Moll Davis
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Mary "Moll" Davis (ca. 1648 - 1708) was a seventeenth-century entertainer and courtesan, singer and actress who became one of the many mistresses of King Charles II of England.
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[edit] Early life, theatre career
Davis was born around 1648 in Westminster and was said by Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, to be "a bastard of Collonell Howard, my Lord Barkeshire" - probably meaning Thomas Howard, third Earl of Berkshire.[1]
During the early 1660s she was an actress in the 'Duke's Theatre Company' and boarded with the company's manager, Sir William Davenant.[2]
She became a popular singer, dancer and comedian, but the wife of Pepys called her "the most impertinent slut in the world".[3]
[edit] Royal mistress
Davis met King Charles II in a theatre or coffee-house in about 1667.
She flaunted the wealth she acquired from her association with Charles, and gained a reputation for vulgarity and greed. She showed off her "mighty pretty fine coach" (Pepys:[4]) and a ring worth £600, in those days a vast sum. [5]
Davis gave up the stage in 1668 and in 1669 had a daughter by Charles, Mary Tudor, who became famous in her own right. Later, Charles dismissed Davis, possibly due to some chicanery by Nell Gwynne, a major rival for the King's affections. [6] Davis did not leave empty-handed however: Charles awarded her an annual pension for life of £1,000.
[edit] House in St James's Square
In October 1673, Davis bought a new house in St James's Square from trustees for Edward Shaw, paying £1800.[7] 'Madam Davis' first appears in the ratebook for the year 1675 and last appears in 1687.[7] This house (which was surveyed by John Soane in 1799) was almost square and had three storeys, each with four evenly-spaced windows, all dressed with a wide architrave and cornice.[7] The staircase hall was south of a large room in front, and two smaller rooms and a secondary staircase at the rear. There was a massive cross-wall, containing the fireplaces of the back rooms.[7] It would now have been Number 22, St James's Square, if it had survived.[7] It was demolished in 1847 to make way for a new club house for the Army and Navy Club, having survived longer than any other of the other original houses in the square.[7]
[edit] Marriage
In December 1686, Davis married the French musician and composer James Paisible (c. 1656-1721), a member of James II's private musick.
Sir George Etherege wrote scornfully of the marriage: "Mrs Davies has given proof of the great passion she always had for music, and Monsieur Peasible has another bass to thrum than that he played so well upon".[8]
The Paisibles joined James's court in exile at St Germain-en-Laye, but in 1693 returned to England, where Paisible became composer to Prince George of Denmark, the husband of Princess Anne, heir to the throne.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Pepys, 9.24
- ^ Olive Baldwin and Thelma Wilson, Davis [Davies; married name Paisible], Mary [Moll] (c.1651–1708), actress and royal mistress in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004)
- ^ Samuel Pepys Diary 1668 - complete
- ^ Samuel Pepys Diary February 1669
- ^ The Mistresses of Charles II: by Brenda Ralph Lewis at Britannia.com
- ^ The Mistresses of Charles II: by Brenda Ralph Lewis at Britannia.com
- ^ a b c d e f 'St James's Square: Army and Navy Club', in Survey of London, volumes 29 and 30 (St James Westminster, Part 1 (1960) pp. 180-186, online at St James's Square: Army and Navy Club at british-history.ac.uk(accessed 18 January 2008)
- ^ Etherege, Sir George, Letters of Sir George Etherege, ed. Bracher, p. 118
- ^ Lasocki, David, Paisible, James [Jacques] (c.1656–1721), composer and recorder player in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (OUP, 2004)
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