Davison, Maria Rebecca

1783

1858

Born about 1783, probably in Liverpool, the daughter of strolling actors named Duncan, she played children’s parts in the provinces and eventually engaged with Tate Wilkinson on the York circuit. In 1804 she came to Drury Lane, where she made her debut on 8 October as Lady Teazle in “The School for Scandal” and followed with roles like Rosalind in “As You Like It”, Sylvia in “The Recruiting Officer”, Miranda in “The Busy Body” and Letitia in “The Belle’s Stratagem”. On 31 January 1805 she created the role of Julianna in “The Honeymoon”, a character she remained closely associated with and in which Singleton pictured her (G0147). She married James Davison on 31 October 1812, and her name subsequently appeared in the bills as Mrs Davison. She remained at Drury Lane most of her career, eventually playing more elderly characters like Mrs Subtle in “Paul Pry”. She seems to have left Drury Lane in 1829 and lived many years in retirement until her death in Brompton on 30 May 1858. Tall in stature and ‘strongly formed,’ she had a fine voice. She was excellent in such roles as Lady Teazle, Beatrice and Lady Townly and is said to have had no rival as Julianna in “The Honeymoon”. Leigh Hunt wrote many pages about her in his “Critical Essays” (1807) and claimed she was the ‘best lady our comic stage possesses.’