett, were both stage actors and were prominent performers of the Bath-Bristol company and Foote's Haymarket.<ref name=":0" /> Hodgkinson was the eldest in the family.

Hodgkinson and her mother came to Bath and Bristol when William Brett died in 1789.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Report of Proceedings: Ph. D. in Music Symposium, April 5–7, 1985|date=1988|publisher=College of Music, University of Colorado at Boulder|location=Boulder|pages=67|language=en}}</ref> In 1790, English actor John Hodgkinson moved from Exeter to join the Bath-Bristol company and eventually became the lead actor of the troupe.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Morgan|first=Gwendolyn|title=The Year's Work in Medievalism, 2010|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|year=2010|isbn=978-1-60899-991-0|location=Eugene, Oregon|pages=45|language=en}}</ref> This is where he met the then Frances Brett. Hodgkinson was married to his first wife and for this reason, he emigrated to the United States to marry Frances Brett.<ref name=":4" />

John and Frances Hodgkinson had two daughters and one son.<ref name=":0" /> Frances Hodgkinson contracted tuberculosis but still performed on stage despite her illness. In ''History of American Theatre'', William Dunlap stated how she appeared so unwell when she played ''Letitia Hardy'' on June 15, 1803, and would perform several days later in ''The Stranger'' "looking so as to make the writer's heart ache".<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Dunlap|first=William|title=History of the American Theatre|publisher=R. Bentley|year=1833|location=London|pages=192|language=en}}</ref> According to Dunlap, those around her had the impression that she was compelled to perform.<ref name=":5" /> She died in Philadelphia on September 27, 1803, due to tuberculosis and was buried at New York's Saint John's Cemetery.<ref name=":0" />

== Career == Hodgkinson and her four siblings started performing on stage at an early age. She performed at Bath and Bristol from 1781 to 1783, playing juvenile roles.<ref name=":0" /> She debuted in London's Haymarket Theatre in 1784, playing a dwarf in Thomas Holcroft's comic opera, ''The Noble Peasant''.<ref name=":0" /> Early in her acting career, she was simply called as Miss Brett to distinguish herself from her sister, who was referred to as Miss W. Brett.<ref name=":1" /> Both often shared the same playbills. In October 1787, she had her debut as a singer at the Rotunda.<ref name=":1" /> She became associated with the "singing chambermaids", a part of the late 18th-century musical theater tradition.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Porter|first=Susan L.|date=1988|title=John Hodgkinson in England: The Early Life of an American Actor-Singer|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3051883|journal=American Music|volume=6|issue=3|pages=264–280|doi=10.2307/3051883|jstor=3051883|issn=0734-4392|url-access=subscription}}</ref> thumb|upright|Illustration of John Hodgkinson, Frances Hodgkinson's husband. The Hodgkinsons sailed to America in 1792<ref name="EAA"/> after entering a contract with John Henry together with eight other actors including Brett's mother as well as her sister and her husband, William King.<ref name=":0" /> They joined the Old American Company,<ref name=":2" /> which was the first professional theater in North America. John Hodgkinson was first seen as Don Felix in ''The Wonder'' while Frances Hodgkinson in ''The Padlock'' as Leonora.<ref name=":0" /> After dominating the troupe managed by Lewis Hallam and John Henry, John was declared as "superior to any other actor" and would enjoy such stature for around ten years in all of the principal theater centers in America.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Harbin|first=Billy J.|date=November 1972|title=Hodgkinson's Last Years: At the Charleston Theatre, 1803–05|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/theatre-survey/article/abs/hodgkinsons-last-years-at-the-charleston-theatre-180305/C91E339E8E4B412AF094E4B53A2D1BD6|journal=Theatre Survey|language=en|volume=13|issue=2|pages=20–43|doi=10.1017/S0040557400005093|s2cid=162338827 |issn=1475-4533|url-access=subscription}}</ref> An account by William Dunlap described Frances Hodgkinson as a versatile actress, who "surpassed all her contemporaries in rustic comedy and singing parts, in chambermaids and soubrettes."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Oppenheimer|first=Margaret|title=Remarkable Rise of Eliza Jumel: A Story of Marriage and Money in the Early Republic|publisher=Chicago Review Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1-61373-383-7|location=Chicago|language=en}}</ref> By 1800, the pair became the highest-paid performers in American stage history.<ref name=":2" /> She had a weekly salary of $50.<ref name=":2" /> Although her husband was paid $70, her remuneration was still significantly ahead of her peers such as Hallam and his wife, whose combined salary amounted to $50.<ref name=":2" /> John Hodgkinson became part of the management and revitalization of the American Company.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fisher|first=James|title=Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Beginnings|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2015|isbn=978-0-8108-7833-4|pages=204|language=en}}</ref>

One of Hodgkinson's notable performances in America was Manana, a part in Ann Hatton's opera ''Tammany.<ref name=":3" /> S''he played opposite her husband, who played the titular role of an Indian chief.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Kirk|first=Elise Kuhl|title=American Opera|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2001|isbn=0-252-02623-3|location=Chicago|pages=48}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgkinson, Frances Brett}} Category:1771 births Category:1803 deaths Category:19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Category:English emigrants to the United States Category:18th-century English actresses Category:English child actresses Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Pennsylvania Category:Actresses from Bath, Somerset