Catherine ‘Kitty’ Frances Atkins was born in Scotland on 11 November 1806, the daughter of Charles Atkins, a scene painter.
Catherine first met the actor and theatre manager William Charles Macready (1793-1873) in Glasgow when she was 9-years-old when he scolded her for not knowing her lines. They met again in the summer of 1820 when she supported William on his tour of Scotland, after which William persuaded his father William Macready (1755-1829) to engaged her and her family for his company at Bristol Theatre Royal.
In autumn 1823, William and Catherine became engaged. Because of her young age and social background, William’s sister Letitia suggested that Catherine undertook with her ‘a period of study and improvement’ until their marriage, which took place by licence on 24 June 1824 at St Pancras church, London. William was then aged 31 and Catherine 17, although on the marriage bond she claimed to be over 21.
During the course of their 28-year marriage Catherine and William had ten children:
- Christina (Nina) Letitia Macready (1830-1850)
- William (Willie) Charles Macready (1832-1871)
- Catherine (Katie) Frances Birch Macready (1834-1869)
- Edward Neville Bourne Macready (17 February 1836-1907)
- Harriet Joanna (Joan) Macready (1837-1840)
- Henry Frederic Bulwer Macready (1838-1857)
- Walter Francis Sheil Macready (1840-1853)
- Lydia Jane (Lily) Macready (1842-1858)
- Cecilia Benvenuta Macready (1846-1933)
- Jonathan Forster Christian Horace Macready (1850-1907)
In 1850, William Charles Macready retired from the stage and moved his family to Sherborne in Dorset, where he rented Sherborne House from Lord Digby. On signing the lease in May 1850, William wrote in his diary ‘God grant that it may be for the good and happiness of my beloved wife and children, and that our lives may be fruitful of good and sweet in peace here.’ The following year in September 1851, William was asked to become President of Sherborne’s Literary and Scientific Institute and, having first discussed the matter with Catherine, he accepted the post.
Catherine died on 18 September 1852 at 8 Windsor Terrace, Plymouth, just two years after the birth of her last child, Jonathan. On her death certificate the cause of death was given as ‘Phthisis Pulmonalis, 13 months’. Pulmonary tuberculosis is an infectious disease and was the cause of death of at least four of Catherine and William’s children (Walter, Henry, Katie and William), as well as William’s sister Letitia. Catherine was buried in the Macready family vault at Kensal Green Cemetery.
After Catherine’s death, Charles Dickens wrote to William expressing his condolences, saying ‘I have known her so well – have been so happy in her regard – have been so light-hearted with her – have interchanged so many tender remembrances of you with her when you were far away, and have seen her ever so simply and truly anxious to be worthy of you’.
At the end of March 1860, William left Sherborne House saying it had become ‘mournful to look on the many empty seats around the once crowded table, and life had lost much of its charm in the absence of those whose presence made its happiness.’ However, just a few days later on 3 April 1860, William, then aged 67, was married at Clifton in Bristol to 33-year-old Cecile Louise Frederica Spencer (1826-1908). Cecile was daughter of Henry Spencer (1785-25 July 1852) and Ann Phillis Spencer (née Beechey) (1794-1883) and granddaughter of the artist Sir William Beechey RA (1753-1839). In 1852, Cecile’s parents moved from St Helier to Greenhill in Sherborne, where her father died on 25 July 1852 and was buried in Sherborne Abbey churchyard. The family remained in Sherborne until about 1854, where Cecile became friends with William’s daughter Katie, and her younger brother Alfred Henry Spencer (1837-1857) briefly attended Sherborne School as a Foundationer/day boy.
Rachel Hassall