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1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Pritchard, Hannah

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22254661911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 22 — Pritchard, Hannah

PRITCHARD, HANNAH (1711-1768), English actress, whose name before her early marriagwto an actor-was Vaughan, first attracted attention as a singer at Bartholomew's Fair in 1733. She was soon playing a wide variety of parts, mostly comedy, at the Haymarket, Drury Lane and Covent Garden. When Garrick became patentee of Drury Lane in 1747 she joined his company and played with him for twenty years, her last appearance being as Lady Macbeth-one of her greatest réles-in April 17-68, a few months before her death. Her talents were highly thought of by the critics of the day. Her daughter, who had studied under Garrick, and whose beauty created a sensation when she made her début (as “Miss Pritchard ”) in October 1756, did not live up to the expectations then raised. She married in 1762 the actor John Palmer, retired from the stage at the same time as her mother, and after her husband's death married a political writer named Lloyd.