1. Jane Lessingham nee Hemet was a stage actress from 1756 to 1782.
20 Facts About Jane Lessingham
1. 2.
Jane Lessingham first came to the stage during 1756, when she played Desdemona in a production of Othello at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden.
3.
Jane Lessingham was buried in Hampstead Churchyard and left her estate in trust to Harris for the care of their four sons.
4.
The diarist John Taylor recorded that Jane Lessingham's career began with the support of poet Samuel Derrick, with whom she was having an affair.
5.
Jane Lessingham did not return to the stage again for some time, until 1762, when she began using the stage name 'Lessingham'.
6.
Between 1763 and 1767, Jane Lessingham had moderate success working at Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, Drury Lane, London and a number of small theatres in Bath, Bristol and Richmond.
7.
Jane Lessingham continued to perform at the Theatre Royal until 1782, the year before her death.
8.
In 1753, Jane Lessingham married naval commander John Stott at St Paul's, Covent Garden.
9.
At the divorce trial, witnesses attested to the fact that Jane Lessingham had given birth to a child during the three years Stott was at sea.
10.
Taylor recorded that Jane Lessingham had begun an affair with Derrick before her marriage to Stott, whilst other sources suggest it was during the marriage.
11.
At some stage, the pair lived together in Shoe Lane, Holborn, where Derrick helped to prepare Jane Lessingham to begin a career as an actress.
12.
Taylor described Jane Lessingham as having deserted the poet due to his poverty, leaving him heartbroken.
13.
Taylor later recorded that Jane Lessingham began a relationship with Admiral Boscawen.
14.
At some stage during the 1760s, likely upon her 1767 return to the Theatre Royal, Jane Lessingham became Harris' mistress.
15.
One rumour tells of their affair beginning after Jane Lessingham lifted the skirts of her petticoat to expose her legs to Harris; a story perpetuated by widely circulated prints on the matter.
16.
In 1775, Jane Lessingham began a relationship with Sir William Addington.
17.
In 1776, Jane Lessingham built Heath Lodge in the centre of Hampstead Heath; an Italian villa-style property designed by James Wyatt.
18.
Jane Lessingham noted that Lessingham later left Addington for a 'teapot' actor.
19.
Jane Lessingham was buried four days later at Hampstead Churchyard, with a gravestone bearing her maiden name.
20.
The document was signed Jane Lessingham Hemet and verified by Harris a year later.