Frances Maria Kelly, also known as Fanny, was an English actress and singer. She is most well known for her acting at the Drury Lane Theatre and her opening of the Royalty Theatre and Dramatic School, known as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School, in 1840, for the training of young women. Prior to this, in 1833 Kelly managed the Royal Strand Theatre where she operated a dramatic school, the earliest record of a drama school in England.
Parents
Frances Maria Kelly was the daughter of Mark Kelly and Mary Singleton. Mr. Kelly was the master of ceremonies at Dublin Castle and a minor actor. Frances was the niece of the tenor Michael Kelly, who she worked with starting at the age of seven. Her father acquired a lot of debt and he deserted both Fanny and her mother in 1795. Despite this, Fanny would support him financially until his death on 4 April 1833. Her mother, Mary Kelly, died on 1 August 1827.
On 16 January 1798, at the age of seven, Kelly made her first appearance at the Drury Lane Theatre in her uncle Michael Kelly’s opera, Bluebeard. A year later she joined the company as a chorister at Drury Lane. Whilst still a chorister, she appeared as Prince Arthur in King John and the Duke of York in Richard III. Kelly acted at the theatre from 1798 until a fire there on 9 February 1809. The reconstructed Theatre was not reopened until October 1812, after which Kelly performed there for many more years. She was seen at Drury Lane for the last time on 8 June 1835.
Royal Strand Theatre
In 1833 Kelly established a drama school at the Royal Strand Theatre, which is the oldest drama school in England on record. The income she received from pupils at the school boosted the earnings she obtained from performing her one woman show.
Royalty and The Dramatic School
After leaving the Drury Lane Theatre, Kelly opened a dramatic school for training young women using £20,000 of her own money. She continued to give "entertainments" occasionally when she would switch between up to fourteen different characters. She built a theatre onto the back of her house which she originally named Miss Kelly’s Theatre and then changed the name to The Royalty. The Royalty opened on 24 May 1840 and was used by the first amateur company in the United Kingdom.
Stalking
Kelly received random offers of marriage from George Barnett who was infatuated with her but disapproved of the parts that she was playing. He was annoyed that she was appearing as a man in a "breeches role". Barnett bought a ticket to see her appear in Modern Antiques, or the Merry Mourners at Covent Garden on 16 February 1816, where he fired a pistol. Kelly was unhurt but the bullet fell into the lap of a woman named Mary Lamb. Barnett was later declared insane when he appeared in court. Mary's brother, Charles Lamb, who had been there on the night of the shooting, later wrote a sonnet about her and proposed marriage to Kelly. She refused him too.
Final years
After many years of working at the Royalty Theatre and Dramatic School as well as continuing to give Shakespearian readings, Kelly fell into debt from legal disputes over the theatre. She fought for many years to gain the money back. She was given a royal grant shortly before her death on 6 December 1882. Kelly was buried in Brompton Cemetery.
