Margaret Cheer

Margaret Cheer (died February 15, 1800, in Old Harbour, Jamaica) was an English-born actress who built her career in colonial America and became one of the first generation of pioneer actresses on the North American stage. She performed under the name Miss Cheer and was engaged by the Old American Company, the first permanent theater company in America.

Cheer joined the company in 1764 and made her debut that same year in Charleston, South Carolina. She brought a repertoire of at least 35 contemporary roles to the company, which made her a valued member from the outset. Among her strengths were Shakespearean heroines, including Juliet, Ophelia, and Lady Macbeth. Over time she rose to become a leading member of the company, gradually taking over the principal female roles previously held by Sarah Hallam Douglass. Her beauty, voice, and dramatic ability earned her considerable admiration.

Her Broadway appearances in 1767 included productions of The Merchant of Venice, the comedy The Taming of the Shrew, and Cymbeline.

In 1769, Cheer married David Carnegie, Lord Rosehill, who was 19 years old at the time and the eldest son of Admiral George Carnegie, 6th Earl of Northesk. Carnegie was already married to Christian Cameron, daughter of Alexander Cameron of Dungallon, whom he had wed in the Scottish Highlands two years earlier, making him a bigamist. Through this marriage Cheer acquired the title Lady Rosehill. Contrary to the expectations of the era, she did not leave the stage following the marriage, though her career grew more irregular afterward, and Nancy Hallam assumed the role of leading lady. She subsequently performed under the stage name Mrs. Long.

Cheer remained irregularly active with the American Company until 1794, with gaps during 1773–74 and 1781–94. During the American Revolutionary War, she was present with the company during their second period in Jamaica from 1775 to 1785. In 1781 she wrote and produced her own farce, titled The West India Lady's Arrival in London, which was performed at the Kingston Theatre. That same year, operating as Mrs. Long, she ran a lodging house in Spanish Town, Jamaica. In 1793 she made an attempt to return to acting, appearing in The Jealous Wife by the elder Colman at the John Street Theatre, though the effort was unsuccessful. She later operated a tavern in Old Harbour, Jamaica, which she managed until her death on February 15, 1800.