Margaret Farrell

Margaret Kennedy
Kennedy as Captain Macheath in the 1777 London production of The Beggar's Opera
Born	Margaret Doyle
Died	(1793-01-23)23 January 1793 Bayswater, London
Other names	Margaret Farrell
Occupation	Contralto singer Actress
Years active	1776–1790

Margaret Kennedy (died 23 January 1793) was a contralto singer and actress. She was best known for her performances in male roles, especially in the operas of Thomas Arne.

Kennedy was born with the name Margaret Doyle, but the place and date of her birth are not known. She had Irish ancestry, and she may have been born in Ireland or possibly in London.

Kennedy married a Mr. Farrell in August 1774, before she made her singing debut, and she appeared under the name "Mrs Farrell" in her early career. She may have studied music with Gaetano Quilici. She was discovered by Thomas Arne while performing as a singer at an inn in St Giles, London. She studied under Arne and sang at the Haymarket Theatre in three concerts organised by Arne for his pupils in 1775, appearing in another pupils' concert in early 1776. She appeared in Arne's Comus at Covent Garden in March 1776.

She was a principal singer at the Royal Opera House from 6 December 1776 in Arne's opera Caractacus. Her performances were praised by The Morning Post, particularly a duet with Leoni. Her contralto pitch and relatively heavy build suited her for breeches roles, and she played the title role in Arne's Artaxerxes on 25 January 1777, Belford in Thomas Hull's Love Finds the Way, Colin in Charles Dibdin's Rose and Colin, and most notably Captain Macheath in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera where in 1777 she was the first person to sing "A-Hunting We Will Go", a song written by Arne for that performance. Her debut performance in The Beggar's Opera was greeted by protests because a woman was playing the role of a lead character.