EDWIN

edwin, john (1749-1790), english actor, was born in london on the 10th of august 1749, the son of a watchmaker. as a youth, he appeared in the provinces, in minor parts; and at bath in 1768 he formed a connexion with a mrs walmsley, a milliner, who bore him a son, but whom he afterwards deserted. his first london appearance was at the haymarket in 1776 as flaw in samuel foote's _the cozeners_, but when george colman took over the theatre he was given better parts and became its leading actor. in 1779 he was at covent garden, and played there or at the haymarket until his death on the 31st of october 1790. ascribed to him are _the last legacy of john edwin_, 1780; _edwin's jests_ and _edwin's pills to purge melancholy_. his son, john edwin (1768-1805), made a first appearance on the stage at the haymarket as hengo in beaumont and fletcher's _bonduca_ in 1778, and from that time acted frequently with his father, and managed the private theatricals organized by his intimate friend lord barrymore at wargrave, berks. in 1791 he married elizabeth rebecca richards, an actress already well known in juvenile parts, and played at the haymarket and elsewhere thereafter with her. he died in dublin on the 22nd of february 1805. his widow joined the drury lane company (then playing, on account of the fire of 1809, at the lyceum), and took all the leading characters in the comedies of the day. she died on the 3rd of august 1854. edwy (eadwig), "the fair" (c. 940-959), king of the english, was the eldest son of king edmund and ælfgifu, and succeeded his uncle eadred in 955, when he was little more than fifteen years old. he was crowned at kingston by archbishop odo, and his troubles began at the coronation feast. he had retired to enjoy the company of the ladies æthelgifu (perhaps his foster-mother) and her daughter ælfgifu, whom the king intended to marry. the nobles resented the king's withdrawal, and he was induced by dunstan and cynesige, bishop of lichfield, to return to the feast. edwy naturally resented this interference, and in 957 dunstan was driven into exile. by the year 956 ælfgifu had become the king's wife, but in 958 archbishop odo of canterbury secured their separation on the ground of their being too closely akin. edwy, to judge from the disproportionately large numbers of charters issued during his reign, seems to have been weakly lavish in the granting of privileges, and soon the chief men of mercia and northumbria were disgusted by his partiality for wessex. the result was that in the year 957 his brother, the ætheling edgar, was chosen as king by the mercians and northumbrians. it is probable that no actual conflict took place, and in 959, on edwy's death, edgar acceded peaceably to the combined kingdoms of wessex, mercia and northumbria. authorities.--_saxon chronicle_ (ed. earle and plummer, oxford), _sub ann._; _memorials of st dunstan_ (ed. stubbs, rolls series); william of malmesbury, _gesta regum_ (ed. stubbs, rolls series); birch, _cartularium saxonicum_, vol. ii. nos. 932-1046; florence of worcester.