Harriet Esten

Harriet Pye Esten or Harriet Pye Scott-Waring born Harriet Pye Bennett (1760s? – 1865) was an English actress, and briefly a theatre manager. Life Esten was born in Tooting in or around the 1760s. She was the daughter of housekeeper Anna Maria Bennett and her employer and lover Admiral Sir Thomas Pye. In 1784 she married James Esten who was in the navy. Esten was taught to act by her mother, who assisted her daughter throughout her career. She initially appeared in Bath and Bristol before moving on to appear at the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. Whilst she was there in 1789 she and her mother negotiated a formal separation with James Esten. Her mother, who was a successful novelist, paid off her husband's debts in exchange for his agreement. The following year she made her first appearance on the London stage at Covent Garden on 20 October. She appeared as Rosalind in "As You Like It", a role she had portrayed successfully in York. She appeared in London for a year at her own expense but after that she was engaged at £11 a week for a further three years.