Cornelys, Theresa (1723–1797)
Cornelys, Theresa (1723–1797)
British madame. Name variations: Madame Cornelys. Born in Venice in 1723; died in Fleet Prison on August 19, 1797.
At one time Madame Cornelys directed all the theaters in the Austrian Netherlands. As a noted manager of public assemblies at Carlisle House (Soho, London), she organized balls, concerts, and masquerades, and performed as a singer. Cornelys, who also provided beautiful ladies of the night at hefty prices, ran one of the most celebrated "salons" in Europe, attended by royalty and members of Parliament. As a pretext for further investigation, Magistrate Sir John Fielding closed down her house, charging that she had presented dramatic performance without a license. A grand jury later found: "she does keep and maintain a common disorderly house, and does permit and suffer divers, loose and idle persons, as well as men and women, to be and remain during the whole night, rioting and otherwise misbehaving themselves." Ruined, Cornelys sold the Carlisle House furniture for needed cash, fell into obscurity, and, under the name of Mrs. Smith, sold donkey's milk at Knightsbridge for some time before she was sent to debtor's prison in Fleet Street. She died there in 1797.