Harriet Esten

Harriet Pye Esten or Harriet Pye Scott-Waring born Harriet Pye Bennett (1760s? – 1865) was an English actress, and briefly a theatre manager.

Life Esten was born in Tooting in or around the 1760s. She was the daughter of housekeeper Anna Maria Bennett and her employer and lover Admiral Sir Thomas Pye.

In 1784 she married James Esten who was in the navy. Esten was taught to act by her mother, who assisted her daughter throughout her career. She initially appeared in Bath and Bristol before moving on to appear at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. Whilst she was there in 1789 she and her mother negotiated a formal separation with James Esten. Her mother, who was a successful novelist, paid off her husband's debts in exchange for his agreement.

On 15 October 1812 Esten married the former Member of Parliament Major John Scott-Waring. He was Warren Hastings' agent and she was his third wife. They had two children. He died in 1819.

In 1820 her daughter, Anne Douglas-Hamilton, married Henry Westenra, 3rd Baron Rossmore.

Esten died at her house in Knightsbridge in 1865 and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery. Her death certificate is the source of her presumed date of birth.