Mary Hodgson

Mary Hodgson (baptised 1673 – 1719) was an English soprano. Life She was baptised on Boxing Day in 1673. Her mother is not known but her father is thought to be the dancing teacher Benjamin Dyer. She was known as Mrs Dyer when she first appeared on stage in the premier of Purcell’s The Fairy-Queen at London's Dorset Garden Theatre. After two weeks she married a fellow actor named John Hodgson at St Dunstan's, Stepney and this confused the press as she was reported by some as Mrs Dyer and others as Mary Hudson. She was a member of the United Theatre Company and she was appearing in plays. In 1693 Henry Purcell's Diocletian was revived and Hodgson was one of the singers. In 1695 some top actors started a new group and they had Thomas Betterton as their leader at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. They had left the United Theatre Company.