Marie Effie Wilton, Lady Bancroft (1839–1921) was an English actress and

theatre manager Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. She appeared onstage as Marie Wilton until after her marriage in December 1867 to

Squire Bancroft Sir Squire Bancroft (14 May 1841 – 19 April 1926), born Squire White Butterfield, was an English actor-manager. He changed his name to Squire Bancroft Bancroft by deed poll just before his marriage. He and his wife Effie Bancroft are consi ...

, when she adopted his last name. Bancroft and her husband were important in the development of

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

theatre through their presentation of innovative plays at the London theatres that they managed, first the

Prince of Wales's Theatre The Scala Theatre was a theatre in Charlotte Street, London, off Tottenham Court Road. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772, and the theatre was demolished in 1969, after being destroyed by fire. From 1865 to 1882, the theatre was kn ...

and later the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

Life and career

Bancroft was born at

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

, and as a child appeared on the

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

with her parents, who were both actors. Among her early parts was that of Fleance in ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' (1846). She made her London début on 15 September 1856, at the Lyceum Theatre, as the boy Henri in ''Belphegor'', playing the same night in ''Perdita; or, the Royal Milkmaid''. She won great popularity in several boy roles, in

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

s at various theatres, as Cupid in two different plays, and notably as Pippo, in ''The Maid and the Magpie'', by

H. J. Byron Henry James Byron (8 January 1835 – 11 April 1884) was a prolific English dramatist, as well as an editor, journalist, director, theatre manager, novelist and actor. After an abortive start at a medical career, Byron struggled as a provincial ...

, at the

Royal Strand Theatre The Royal Strand Theatre was located in the Strand in the City of Westminster. The theatre was built on the site of a panorama in 1832, and in 1882 was rebuilt by the prolific theatre architect Charles J. Phipps. It was demolished in 1905 to ...

(1858). For several years she remained at the Strand, taking numerous parts of the same general type. A benefit performance was given for her in 1859.

Prince of Wales's Theatre (1865–80)

In April 1865, she began, in partnership with Henry Byron, the management of the

. For two seasons before her marriage she managed the theatre alone. She secured as a leading actor

, whom she had met shortly before in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and married in December 1867. Her son Charles Edward Wilton (born 1863) changed his name to Bancroft upon the marriage of his mother to Squire Bancroft. Their sons together were George Louise Pleydell Bancroft (born 1869) and Arthur Hamilton Bancroft (born and died 1870). The Prince of Wales's soon became noted for its series of successful comedies by T. W. Robertson, namely: ''

Society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

'' (1865), ''Ours'' (1866), ''

Caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

'' (1867), ''Play'' (1868), ''School'' (1869) and ''M. P.'' (1870). Bancroft regularly took the principal female parts in these pieces, her husband playing the leading man. Together, Robertson and the Bancrofts are considered to have instigated a new form of drama known as 'drawing-room comedy' or 'cup and saucer drama', in which actors perform natural behaviors onstage, such as drinking tea or reading books. The Bancrofts gave Robertson an unprecedented amount of directorial control over the plays, which was a key step to institutionalizing the power that directors wield in the theatre today. The Bancrofts were also responsible for making fashionable the 'box set', which

Lucia Elizabeth Vestris Lucia Elizabeth Vestris (''née'' Elizabetta Lucia Bartolozzi; 3 March 1797 – 8 August 1856) was an English actress and a contralto opera singer, appearing in works by, among others, Mozart and Rossini. While popular in her time, she was more ...

had first used at the

Olympic Theatre The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout m ...

in the 1830s – this consisted of rooms on stage which were dressed with sofas, curtains, chairs, and carpets on the stage floor. They also provided their actors with salaries and wardrobes. Also, the Bancrofts redesigned their theatre to suit the increasingly upscale audience: "The cheap benches near the stage, where the rowdiest elements of the audience used to sit were replaced by comfortable padded seats, carpets were laid in the aisles, and the pit was renamed the stalls." Other plays that the Bancrofts produced at the Prince of Wales's Theatre were ''Tame Cats'' (1868), ''

The School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Sna ...

'' (1874), '' Sweethearts'' (1874), ''The Vicarage'' (1877), and ''

Diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

'' (1878, an adaptation of

Victorien Sardou Victorien Sardou ( , ; 5 September 18318 November 1908) was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play. He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-centur ...

's ''Dora''). Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft likewise presented at their theatre a number of prominent actors, among them

Hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...

, Coghlan, the Kendals, and

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

. In 1879, she reprised a favourite role of hers, Nan, in

John Baldwin Buckstone John Baldwin Buckstone (14 September 1802 – 31 October 1879) was an English actor, playwright and comedian who wrote 150 plays, the first of which was produced in 1826. He starred as a comic actor during much of his career for various periods ...

's ''Good for Nothing'', in a mixed bill alongside

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...

's '' Sweethearts'', in which she played Jenny Northcott.

Later years

In 1879, the Bancrofts moved to the

, a larger house, where they renovated the theatre and reportedly introduced he first use of the electric light on the English stage in 1880. They continued the successful presentation of modern comedy until both retired from management on 20 July 1885, having made a considerable fortune producing theatre. After that, Lady Bancroft rarely appeared onstage. In 1895, her eldest son, Captain Charles Bancroft married Margaret Grimston, a daughter of Dame Madge Kendal and

William Hunter Kendal William Hunter Kendal (16 December 1843 – 7 November 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. He and his wife Madge starred at the Haymarket in Shakespearian revivals and the old English comedies beginning in the 1860s. In the 1870s, ...

. The marriage was later annulled.

Books

Bancroft was the author of the novel ''The Shadow of Neeme''. She also collaborated with her husband in the production of two volumes of reminiscences called ''Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft On and Off the Stage, Written by Themselves'' (London, 1888) and ''The Bancrofts: Recollections of Sixty Years'' (Dutton and Co.: London, 1909).

Recordings

Bancroft recorded three 10" discs for the

Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company Limited (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.), based in the United Kingdom and founded by Emil Berliner, was one of the early recording companies, the parent organisation for the ''His Master's Voice (HMV)'' label, and the European ...

in June 1903. *1236 ''Drinking the waters''. *1237 ''The Deutscher's baby''. *1238 (a) ''A boy's philosophy''; (b) ''Love''.

Notes

Sources

*''The Bancrofts: Recollections of Sixty Years'' (Dutton and Co.: London, 1909) * (Online summar
here
) *

External links

*
Cup and saucer drama: the Bancrofts and their theatres

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bancroft, Marie 1839 births 1921 deaths 19th-century English actresses English stage actresses English theatre managers and producers Women theatre managers and producers Actor-managers English women novelists English memoirists People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan Burials at Brompton Cemetery 20th-century British people Women of the Victorian era British women memoirists 19th-century theatre managers 20th-century theatre managers Wives of knights