Dictionary of National Biography, 1901 supplement/Leclercq, Carlotta
LECLERCQ, CARLOTTA (1840?–1893) actress, elder daughter of Charles Leclercq, actor and pantomimist, was born in London about 1840. A brother Charles (d. 20 Sept. 1894) was a member of Daly's company, and well known both in London and New York. Other members of the family were connected with the stage. Her sister Rose is noticed below.
Carlotta acted at the Princess's as a child. She was in 1853 Maddalina in 'Marco Spada,' and in the following years played Marguerite in 'Faust and Marguerite,' Elvira in the 'Muleteer of Toledo,' with other parts; was Ariel in the 'Tempest,' Nerissa in the 'Merchant of Venice,' Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page in the 'Merry Wives of Windsor,' Rosalind, &c. Her original parts included Diana in 'Don't Judge by Appearances,' and Mrs. Savage in Brougham's 'Playing with Fire.' With Charles Albert Fechter [q. v.] at the Lyceum she played Zillah in the 'Duke's Motto,' Madame de Pompadour in the 'King's Butterfly,' Lucy Ashton in the 'Master of Ravenswood,' Ophelia and Pauline Deschappelles. With him at the Adelphi she was Mercedes in 'Monte Cristo' and Emily Milburn in 'Black and White.' She accompanied Fechter to America, returned in 1877, and married John Nelson, an actor. She played with her husband principally in the country until his death on 25 July 1879. Thenceforward she was rarely seen in London. She died in August 1893. Her younger sister, Rose Leclerq (1845?–1899), was born in Liverpool about 1845, and was on 28 Sept. 1861 at the Princess's the first Mrs. Waverley in 'Playing with Fire.' She was at Drury Lane the original Mary Vance in Mr. Burnand's 'Deal Boatman,' and played Astarte in 'Manfred' (10 Oct. 1863). At the Princess's (August 1868) she was Eliza in 'After Dark,' and at the Adelphi Kate Jessop in 'Lost at Sea.' She was Desdemona to the Othello of Phelps, was an admirable Mrs. Page, and was at Drury Lane the first Clara Ffolliott in the 'Shaughraun.' At the Vaudeville she was Sophia in an adaptation of 'Tom Jones,' at the Haymarket was Marie Lezinski in the 'Pompadour,' Lady Staunton in 'Captain Swift,' and Madame Fourcanard in 'Esther Sandray,' at the Garrick the Queen in 'La Tosca,' and at the Strand La Faneuse in the 'Illusion' of her brother Pierre. She was the original Evelina Foster in 'Beau Austin,' Lady Dawtry in the 'Dancing Girl,' Marchioness in the 'Amazons,' Lady Ringstead in 'The Princess and the Butterfly,' Mrs. Fretwell in 'Sowing the Wind,' and Lady Wargrave in the 'New Woman.' Her last original part was Mrs. Beechinor in Mr. H. A. Jones's 'Manœuvres of Jane,' produced at the Haymarket on 29 Oct. 1898. She played this character on 25 March 1899, and died on 2 April. Both the Leclercqs developed into good actresses. 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. By her husband, Mr. Fuller, she was the mother of the actor, Mr. Fuller Mellish.
[Personal recollections; Pascoe's Dramatic List; Dramatic Peerage; Scott and Howard's Blanchard; Hollingshead's Gaiety Chronicles; Cook's Nights at the Play; Athenæum, Era, Sunday Times, and Era Almanack, various years.]