Moll Davis

Also known as Mary Davis. Famous actress, singer, dancer and comedian during the Restoration. One of the many royal mistresses of Charles II. She was born in 1648 and died in 1708.

Career:

Moll Davis can be considered "one of a bevy of obscure young women who took advantage of the new opportunities open to women as actresses on the Restoration stage (before the Civil War, all female parts had been played by boys)" (Hartley 131). She started her career as a young child [how old was she?]. In February 1662 she did her first performance in William Davenant´s The Law against Lovers as the character Viola. In 1667 she played the role of Celania in Davenant´s The Rivals and performed the song "My Lodging It Is on the Cold Ground" (131). Moll had a tense relationship with Nell Gwyn, another well-known actress and lover of the king.

Family and Private Life:

Moll Davis is the daughter of Thomas Howard, the Earl of Berkshire (Hartley 131). In May 1668 Davis gave up her profession and gave birth to her daughter Lady Mary Tudor, the biological child of Charles II (Melville 81). She received 1000 pounds annually from the king as a support measure (82). Charles II also gifted her an expensive ring (Hartley 131) as well as a house to live in on the north side of Pall Mall and later in 79 Pall Mall, addresses close to the palace and St. James's Park (Jordan and Walsh ch. 13). In 1686 Moll Davis married James Paisible, a famous French musician and composer (Hartley 131).

Bibliography

Hartley, Cathy. A Historical Dictionary of British Women. Taylor & Francis, 2013.

Melville, Lewis. Nell Gwyn: The Story of Her Life. Hutchinson, 1923.

Walsh, Michael, and Jordan, Don. The King's Bed: Sex, Power and the Court of Charles II. Little, Brown Book Group, 2015.

Wilson, John Harold. All the King´s Ladies: Actresses of the Restoration. University of Chicago Press, 1958.

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