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Readers of the Illustrated London News in 1882 learned that '[a] few weeks ago, Mr. Henry Irving1 and Mr. J. L. Toole2 took the train down to Feltham, in Middlesex, on the invitation of a venerable lady who, living unknown and in complete retirement, was still the oldest living actress in England'.3 The 'oldest living actress' was Frances Maria Kelly, born in 1790. Irving, Toole, and Charles Kent4 travelled to her home with news that 'leading actors' had been successful in petitioning Prime Minister William Gladstone for a grant on her behalf, at age ninety-two. Unfortunately, she received ?150 'only very shortly before her death' on 6 December 1882, with the result that the money 'was used to cover the expenses of the funeral and erect a memorial over her grave'.5
The Illustrated. London News article 'Miss Fanny Kelly' continued with a review of Miss Kelly's highly successful career as a London actress, followed by a briefer account of her remarkable project to build her own theatre and then establish and operate Britain's first dramatic school, funded, in part, by tuition. This article examines the rise and fall of Dickens's business and philanthropic relationships with Miss Kelly, including financial support crucial to the ongoing operation of her ill-fated Theatre and Dramatic School.
How and when did Miss Kelly come to the attention of Dickens? Miss Kelly's professional training and career commenced at age seven at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, which remained her primary theatrical affiliation until her retirement in 1835.6 Her career overlapped with Dickens's interest in London theatre, beginning with his being 'very fond of theatricals' while employed as a clerk for London solicitors Ellis and Blackmore during 1827-28. More specifically, he 'frequently accompanied a fellow clerk [. . .] to a penny theatre in or near the Strand'.7
If performances at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (along with the two other theatres licensed for spoken drama, Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and Theatre Royal Haymarket8) were beyond Dickens's means at ages 15-16, he remedied this situation in 1829. As he explained in his autobiographical fragment, 'This was at the time when I was at Doctors' Commons as a shorthand writer for the proctors. It wasn't a very good living (though not a very bad...