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Name
Brooks (Mrs)
Birth date
fl.1786
Death date
1794
Biography
She was the daughter of a London merchant named Watson. According to her notice in Thespian Magazine, Miss Watson received a genteel education at a boarding school and in France. At 18 she married a wallpaper manufacturer, whose bankruptcy forced her upon the stage. Announced as a gentlewoman making her first appearance on any stage, she acted Lady Townley in “The Provok’d Husband” at the Haymarket Theatre on 19 July 1786. She was regularly engaged at that theatre in the summers through 1794 and also played at Dublin and Edinburgh. Among her characters were Elvira in “The Spanish Fryar” and Elvira in “A Key to the Lock”, Yarico in “Inkle and Yarico” and Primrose in “The Young Quaker”. She never acted Leonora in “The Revenge” in London, though De Wilde pictured her in that role (G0095) in the painting he provided to be engraved for publication in “Bell’s British Theatre”. She was tall and elegant and modelled her acting upon Elizabeth Farren’s style. Nothing is known of her life after 1794. (BDA)