A History of Liverpool Thespians - Rose Leclercq

Rose Leclercq was born on the 2nd of February 1843 in Liverpool, as Rose Clark, one of four daughters of Charles Clark and his wife, Margaret, née Burnet. Becoming an actress, she is possibly best known for creating the role of Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde"s 'The Importance of Being Earnest' in 1895. As a pantomimist and ballet master, her father performed under the stage name of Charles Leclercq and his two daughters, who followed him into the theatrical profession, Rose, and her elder sister Carlotta, both adopted his stage surname. With the family moving to London soon after her birth, on her sixth birthday Rose played Ceres in the masque scene of 'The Tempest' at Windsor Castle. She made her debut at the Princess's Theatre in London on the 26th of June 1854, as premiere danscuse in 'The Halt of the Ballet', a divertissement invented and arranged by Oscar Byrne. In October 1860 she appeared in London in Dion Boucicault's 'The Corsican Brothers' and a year later played Desdemona to Charles Albert Fechter's 'Othello'. In 1863 she was the original Mary Vance in F.C.Burnand's 'The Deal' and Astarte in Byron's 'Manfred'. Then in April 1864 Rose married Charles Perry Fuller, a horse dealer, with whom she had a son, the actor Fuller Mellish but they divorced in 1867.

As Lady Wargrave in 'The New Woman'

In 1868 Rose played Eliza in Boucicault's 'After Dark' and Kate Jessop in his 'Lost at Sea' and then in 1875 was the first Clara Ffolliott in 'The Shaughraun'. Over the next twenty years she appeared in new and classic roles, the latter including Olivia in 'Twelfth Night' with Henry Irving and Ellen Terry. Her roles in new plays included Marie Leczinska in West G Wills's 'The Pompadour' (1888), and Lady Wargrave in Sydney Grundy's 'The New Woman' towards the end of 1894. Also, playing The Duchess of Newhaven on the 10th of May 1894 in 'A Society Butterfly', The Stage reported, "The success of the evening fell to the share of Miss Rose Leclercq, whose Duchess was a delightfully good impersonation. It was not the fault of the actress that the character was somewhat exaggerated by its authors, but to her credit that she did so well with her opportunities." In 1895 she created the role of Lady Bracknell in 'The Importance of Being Earnest' with the critics of The Times and The Observer remarking on how she brought out the cynicism of the character. 

Her last role was with Cyril Maude and Winifred Emery at the Haymarket where she played Mrs Beechinor in H A Jones's 'The Manoeuvres of Jane' from October 1898 to March the following year, when she was taken ill. This resulted in Rose dying from influenza and bronchial pneumonia at her home in Chelsea on the 2nd of April 1899 at the age of 56. She is buried with her sister Carlotta at Kensal Green Cemetry, London.

In a biographical article written two years after her death the critic Joseph Knight wrote, "Rose Leclercq in her later days had a matchless delivery, and was the best, and almost the only, representative of the grand style in comedy." 

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/04/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-ronald.html