Hannah Norsa

Hannah Norsa (first name sometimes spelt Hanna; c. 1712 – 28 August 1784) was an English Jewish actress and singer, who achieved fame appearing in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera in 1732 and became the mistress of Robert Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford.

In 1733 she sang the part of Deidamia in Gay's posthumously performed ballad opera Achilles.

She also undertook non-singing roles in plays including George Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem and The Orphan by Thomas Otway.

"[2] Robert's marriage had broken up in a formal separation, and Norsa went to live with him, moving (when he succeeded to the peerage as Earl of Orford in 1745) to Houghton Hall in Norfolk.

[3] The music historian David Conway considers Norsa's story "an archetypal tale of how stage stardom might lead to social transformation.