Mabel Hardcastle (née Grimshaw) was an important figure in the history of Weatherfield.
Illegitimately born to a chambermaid called Beatrice, Mabel was left in the care of newlyweds Archie and Agnes Grimshaw, the latter of whom had been in service with Beatrice at a big house in Hackney, and raised in an East London slum dwelling. At twelve, Mabel was told the truth about her parentage by Agnes and left home to take over Agnes' sister's lodging at the Bluebell Tavern in Poplar. Landlord Charles Deakin gave her a job as a skivvy and, thinking her a talented singer, invited her on stage where she proved an immediate hit with the audience. She struck up a friendship with Bobby Tinker and the pair often performed together at a music shop in Bishopgate. Louis Rambaud, owner of the Coronet Theatre, also took an interest in Mabel's voice and signed her up straight away. She performed one and only performance under her birth name before being persuaded by Rambaud to go by the stage name of Rosa Hanbury.
As Rosa, Mabel entertained large audiences in London's music halls in the 1890s, and was rumoured to have played for royalty. She would continue to collaborate with Bobby and his composition of "If Only You Could Love a Girl Like Me (I Would Love a Boy Like You)", which he dedicated to her, became the most requested song in her repertoire. Mabel's association with Weatherfield began with Sir Humphrey Swinton's correspondence, a wealthy landowner whose family wielded considerable power and wealth in Manchester. Sir Humphrey was trapped in a loveless marriage to a mentally ill woman called Helen, he fell for Mabel and set her up as his mistress in a house in Oakhill. After Helen's death, and Sir Humphrey's own from a heart attack in 1902, Mabel inherited his wealth and saw his plans for Mawdsley Street and Albert Street (later renamed Coronation Street) to completion. Prior to his death, Swinton had renamed an adjoining street from Commercial Lane to Rosamund Street after her.
The new houses were positioned opposite Hardcastle's Mill in Victoria Street, and in the process of working on the new properties Mabel formed a close relationship with Charles Hardcastle. The pair married in a lavish ceremony at St. Mary's Church in 1904. In April 1926, Mabel came out of retirement as Rosa Hanbury to perform in the Rovers Return in celebration of Princess Elizabeth of York. That same year, Charles Hardcastle died, leaving his inheritance to Mabel, although the family suffered considerable financial losses during the Depression including the closure of the mill in 1931.
Mabel's Swinton inheritance included all the houses in Coronation and Mawdsley Streets except for The Rover's Return and the Corner Shop. She never forgot her past and in 1902, 13 Coronation Street was let rent-free to Lizzie and Enid Harrison, who Mabel knew from her days in the London music halls.
She passed away in 1947 and, while her death was announced in the Weatherfield Gazette, it is unlikely many people were aware of who she was or the vital role she played in the creation of the town which she had come to regard as the home she never had as a child.
Mabel's legacy in Weatherfield today is Rosamund Street, which is named after her.
- Mabel first appeared in Daran Little and Bill Hill's "Weatherfield Life", published in 1992. Other information is derived from Little's follow-up book, "Around the Coronation Street Houses".