Eliza Farren, countess of Derby, an English actress, born in Liverpool in 1759, died April 23, 1829. Her father, a native of Cork, who was successively a surgeon, an apothecary, and an actor, left his family in great indigence. Eliza made her debut in Liverpool in 1773, and in London in 1777, where she played successively at the Haymarket, Covent Garden, and Drury Lane. Although a very graceful and lively actress, she owed her reputation chiefly to her remarkable beauty, which received the homage of the most illustrious men of the time. She was esteemed as much for her virtues as her beauty, and on May 1, 1797, became the wife of the 12th earl of Derby, then a widower.