Anne Oldfield
1683
23 October 1730 (aged 47)
Actress
Arthur Maynwaring
Charles Churchill
- James Oldfield (father)
Early life and discovery[edit]
She was born in London in 1683. Her father was a soldier, James Oldfield. Her mother was either Anne[2] or Elizabeth Blanchard.[3] Her grandfather owned a tavern and left her father several properties, he however mortgaged these which resulted in Anne and her mother being placed in financial difficulty when he died young.[2] It appears that Oldfield received some education because her biographers state that she read widely in her youth. Oldfield and her mother went to live with her aunt, Mrs Voss, in the Mitre tavern, St James.[4] In 1699, she attracted George Farquhar's attention when he overheard her reciting lines from Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher's play The Scornful Lady (1616) in a back room of her tavern. Soon after, she was hired by Christopher Rich to join the cast of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.[5]
Personal life[edit]
Oldfield began a decade-long relationship with Whig politician Arthur Maynwaring around 1700. Owing to her success, Oldfield remained financially independent from Maynwaring.[11] He supported her career by helping her work through new roles and by writing more than a dozen prologues and epilogues for her to perform.[12] When she became pregnant with their son, Arthur.[13] Oldfield kept acting until she was physically unable, which was unusual for the time. She went back to work just three months after the birth.[14] Oldfield arranged for her lifelong friend, Margaret Saunders, to join the acting profession.[15]
When Maynwaring died in 1712, rumours circulated that he had died from a venereal disease that Oldfield had given to him. In order to clear both their names, she ordered an official autopsy to be performed on his body, which revealed that he had died of tuberculosis.[16] Oldfield was three months pregnant at the time, but her child is not believed to have survived the birth.[12]
Several years after Maynwaring's death, Oldfield began a relationship with Charles Churchill. The two lived together for many years and had a son, Charles. However, during this pregnancy, Oldfield was unable to continue acting due to her health, and was forced to leave the theatre for several months. She never fully recovered her health.[17]
Throughout her last theatrical season she suffered from chronic pain in her abdomen. She retired from the stage in April 1730 and died from cancer of the uterus a few months later.[18]
Oldfield died on 23 October 1730 at age 47, at 60 Grosvenor Street, London.[19] She divided her property between her two sons. Oldfield was buried in Westminster Abbey, beneath the monument to Congreve. Her partner, Churchill, applied for permission to erect a monument there to her memory, but the dean of Westminster refused it.[8][20]