Emily on Nell Gwyn

Nell Gwyn (Emily Masterson)

Nell Gwyn was born in London(supposedly) on February 2^nd, 1650 and died in London as well on November 14^th, 1687. Different websites say that she was born in different areas. London, Oxford, and Hereford are all claim to be the city she was born in, so nobody really knows where she was born for sure. She was the daughter of Thomas and Ellen Gwyn. Her name is spelled differently on different websites. Some spell it Gwyn, some spell it Gwynne, and some spell it Gwynn. Her father was not there for her all the time. He was a soldier ruined by the Civil War who died in a prison in Oxford when Nell Gwyn was a little girl. She had a sister named Rose who was about two years older than her. Nell, Rose, and Ellen Gwyn all sold vegetables, fish, and oysters to make a living. Her mother was an alcoholic. Rose, her sister, was arrested and sent to prison for burglary in 1663. Nell Gwyn’s original name was Eleanor Gwyn. She was an actress, as well as the mistress of King Charles II. King Charles II had 13 wives in his lifetime, but Gwyn was the least greedy of them all. She was one of England’s best-known royal mistresses because she rose from such low origins as her parents were not wealthy people. In her early teens, Nell Gwyn was engaged to sell oranges at the King’s Theatre. Soon, she caught the eye of a merchant named John Duncan, who kept her as his mistress. She became an actress and excelled in comedy. Her natural wit and complete lack of self-consciousness caught the eye of the actor Charles Hart and others, and Dryden wrote plays to exploit her talents as a comic actress. She also had a really good voice. In 1665, there was an outbreak of the Great Plague, and theatres were closed for a year. In 1666, the Great Fire destroyed most of Old London, and theatres were closed again. She was the mistress of Charles II from approximately 1669 to his death in 1685. She had two sons with Charles II. On his deathbed, Charles II asked that Nell Gwyn was well taken care of. Gwyn died of a stroke on November 14^th, 1687.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Nell Gwyn.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia

Britannica, Inc., 29 Jan. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Nell-Gwyn-English-actress.

"Gwynn, Nell (1650–1687).". “Gwynn, Nell (1650–1687).” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Ed,

Encyclopedia.com, 2019, www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/gwynn-nell-1650-1687.

“Nell Gwyn - Mistress of King Charles II.” Historic UK,

 www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Nell-Gwyn-Gwynne/.

“Nell Gwynne.” Charles II., www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/stuart_19.html.