Adelaide Neilson of Yorkshire, England

London Theatrical and International Stage Success

Aug 21, 2009 Kathleen Airdrie

Adelaide Neilson rose from a life of poverty to become one of the most successful stage actresses in the Victorian era.

Audiences and critics believed that Adelaide Neilson was so outstanding in the role that they named her ‘Shakespeare’s Juliet’.

Childhood Poverty in Leeds, Yorkshire

Born March 3, 1848 in St. Peter's Square, Leeds, Adelaide (Elizabeth Ann Brown) was the daughter of an unwed travelling actress. Her father’s name was never revealed to her. When she was two, her mother married Mr. Bland . In later years in Guiseley, Adelaide did menial chores at home and worked as ‘fuller’ at the Green Bottom Mill.

Eager to learn, she was an excellent student whose eagerness to learn and capacity to memorize was noted by teachers and friends. By age eight, Adelaide had read many of Shakespeare’s works, parts of which she often recited. In retrospect, it seemed that she was destined to become an actress.

She later worked as a nursemaid for a family in Guiseley. Without informing her family, she boarded a train bound for Leeds. Alone in London at the age of sixteen, she worked as a seamstress and went to a nearby theatre whenever possible.

London Theatre Training

When she approached the theatre manager for work, he quickly hired her as a ballet-girl. Upon learning of her gift of recitation and desire to become an actress, he helped her obtain the training she needed. She lost her Yorkshire accent and mastered seven languages within two years.

At the beginning of her stage career, Elizabeth Ann legally changed her name to Lilian Adelaide Neilson. She married Philip Lee, eldest son of a family in Stoke Bruen, Northamptonshire in 1864. They divorced fourteen years later.

Adelaide Neilson’s Juliet at Royalty Theatre

Her first public performance was as Julia in The Hunchback at the Royal Theatre in Margate (1865) where she received some notice. Later that year, she portrayed Juliet at the Royalty Theatre in London, but gained little attention. This was the role for which she would become famous.

At the Adelphi Theatre in London, she played Gabrielle de Savigny in The Huguenot Captain and the lead role in the drama Victorine. In September 1870, Adelaide played the title role in Andrew Halliday’s drama Amy Robsart at the Royal Theatre, Drury Lane. She received great applause from the audience and high praise from critics for her performance.

Adelaide had not returned to her family home since leaving. When she made her first professional appearance in Leeds, she met with her widowed mother. Soon after, she gave her mother a substantial amount of money to provide a comfortable life.

Critical Acclaim and International Success

According to Charles Eyre Pascoe in his Dramatic Notes, a critic in 1872 delivered high praise for Adelaide Neilson’s portrayal of Juliet. “To say that the potion scene has a passionate intensity and a concentrated power such as no modern representation on the English stage has exhibited, is to do it no more than justice.”

Successful both professionally and financially, Adelaide made several trips to the United States where she received great acclaim. Following a performance in Boston, she received a note of appreciation from the poet Longfellow. With the note were some verses inspired by her acting.

Adelaide constantly added new roles to her repertoire. In 1879, she gave a series of performances in which she acted in Romeo and Juliet and As You Like It on alternate nights. While touring again in the U.S., she expressed her determination to retire and live privately.

In Paris, August 14, 1880, Adelaide Neilson became ill. She died twelve hours later after suffering great agony. Post mortem results showed that several internal problems contributed to her death. She was buried at Brompton Cemetery in London.

It was said that Adelaide Neilson, as Juliet, was “Shakespeare’s woman”, and that she was the peer of all who preceded her in roles that she made her own.

Additional information recently received is included in this article, with thanks.

Sources:

Adelaide Neilson: A Souvenir by Laura Carter Holloway, Published by Funk & Wagnalls 1885
Online Encyclopedia
The Dramatic List: A Record of the Principal Performances of Living Actors and Actresses of the British Stage (1879) by Charles Eyre Pascoe

The copyright of the article Adelaide Neilson of Yorkshire, England in Theatre History is owned by Kathleen Airdrie. Permission to republish Adelaide Neilson of Yorkshire, England in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Adelaide Neilson