Ellen Chaplin [married name Fitzwilliam] (1822–1880), was an actress.

The wife of Edward Francis Fitzwilliam

Edward Francis Fitzwilliam

Edward Francis Fitzwilliam was an English composer and music director.Fitzwilliam, born at Deal, Kent on 2 August 1824, was the son of Edward Fitzwilliam, an actor, by his wife, Fanny Elizabeth Fitzwilliam, actress....

, whom she married on 31 December 1853, was the eldest daughter of Thomas Acton Chaplin who died in November 1859.

She made her first appearance in London at the Adelphi Theatre

Adelphi Theatre

The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...

 on 7 October 1841, when she played Wilhelm in the aquatic spectacle Die Hexen am Rhein. For 22 years she was a prominent member of the Haymarket company under the management of J. B. Buckstone

John Baldwin Buckstone

John Baldwin Buckstone was an English actor, playwright and comedian who wrote 150 plays, the first of which was produced in 1826....

. Leaving England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 for Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 in 1877 she soon became a great favourite in the colonies. After a twelve months' engagement with Mr. Lewis of the Academy of Music, Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, she joined the Lingard company. She was taken ill in Murrundi

Blanchetown, South Australia

Blanchetown is a small township in South Australia, on the bank of the Murray River, 130 km northeast of Adelaide.  The Blanchetown Bridge is the western-most of the four crossings of the Sturt Highway over the Murray River.  During the nineteenth century it was an important...

, New South Wales, but was able to proceed to New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, and acted at Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, where she died from acute inflammation

Inflammation

Inflammation is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process...

on 19 October 1880, aged 58 (Era, 26 December 1880, p. 4; Theatrical Times, 18 November 1848, p. 439, with portrait).