Frances Maria Kelly

Frances Maria Kelly (15 October 1790, Brighton – 6 December 1882), also known as Fanny, was an English actress and singer. She is best known for her acting at the Drury Lane Theatre in London's West End and her opening of the Royalty Theatre and Dramatic School in Soho, known as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School, in 1840, for the training of young women. Prior to this, in 1833 Kelly managed the Royal Strand Theatre in Westminster, where she operated a dramatic school, the earliest record of a drama school in England.