Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Mathews, Lucia Elizabeth
MATHEWS, LUCIA ELIZABETH or ELIZABETTA, also known as Madame Vestris (1797–1856), actress, the daughter of Gaetano Stefano Bartolozzi [q. v.] and his wife, Theresa Jansen, daughter of a dancing-master of Aix-la-Chapelle, was born in January 1797 at 72 Dean Street, Soho, London, or, according to another and improbable account, in Naples. She received rudimentary education at Manor Hall, Fulham Road, and learned music with Dr. Jay and Domenico Corri [q. v.] She married, 28 Jan. 1813, at St. Martin's Church, Auguste Armand Vestris (d. 1825), a dancer and ballet-master at the King's Theatre, the witnesses being Gaetano Bartolozzi, Lucy Elizabeth Tomkins, and Cecilia Voilet. Possessor of ‘one of the most luscious of low voices,’ great sprightliness and vivacity, a beautiful face, and ‘an almost faultless figure,’ she took at first to Italian opera, making her appearance, 20 July 1815, at the King's Theatre, as Proserpina in Peter Winter's ‘Il Ratto di Proserpina.’ Her success was immediate; she was said to possess a perfect contralto voice, a correct harmonious expression, to appear about eighteen, and to have ‘a countenance expressive rather of modest loveliness than of any very marked passion’ (Theatrical Inquisitor and Monthly Mirror, vii. 57). Her training was, however, deficient, and her voice needed cultivation. The following year she reappeared as Proserpina, and played in Winter's ‘Zaira,’ 17 Feb. 1816, Martini's ‘Cosa Rara,’ Mozart's ‘Così fan tutte,’ and Susanna in his ‘Nozze di Figaro.’ In the winter she acted at the Italian Opera, Paris, at the Théâtre Français, where she enacted Camille to the Horace of Talma, and at other theatres. Her husband, who had been arrested for debt and cleared himself by bankruptcy, and who had full occasion to doubt her fidelity, deserted her while in Paris, and was never reunited to her. Her first appearance on the English stage (non-Italian) was made at Drury Lane, 19 Feb. 1820, as Lilla, a part created by Signora Storache, in Cobb's ‘Siege of Belgrade.’ On 25 March, for one night only, she was Caroline in Prince Hoare's ‘Prize;’ on 5 April Artaxerxes in the opera of that name, translated from Metastasio; on 18 May as Adela in Cobb's ‘Haunted Tower;’ and on 30 May caught the town as Don Giovanni in Moncrieff's ‘Giovanni in London,’ transferred by Elliston from the Olympic. On 4 Nov. she played Macheath in the ‘Beggar's Opera,’ and 28 Nov. was the original Monsel in ‘Justice, or the Caliph and the Cobler.’ Little Pickle in the ‘Spoil'd Child,’ Rose Sydney in ‘Secrets worth knowing,’ Edmund in the ‘Blind Boy,’ and Effie Deans in the ‘Heart of Midlothian’ were among the parts taken in this second season. On 19 June 1821 she played Macheath at Covent Garden, apparently for one occasion only. At Drury Lane, 22 Dec., she was Giovanni in ‘Giovanni in Ireland,’ an unsuccessful attempt to obtain an aftermath of the success of ‘Giovanni in London.’ During the season she played in a version of Scott's ‘Pirate,’ was Paul in ‘Paul and Virginia,’ the original Bell in Knight's opera ‘The Veteran, or the Farmer's Sons,’ 23 Feb. 1822, Betty Blackberry in the ‘Farmer,’ and Nell in the ‘Devil to Pay.’ In the summer she was at the Haymarket, where she was the original Lisette in a musical farce called ‘Love Letters,’ 24 June 1822, and played Patrick, the hero of O'Keeffe's ‘Poor Soldier.’ At Drury Lane, Covent Garden, or the Haymarket, with an occasional appearance in Italian opera, she played many comic and some serious parts, among which may be noted Ophelia and Mrs. Oakley. She was at Drury Lane, 19 Dec. 1822, the original Herman in Dimond's ‘Tale of Other Times,’ played Florella in ‘My Grandmother,’ Maria in ‘A Roland for an Oliver,’ Annette in the ‘Lord of the Manor,’ Letitia Hardy in the ‘Belle's Stratagem,’ was at Drury Lane, 13 Jan. 1824, the original Pauline in Beazley's opera ‘Philandering, or the Rose Queen,’ was Ariel to Macready's Prospero, Luciana in the ‘Comedy of Errors,’ Lydia Languish, Rosalind, Lady Teazle, Mrs. Ford and also Mrs. Page in the ‘Merry Wives of Windsor,’ Carlos in the ‘Duenna,’ Hypolita in ‘She would and she would not,’ Diana Vernon, and Cherubino in the ‘Marriage of Figaro.’ Her original parts also included Phœbe in ‘Paul Pry,’ Haymarket, 13 Sept. 1825; Georgette Clairville in ‘'Twas I,’ Covent Garden, 3 Dec. 1825; Fatima, a character introduced by Planché into his adaptation of ‘Oberon,’ Covent Garden, 12 April 1826; Madame Germance in Pocock's ‘Home, Sweet Home,’ Covent Garden, 19 March 1829; and Kate O'Brien in Haynes Bayly's ‘Perfection, or the Lady of Munster,’ Drury Lane, 25 March 1830. In 1825 she sang ‘Cherry Ripe’ at Vauxhall. On 8 June 1826, at Covent Garden, she performed Macheath, positively, as was announced, ‘for the last time.’ On 29 March 1828 she, however, repeated it. She played frequently in Ireland and at Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and other places. Genest, who saw her in Bath in 1827–8, says that she did herself no credit by her Hypolita, and was not qualified to play first-rate characters, but was ‘one of the best singing actresses that ever appeared.’ Her singing in songs such as ‘Cherry Ripe,’ ‘Meet me by moonlight alone,’ ‘I've been roaming,’ ‘The Light Guitar,’ ‘Rise, gentle Moon,’ ‘Buy a Broom,’ &c., delighted town and country, as did her performances in ‘breeches’ parts, Don Giovanni, Macheath, Cherubino.
On 3 Jan. 1831, Mme. Vestris—according to a prologue by John Hamilton Reynolds, delivered on the occasion, the first female lessee the stage had known—opened the Olympic in partnership with Maria Foote [q. v.], who soon, however, seceded from management. Her opening programme consisted of ‘Mary Queen of Scots,’ with Miss Foote as the queen; the ‘Little Jockey,’ also for Miss Foote; ‘Clarissa Harlowe,’ a burletta, introducing Mrs. Glover; and ‘Olympic Revels,’ by Planché and Dance, the first of a series of extravaganzas in which Mme. Vestris obtained her greatest triumphs. The mounting and decoration of these were superintended by her and were regarded as models of taste. In ‘Olympic Revels’ Mme. Vestris made a hit as Pandora, raising the theatre to the height of popularity. Following this came ‘Olympic Devils,’ 26 Dec. 1831, in which she was Orpheus; the ‘Paphian Bower, or Venus and Adonis,’ 26 Dec. 1832, in which she was Venus; ‘High, Low, Jack, and Game,’ 30 Sept. 1833, with Mme. Vestris as Queen of Hearts; the ‘Deep, Deep Sea, or Perseus and Andromeda,’ in which she was Perseus. She played Calypso in ‘Telemachus, or the Island of Calypso,’ 26 Dec. 1834; Princess Esmeralda in ‘Riquet with the Tuft,’ 26 Dec. 1836; Ralph in ‘Puss in Boots,’ 26 Dec. 1837; and Praise in the ‘Drama's Levée,’ 16 April 1838. She had meanwhile gathered for the performance of comedy and burlesque a company including Mrs. Orger, Mrs. Humby, Miss Murray, Keeley, Farren, Bland, and Liston, and, after a few years, her future husband [see MATHEWS, CHARLES JAMES], who made his début, 7 Dec. 1835, under her management. After her marriage she started with him for America, received ungenerous treatment, and returned poorer than she went, to reappear at the Olympic as Fleurette in ‘Blue Beard,’ 1 Jan. 1839. She took her farewell of the Olympic 31 May 1839, and aided her husband in his management of Covent Garden, beginning 30 Sept. 1839. Here she played many musical parts in operas, ‘Artaxerxes,’ ‘Comus,’ the ‘Marriage of Figaro,’ in which she was Cherubino, &c.; played in ‘Love's Labour's Lost,’ Oberon in ‘A Midsummer-Night's Dream,’ and was Lucy Lockit in the ‘Beggar's Opera.’ Her original parts included Catherine in Sheridan Knowles's ‘Love,’ 1839, Lady Anne in the same writer's ‘Old Maids,’ 1841, and Grace Harkaway in Boucicault's ‘London Assurance,’ 4 March 1841. She also produced some of Plancheé's burlesques: ‘The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood,’ 20 April 1840, in which she was the Princess Is-a-belle; ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ 12 April 1841, in which she was Beauty; and the ‘White Cat,’ 28 March 1842. She was unable, however, to fight against the burden of debt to which Mathews succumbed. At the Haymarket, where, after having played with Macready at Drury Lane, she accepted an engagement under Webster, she was Medea in Planché's ‘Golden Fleece,’ 24 March 1845, and Suivanta in his ‘Golden Branch,’ 27 Dec. 1847. She then went with her husband to the Princess's, where she appeared in March 1846, and then undertook the management of the Lyceum, opening in October 1847 with the ‘Pride of the Market.’ Charles Mathews played his familiar parts, and Mrs. Mathews produced the best remembered of Planché's burlesques. A company including the Leigh Murrays, Selby, Harley, Meadows, Buckstone, Mrs. Fitzwilliam, and Mrs. Stirling, made the house one of the most fashionable in London. William Beverley painted the scenery, and what was long known as the transformation scene was introduced. In April 1848 she played Theseus to the Dædalus of Mathews in Planché's ‘Theseus and Ariadne;’ on 26 Dec. 1848 was Argus the Brilliant-eyed in his ‘King of the Peacocks;’ on 9 April 1849 produced the ‘Seven Champions of Christendom;’ on 26 Dec. 1849 the ‘Island of Jewels;’ on 1 April 1850 ‘Cymon and Iphigenia;’ on 26 Dec. 1850 was King Charming the First in ‘King Charming;’ on 21 April 1851 produced the ‘Queen of the Frogs;’ on 26 Dec. 1851 the ‘Prince of Happy Land’ (‘La Biche au Bois’); on 27 Dec. 1852 was Dame Goldenhead in the ‘Good Woman in the Wood;’ and 26 Dec. 1853 was Queen Dominantia in ‘Once upon a time there were two Kings.’
Her last appearance was for her husband's benefit at the Lyceum, 26 July 1854, in ‘Sunshine through Clouds,’ an adaptation of ‘La Joie fait Peur’ of Madame de Girardin. She died, after a long and painful illness, 8 Aug. 1856, and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery. She was responsible for many improvements in stage scenery and effects, and had much taste in costume. As a singer of songs she had no equal on the stage. Had she possessed musical patience and energy, she might, says Chorley in his ‘Musical Recollections,’ have ‘queened it’ at the Italian opera. In high comedy she was but moderately successful, and, though her Julia in the ‘Rivals’ found admirers, her Lady Teazle was generally condemned. Leigh Hunt ascribes to her at the outset tenderness, depth, and subtlety. Her command of these qualities, if ever possessed, was soon lost, and apart from the attraction of a flexible mouth, large lustrous eyes, and a thick crop of dark hair, her chief gifts were archness, fascination, mutinerie, a careless acceptance of homage, and a kind of constant confidential appeal to an audience by which she was always spoiled. In pieces such as the ‘Carnival Ball,’ the ‘Loan of a Lover,’ ‘Naval Engagements,’ and ‘You can't marry your Grandmother,’ she was irresistible. At the Haymarket she was bewitching in the ‘Little Devil,’ an adaptation from Scribe, and in ‘Who's your Friend?’ Engraved portraits of Mme. Vestris abound. A picture of her by George Clint, A.R.A., with Liston, Mrs. Glover, and Mr. Williams, in ‘Paul Pry,’ was exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery in 1868, and is now in the Science and Art Department, South Kensington. One after Clint is in the Mathews collection in the Garrick Club. Her name on her marriage certificate is signed Lucy Bartolozzi. A constant signature in following days was ‘Eliza Vestris.’
[The early dramatic career of Mrs. Mathews is given fully in Genest's Account of the English Stage. Some scandalous Memoirs, published in 1839 for the booksellers, are untrustworthy in the main and are almost entirely without dates. Dickens's Life of Charles J. Mathews makes very sparing mention of her; Westland Marston, in his Some Recollections of the Modern Actors, gives some characteristically just and appreciative criticisms, of which full use has been made. Cole's Life and Times of Charles Kean, Marshall's Lives of the most Celebrated Actors and Actresses, Mrs. Baron-Wilson's Our Actresses; the Dramatic and Musical Review, Notes and Queries, 7th ser. vols. i. and xi., the Theatrical Inquisitor, &c., have been consulted.]