Nisbett, Louisa Cranstoun (1812–1858)
Nisbett, Louisa Cranstoun (1812–1858)
English actress. Name variations: Miss Mordaunt. Born in 1812; died on January 15, 1858; daughter of Frederick Hayes Macnamara (an actor whose stage name was Mordaunt); married Captain John Alexander Nisbett, in 1831 (killed 1831); married Sir William Boothby, Bart., in 1844 (died 1846).
Louisa Cranstoun Nisbett was born in 1812, the daughter of Frederick Hayes Macnamara, an actor who used the stage name Mordaunt. As Miss Mordaunt, she had considerable experience, especially in Shakespearean leading roles, before her first London appearance in 1829 at Drury Lane as Widow Cheerly in Andrew Cherry's Soldier's Daughter. Her beauty and zest made her an immediate favorite in a large number of comedy parts, until she married Captain John Alexander Nisbett in 1831 and retired. Her husband, however, was killed the same year in a fall from his horse, and she was compelled to return to the stage in 1832.
Nisbett was the original Lady Gay Spanker of London Assurance (1841). In 1844, she gave up the stage once more to marry Sir William Boothby, Bart. Two years later, he died and Nisbett was back on stage as Lady Teazle in Sheridan's School for Scandal. She also appeared as Portia, Constantine in The Love Chase, and Helen and Julia in The Hunchback. It was as Lady Teazle that she made her final appearance in 1851. She died on January 15, 1858.