Born as Elizabeth Barton to a publican in York, she married the actor William Hopkins in 1753. and he introduced her to the stage.
She then went to Dublin to perform at the Smock Alley Theatre and elsewhere, although she was at one point dismissed by the company by Thomas Sheridan.
[1] When her husband was appointed as prompter at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London she joined the company there, making her first appearance there in 1761.
For several decades she was an integral part of the Drury Lane company, occasionally appearing elsewhere in the summer including at Richmond and the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
She transitioned in the 1780s from the younger, tragic roles she had played to older character parts such as dowagers[2] Her final appearance was at the Haymarket in 1796.