  eleanor "nell" gwyn (2 february 1650&nbsp;â 14 november 1687; also spelled gwynn, gwynne) was a long-time mistress of king charles ii of england and scotland. called "pretty, witty nell" by samuel pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of restoration england and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of cinderella. she was the most famous restoration actress and possessed a prodigious comic talent. gwyn had two sons by king charles: *charles beauclerk (1670â1726), *james beauclerk (1671â1680) the surname of her sons is pronounced 'bo-clare'. charles was created earl of burford and later duke of st. albans. ==early life== the details of nell's background are somewhat obscure. her mother's name was ellen (or a variant) and she was referred to by contemporaries as "old madam", "madam gwyn", and "old ma gwyn". madam gwyn was born, according to a monumental inscription, in the parish of st martin in the fields, london, and is thought to have lived most of her life in the city. she is also believed, by most gwyn biographers, to have been "low-born". her descendent and biographer charles beauclerk calls this conjecture, based solely on what is known of her later life. madam gwyn is sometimes said to have had the maiden surname smith. however, this appears to be derived from a pedigree by anthony wood that shows signs of confusion between different gwyn families and it has not been firmly established.davies, p. 124. nell gwyn is reported in a manuscript of 1688 to have been a daughter of "thos [thomas] guine a capt [captain] of ane antient fammilie in wales", although the reliability of the statement is doubtful as its author does not seem to have hesitated to create or alter details where the facts were unknown or perhaps unremarkable. there is some sug
1650_births 1687_deaths 17th-century_English_actresses Beauclerk_family Child_prostitution Deaths_from_stroke English_stage_actresses House_of_Stuart Mistresses_of_Charles_II_of_England Nell_Gwyn People_from_Hereford People_from_Oxford People_from_Westminster People_from_Windsor,_Berkshire