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William Bodham Donne
William Bodham Donne (1807–1882) was an English journalist, known also as a librarian and theatrical censor. Early life and career Donne was born 29 July 1807; his grandfather was an eminent surgeon in Norwich. His father Edward Charles Donne, of Mattishall Hall, was also a medical practitioner. He was educated at Bury St Edmunds Grammar School, taught for two years by Benjamin Heath Malkin. There he formed lasting friendships with James Spedding, Edward FitzGerald, and John Mitchell Kemble, the Anglo-Saxon scholar. His friendship in after life with the Kemble family helped to turn his attention to the drama. He went to Caius College, Cambridge, but scruples against taking the religious tests then required prevented him from graduating. He was a Cambridge Apostle, and a member of the Sterling Club. After he left Cambridge, the choice of a career proved troublesome for Donne; and he hardly solved the problem, well connected as he was. He asked friends to find him literary wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Bodham Donne
William Bodham Donne (1807–1882) was an English journalist, known also as a librarian and theatrical censor. Early life and career Donne was born 29 July 1807; his grandfather was an eminent surgeon in Norwich. His father Edward Charles Donne, of Mattishall Hall, was also a medical practitioner. He was educated at Bury St Edmunds Grammar School, taught for two years by Benjamin Heath Malkin. There he formed lasting friendships with James Spedding, Edward FitzGerald, and John Mitchell Kemble, the Anglo-Saxon scholar. His friendship in after life with the Kemble family helped to turn his attention to the drama. He went to Caius College, Cambridge, but scruples against taking the religious tests then required prevented him from graduating. He was a Cambridge Apostle, and a member of the Sterling Club. After he left Cambridge, the choice of a career proved troublesome for Donne; and he hardly solved the problem, well connected as he was. He asked friends to find him literary wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Borrow
George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. His best-known books are '' The Bible in Spain'' and the novels '' Lavengro'' and '' The Romany Rye'', set in his time with the English ''Romanichal'' (Gypsies). Early life Borrow was born at East Dereham, Norfolk, the son of Thomas Borrow (1758–1824), an army recruiting officer, and Ann Perfrement (1772–1858), a farmer's daughter, . His father, a lieutenant with the West Norfolk Militia, was quartered at the prisoner-of-war camp at Norman Cross from July 1811 to April 1813, and George spent his ninth and tenth years in the barracks there. He was educated at the Royal High School of Edinburgh and Norwich Grammar School. Borrow studied law, but languages and literature became his main interests. In 1825, he began his first major Europe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheridan Knowles
James Sheridan Knowles (12 May 1784 – 30 November 1862) was an Irish dramatist and actor. Biography Knowles was born in Cork. His father was the lexicographer James Knowles (1759–1840), cousin of Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The family moved to London in 1793, and at the age of fourteen Knowles published a ballad entitled ''The Welsh Harper'', which, set to music, was very popular. His talents secured him the friendship of William Hazlitt, who introduced him to Charles Lamb and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He served for some time in the Wiltshire and afterwards in the Tower Hamlets militia, leaving the service to become a pupil of Dr Robert Willan (1757–1812). He obtained the degree of M.D., and was appointed vaccinator to the Jennerian Society. Although Dr Willan offered him a share in his practice, Knowles decided to give up medicine for the stage, making his first appearance as an actor probably at Bath, and played Hamlet at the Crow Theatre, Dublin. At Wexford he marrie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Bulwer
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 180318 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secretary of State for the Colonies from June 1858 to June 1859, choosing Richard Clement Moody as founder of British Columbia. He was created Baron Lytton of Knebworth in 1866. Bulwer-Lytton's works sold and paid him well. He coined famous phrases like "the great unwashed", "pursuit of the almighty dollar", "the pen is mightier than the sword", " dweller on the threshold", and the opening phrase "It was a dark and stormy night." The sardonic Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, held annually since 1982, claims to seek the "opening sentence of the worst of all possible novels". Life Bulwer was born on 25 May 1803 to General William Earle Bulwer of Heydon Hall and Wood Dalling, Norfolk and Elizabeth Barbara Lytton, daughter of Richard Warburton Lytto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irish Rebellion Of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a republican revolutionary group influenced by the ideas of the American and French revolutions: originally formed by Presbyterian radicals angry at being shut out of power by the Anglican establishment, they were joined by many from the majority Catholic population. Following some initial successes, particularly in County Wexford, the uprising was suppressed by government militia and yeomanry forces, reinforced by units of the British Army, with a civilian and combatant death toll estimated between 10,000 and 50,000. A French expeditionary force landed in County Mayo in August in support of the rebels: despite victory at Castlebar, they were also eventually defeated. The aftermath of the Rebellion led to the passing of the Acts of Union 1800, merging the Parliament of Ireland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dion Boucicault
Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the English-speaking theatre. Although ''The New York Times'' hailed him in his obituary as "the most conspicuous English dramatist of the 19th century," he and his second wife, Agnes Robertson Boucicault, had applied for and received American citizenship in 1873. Life and career Early life Boucicault was born Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot in Dublin, where he lived on Gardiner Street. His mother was Anne Darley, sister of the poet and mathematician George Darley. The Darleys were an important Anglo-Irish Dublin family influential in many fields and related to the Guinnesses by marriage. Anne was married to Samuel Smith Boursiquot, of Huguenot ancestry, but the identi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wearing Of The Green
