ASHWELL, LENA ), English actress, was the daughter of Commander Pocock, R.N. In 1896 she married the actor Arthur Playfair, whom she divorced in 1908; later in the latter year she married Dr. (later Sir H.) Simson. In 1895 she played Elaine in Irving's production of King Arthur at the Lyceum and again acted with him in 1903 in Dante. She made her first striking success, however, on the London stage in Mrs. Dane's Defence with Sir Charles Wyndham in 190o, and a few years later her acting in Leah Kleschna confirmed her position as one of the leading actresses in London. In 1907 she started under her own management at the Kingsway theatre. During the war Miss Ash well formed a company for organizing entertainments for soldiers at the front ; after the war she inauguratea'a scheme for bringing drama to the doors of the people through the popular per formances, in public halls and other places, of the "Lena Ashwell Players."