Helena S. Faucit
English Actress
1817 – 1898 A.D.

Helena Saville Faucit, an English actress, daughter of John Saville Faucit, an actor, born in London.

Her first appearance was in 1836 at Covent Garden as Julia in The Hunchback, and she was at once successful. For fifteen years she stood first among the actresses of her time, excelling in the plays of Shakespeare, Browning and Bulwer-Lytton.

In 1851 she was married to Mr. (afterward Sir) Theodore Martin, and left the stage, though appearing at intervals for charitable purposes.

She published a volume of delightful studies, entitled: On Some of Shakespeare’s Female Characters (1885). There is a tablet to her in the Shakespeare Memorial at Stratford-on-Avon with a portrait figure, and the marble pulpit in the church, with her portrait as Saint Helena, was given in her memory by her husband.

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Reference: Famous Women; An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women By Joseph Adelman. Copyright, 1926 by Ellis M. Lonow Company.