Indeed, this part is not invariably
assumed by "leading ladies;" it has occasionally devolved upon the
_seconda donna_ of the company. And in a representation of "Othello"
on February 6th, 1669, at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane (to which
establishment Killigrew and his troop had removed from Vere Street in
April, 1663), it is certain, on the evidence of Downes's "Roscius
Anglicanus," that a Mrs. Hughes played the part of Desdemona to the
Othello of Burt, the Iago of Mohun, and the Cassio of Hart. Now, was
this Mrs. Hughes, who had been a member of Killigrew's company from
the first, the Desdemona on whose behalf, nine years before, Mr.
Thomas Jordan wrote his apologetic prologue? It seems not unlikely. At
the same time it must be stated that there are other claimants to the
distinction. Tradition long pointed to Mrs. Betterton, the wife of the
famous tragedian, as the first woman who ever appeared on the English
stage. She was originally known as Mrs. Saunderson--the title of
Mistress being applied alike to maidens and matrons at the time of the
Restoration--and married her illustrious husband about the year 1663.
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