Margaret Hughes

Margaret Hughes (29 May 1630 – 1 October 1719), also Peg Hughes or Margaret Hewes, was an English actress who is often credited as the first professional actress on the English stage, as a result of her appearance on 8 December 1660. Hughes was the mistress of the Royalist English Civil War general Prince Rupert of the Rhine.

Women in Restoration drama Hughes became an actress during a period of great change in English drama, which had suffered greatly during the English Civil War and the Interregnum, being banned by the Puritan Long Parliament in 1642. This ban was finally lifted upon the Restoration of King Charles II. Charles was a keen theatre-goer, and promptly gave two royal patents to Sir Thomas Killigrew and Sir William Davenant. Killigrew and Davenant began casting women almost immediately following the Restoration when on 8 December 1660, she played the role of Desdemona in William Shakespeare's play Othello, in a production by Thomas Killigrew's new King's Company at their Vere Street theatre. Some historians identify Anne Marshall as the first actress to step onto the English stage. However, there has been much analysis of the early recollections of John Downes, whose memories of the 1660s form a key part of Hughes' claim in this regard.

Personal life

Hughes was famous for her charms as an actress; diarist Samuel Pepys considered her "a mighty pretty woman", and she was said to be "a great beauty, with dark ringletted hair, a fine figure, and particularly good legs". Pepys suggested that she was a lover of Sir Charles Sedley, a noted dramatist and "famous fop", in the 1660s; she was reportedly also involved with Charles II himself, if only briefly.

Despite being encouraged to do so, Hughes lived an expensive lifestyle during the 1670s, enjoying gambling and jewels; Rupert gave her at least £20,000 worth of jewellery during their relationship, including several items from the Palatinate royal collection. The two appear to have been close – Prince Rupert's older brother, Charles Louis, Elector Palatine, once sounded out Rupert as to his willingness to return to the Rhineland and marry appropriately, but his suggestion was rejected. Hughes continued to act even after Ruperta's birth, returning to the stage in 1676 with the prestigious Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre, near the Strand in London. The next year Rupert established Hughes in a "grand building" on the Fulham Road in Hammersmith worth £25,000 that he bought from Sir Nicholas Crispe. Hughes had an "uncomfortable widowhood" Presents from Rupert such as Elizabeth of Bohemia's earrings were sold to the Duchess of Marlborough, whilst a pearl necklace given by Rupert's father to Hughes was sold to fellow actress Nell Gwyn. Hughes sold the house in Hammersmith to two London merchants, Timothy Lannoy and George Treadwell; ultimately it was purchased by the Margrave of Brandenburg-Anspach and became known as Brandenburg (or Brandenburgh) House.

Professional career Hughes certainly played Desdemona in the performance of Othello seen by Samuel Pepys on 6 February 1669. She also played: St Catherine in John Dryden's Tyrannick Love Panura in John Fletcher's The Island Princess.

She probably played: Theodocia in Dryden's An Evening's Love Angellina in James Shirley's The Sisters.

Hughes left the stage for Prince Rupert in 1669 or 1670. In 1676 she emerged from retirement for one busy year with the Duke's Company. For that company, she played: Octavia in Edward Ravenscroft's The Wrangling Lovers Gerana in Elkanah Settle's Pastor Fido Mirva in Elkanah Settle's Ibrahim Mrs Moneylove in Thomas Rawlins's Tom Essence Charmion in Sir Charles Sedley's Antony and Cleopatra Valeria in Aphra Behn's The Rover Leonora in Thomas Porter's The French Conjuror Cordelia in Thomas d'Urfey's A Fond Husband

In popular culture A one-act play about Margaret Hughes, entitled The First Actress, was performed in 1911, at the Kingsway Theatre in London, by a group of suffragette actresses who called themselves the Pioneer Players. Ellen Terry played Nell Gwyn in this production.

Jeffrey Hatcher wrote a play about Edward Kynaston entitled Compleat Female Stage Beauty (2000), and later adapted his play for the 2004 film Stage Beauty, directed by Richard Eyre and starring Claire Danes as Hughes. Hughes's first stage appearance is also discussed in the 2015 play Nell Gwynn, but she remains an offstage character. Hughes is the main character of Diana Norman's historical novel The Vizard Mask (1994). She is depicted as a stuttering American Puritan, Penitence Hurd, who becomes a successful Restoration actress.