"The Wearing of the Green" is an Irish street ballad lamenting the repression of supporters of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. It is to an old Irish air, and many versions of the lyric exist, the best-known being by Dion Boucicault. The song proclaims that "they are hanging men and women for the wearing of the green". The revolutionary Society of United Irishmen adopted green as its colour, and supporters wore green-coloured garments, ribbons, or cockades. In some versions, the "green" being worn is shamrock rather than fabric. Versions Many versions of the lyric exist. The general format is that the narrator is a rebel who has left Ireland for exile and meets a public figure ( Napper Tandy, in most versions), who asks for news from Ireland, and is told that those wearing green are being persecuted. Halliday Sparling's ''Irish Minstrelsy'' (1888) includes the anonymous "Green upon the Cape", dated to 1798. This longer poem describes the narrator's journey into exile before reachi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Taylor
Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language at University College, London in the 1840s, after which he practised law and became a civil servant. At the same time he became a journalist, most prominently as a contributor to, and eventually editor of ''Punch''. In addition to these vocations, Taylor began a theatre career and became best known as a playwright, with up to 100 plays staged during his career. Many were adaptations of French plays, but these and his original works cover a range from farce to melodrama. Most fell into neglect after Taylor's death, but ''Our American Cousin'' (1858), which achieved great success in the 19th century, remains famous as the piece that was being performed in the presence of Abraham Lincoln when he was assassinated in 1865. Life and career Earl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Hollingshead
John Hollingshead (9 September 1827 – 9 October 1904) was an English theatrical impresario, journalist and writer during the latter half of the 19th century. After a journalism career, Hollingshead managed the Alhambra Theatre and was later the first manager of the Gaiety Theatre, London. Hollingshead also wrote several books during his life. An innovative producer, Hollingshead brought Gilbert and Sullivan together in 1871 to produce their first joint work, a musical extravaganza called ''Thespis''. Among other theatrical works that he produced, he mounted a long series of popular Victorian burlesques at the Gaiety, engaging Meyer Lutz to compose original scores for them. He also produced operettas, plays and other works. These productions made stars of Nellie Farren and several others. At the Gaiety, in 1878, Hollingshead was the first theatre manager to light his auditorium with electric lights. Life and career Hollingshead was born in Hoxton, Greater London, the son of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Archer (critic)
William Archer (23 September 185627 December 1924) was a Scottish writer, theatre critic, and English spelling reformer based, for most of his career, in London. He was an early advocate of the plays of Henrik Ibsen, and was an early friend and supporter of George Bernard Shaw. Life and career Archer was born in Perth, the eldest boy of the nine children of Thomas Archer and his wife Grace, ''née'' Morrison. Thomas moved frequently from place to place seeking employment, and William attended schools in Perth, Lymington, Reigate and Edinburgh. He spent parts of his boyhood with relatives in Norway where he became fluent in Norwegian and became acquainted with the works of Henrik Ibsen. Archer won a bursary to the University of Edinburgh to study English literature, moral and natural philosophy, and mathematics. When the family moved to Australia in 1872, he remained in Scotland as a student. While still at the university he became a leader-writer on the ''Edinburgh Evening ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Chamberlain's Office
The Lord Chamberlain's Office is a department within the British Royal Household. It is concerned with matters such as protocol, state visits, investitures, garden parties, royal weddings and funerals. For example, in April 2005 it organised the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles. It is also responsible for authorising use of the Royal Arms. As the Lord Chamberlain is a part-time position the day-to-day work of the Office is conducted by the Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office. List of Comptrollers * Sir Spencer Ponsonby-Fane GCB ISO (1857–1901) * Major-General Sir Arthur Ellis, GCVO MC (1901–1907) * Brigadier-General Sir Douglas Dawson, GCVO KCB CMG (1907–1920) * Colonel the Honourable Sir George Crichton, GCVO DL (1920–1936) * Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Terence Nugent, GCVO MC (1936–1960) * Brigadier Sir Norman Gwatkin, GCVO DSO (1960–1964) * Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Eric Penn, GCVO OBE MC (1964–1981) * Lieutenant-Col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Licensing Act 1737
The Licensing Act of 1737 is a defunct Act of Parliament in the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a pivotal moment in theatrical history. Its purpose was to control and censor what was being said about the British government through theatre. The act was modified by the Theatres Act 1843 and was finally named as the Theatres Act 1968. The Lord Chamberlain was the official censor and the office of Examiner of Plays was created under the Act. The Examiner assisted the Lord Chamberlain in the task of censoring all plays from 1737 to 1968. The Examiner read all plays which were to be publicly performed, produced a synopsis and recommended them for licence, consulting the Lord Chamberlain in cases of doubt. Forerunner The function of censorship of plays for performance (at least in London) fell to the Master of the Revels by the time of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The power was used mostly with respect to matters of politics and religion (including blasphemy). It was certainly exercised ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
