NORSA, HANNAH

NORSA, HANNAH (d. 1784), English actress. The daughter of an Italian Jew from Mantua, who kept The Punch-Bowl tavern in Drury Lane, she went onto the stage and played the part of Polly Peachum in the 1732 production of The Beggar's Opera with great success. She subsequently became mistress of the Earl of Orford. Her sister Maria, mistress of the latter's brother, Sir Edward Walpole, is believed to have been the mother of Maria, countess of Waldegrave, whose second husband was the duke of Gloucester, brother of King George III. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: ODNB online.