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Moll Davies

Female Abt 1648 - 1708  (60 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Moll Davies 
    Birth Abt 1648  Westminster Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Death 1708 
    Person ID I73791  Geneagraphie
    Links To This person is also Moll Davies at Wikipedia 
    Last Modified 15 Jan 2010 

    Father Earl Thomas Howard,   b. 1619   d. 12 Apr 1706 (Age 87 years) 
    Family ID F297466  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 King Charles II Stuart,   b. 29 May 1630, St. James Palace, London Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 6 Feb 1685, Whitehall, Westminster, London Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 54 years) 
    Children 
    +1. Mary Tudor,   b. 16 Oct 1673   d. 1726 (Age 52 years)
    Family ID F29916  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 15 Jan 2010 

    Family 2 James Paisible,   b. Abt 1656   d. 1721 (Age 65 years) 
    Marriage Dec 1686 
    Family ID F297467  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 15 Jan 2010 

  • Photos Photos (Log in)Photos (Log in)

  • Notes 
    • was said by Samuel Pepys , the famous diarist , to be "a bastard of Collonell Howard, my Lord Barkeshire" - probably meaning Thomas Howard, third Earl of Berkshire .
      During the early 1660s she was an actress in the 'Duke's Theatre Company' and boarded with the company's manager, Sir William Davenant .
      She became a popular singer , dancer and comedian , but the wife of Pepys called her "the most impertinent slut in the world".

      Davis met King Charles II in a theatre or coffee-house in about 1667.
      She flaunted the wealth she acquired from her association with Charles, and gained a reputation for vulgarity and greed. She showed off her "mighty pretty fine coach" ( Pepys :) and a ring worth £600, in those days a vast sum. ]
      Davis gave up the stage in 1668 and in 1669 had a daughter by Charles, Lady Mary Tudor , who became famous in her own right. Later, Charles dismissed Davis, possibly due to some chicanery by Nell Gwynne , a major rival for the King's affections. Davis did not leave empty-handed however: Charles awarded her an annual pension for life of £1,000.

      In October 1673, Davis bought a new house in St James's Square from trustees for Edward Shaw, paying £1800. 'Madam Davis' first appears in the ratebook for the year 1675 and last appears in 1687. This house (which was surveyed by John Soane in 1799) was almost square and had three storeys, each with four evenly-spaced windows, all dressed with a wide architrave and cornice. The staircase hall was south of a large room in front, and two smaller rooms and a secondary staircase at the rear. There was a massive cross-wall, containing the fireplaces of the back rooms. It would now have been Number 22, St James's Square, if it had survived. It was demolished in 1847 to make way for a new club house for the Army and Navy Club , having survived longer than any other of the other original houses in the square.

      In December 1686, Davis married the French musician and composer James Paisible (c. 1656-1721), a member of James II 's private musick.
      Sir George Etherege wrote scornfully of the marriage: "Mrs Davies has given proof of the great passion she always had for music, and Monsieur Peasible has another bass to thrum than that he played so well upon".
      The Paisibles joined James's court in exile at St Germain-en-Laye , but in 1693 returned to England, where Paisible became composer to Prince George of Denmark, the husband of Princess Anne , heir to the throne



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