As a sort of tribute to Jane Travers of the Jane Obsessed With Jane Blog, whose homeland is Ireland, I thought I would continue to post on a Jane Austen/ Irish theme this week.
As we already are aware, Eliza O’Neil was the Irish actress whom Jane Austen admired and who hugged Mr Younge Delightfully:
We were all at the Play last night, to see Miss o’Neal (sic) in” Isabella”… She is an elegant creature however and hugs Mr Younge delightfully.
(See letter from Jane Austen to Anna Austen dated 29th November 1814)
and Id like to share with you a short biographical article I found about her recently in a copy of La Belle Assemblee , published in January 1816:
I’ve scanned the pages in and added them here. And all you have to do to read them in comfort is to enlarge them.
I love the florid language of these magazines of the early 19th century. And it is comforting to realise that celebrity worship is not a new phenomenon 
7 comments
June 9, 2010 at 12:01 am
Cathy Allen
What a great biography! I hope Miss O’Neil enjoyed it and much as I did. I was amazed at her appearing at Plymouth in one play, and then seven days later at Brighton in a completely different play! I can’t imagine how it was accomplished. That is not a long distance by today’s standards, but it certainly would have taken SOME time in 1813. Add to that at least SOME time for rehearsal… I wonder how she did it?
The other thing I noticed was the ₤ 8000 ! That would have been a King’s Ransom then. Surely it’s an exaggeration? But why would the author have exaggerated? It must be true! Oh my goodness!
Most delightful, thank you, Julie.
CEA
June 9, 2010 at 9:42 am
jfwakefield
its a fascinating insight into a now forgotten world isn’t it?
June 14, 2010 at 10:27 am
Stephen Cummins
A horse and carriage could travel about 30-35mph, and it is less than 200 miles between Plymouth and Brighton, so she’d have traveled the distance in under a day anyway. There was no train either, there was no railway to Brighton (from London) untill 1841, and in 1816 the fastest train could only go 10mph! (I Googled all that, I didn’t just know it off the top of my head).
June 14, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Cathy Allen
Thank you, Stephen; I didn’t think of doing that, and I appreciate your help. You are very kind. Can you imagine an 1841 train only being able to travel slower than a carriage? Fascinating!
Thanks again,
Cathy
June 9, 2010 at 8:17 am
Enid Wilson
Widow cheerly, very good name for a play. Thanks for the info. Love it.
Really Angelic
June 9, 2010 at 9:42 am
jfwakefield
Im so glad you enjoyed it Enid
June 11, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Jane Travers
Oooh, I’m sort-of thrilled at my sort-of tribute!
Thank you Julie; not only as informative as ever, but you’ve put a smile on my face at the end of a long and tiring day.
Have you seen that you’re mentioned over on http://www.tweettreats.org?