 By chance, Mr. Rich heard her reciting passages from "Othello" one day while playing with his daughters.Impressed, he engaged her as a performer and made her professional debut on 22 November 1744, aged thirteen playing Monimia in "The Orphan" .Prior to her professional debut, she had already performed in Covent Garden in one of her very first roles, a non-speaking part as the servant to Colombine in the Harlequin Barber in 1741.