Sarah Fairbrother (calling herself Louisa and known from 1859 as Mrs FitzGeorge; 31 October 1814 – 12 January 1890) was an English actress and the mistress of Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, a male-line grandson of George III. As the couple married in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act 1772, their marriage was not recognised under the law.
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Early life
Sarah Fairbrother was born in James Street, Westminster, 31 October 1814, and baptised at St George's, Hanover Square, 8 October 1817. The genealogist Anthony J. Camp cites her baptismal record in identifying her parents as John Fairbrother, a servant in Westminster, and Mary (whose maiden name may have been Phillips, but Camp acknowledges the possibility of error owing to the frequency of the surname). Her father was described as a servant in 1813 and 1817, but as a labourer in 1824. His family had no known connection with Robert Fairbrother, the prompter at Drury Lane Theatre, or with the Fairbrother family of printers in Bow Street, Covent Garden, as is frequently stated.
Stage career
Sarah first appeared on the stage in ballet at the Kings Theatre, London; she acted Clara in Luke the Labourer at the Caledonian Theatre, Edinburgh, 3 February 1827; Zephyr in Oberon at the same theatre, 26 August 1827; danced at Covent Garden Theatre 1830–35 and 1837–43; danced at Surrey Theatre, 1832–34; Columbine in pantomime of Valkyrie, 26 December 1832; acted and danced at Drury Lane Theatre, January 1836 to 1837; Columbine in pantomime of Harlequin and Old Gammer Gurton, 26 December 1836; played Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing at Drury Lane, 24 February 1843; member of Lyceum Theatre Company, 8 April 1844 to 11 June 1847 and 18 October 1847; acted Transimenus in Planche's The Golden Branch, 3 January 1848; and was 'considered the most lovely woman of her time'.