George Mattocks (1735–1804) was a British stage actor and singer. He appeared at Southwark Fair in 1747 as a child performer and the following year appeared at

Bartholomew Fair The Bartholomew Fair was one of London's pre-eminent summer charter fairs. A charter for the fair was granted to Rahere by Henry I to fund the Priory of St Bartholomew; and from 1133 to 1855 it took place each year on 24 August within the precin ...

. Originally billed as George Maddox when he started at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks ...

he soon altered the spelling of his name and was a regular member of the company from 1749 to 1752, also appearing at

Richmond Theatre The present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian era, Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of ''As You Like ...

. He was absent from the London stage for several years, appearing at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Jacobs Well Theatre The Jacobs Well Theatre was a playhouse in Cliftonwood, Bristol, England, which opened in 1729. It took its name from the nearby Jacobs's Well, which may have been a mikveh, a type of Jewish ritual bath. The theatre was built by actor John Hip ...

before returning to join the

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

company in 1757. He remained at the theatre for the next twenty five years, particularly appearing in

ballad opera The ballad opera is a genre of English stage entertainment that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier '' comédie en vaudeville'' and the later ''Singspiel'', its disti ...

s and other musical events, some straight comedy but almost never

tragedies Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

. In 1762 he was featured in

Thomas Arne Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!" and the song "A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of ''The Beggar's Opera'', whic ...

's opera '' Artaxerxes''. By 1760, he also became the lieutenant of Madame Capte Deville, the manager of Plymouth's summer company. A year later, he bought half of Plymouth's Franfkford Gate Theatre and managed it until 1763. This was where he hired John and Ann Barrington as well the actress Isabella Hallam, who grew up with their family. In 1765, he married actress Hallam, who was afterwards billed Isabella Mattocks. Because he had previously had two children with the actress Harriet Pitt, her Isabella's guardians were opposed to the marriage so they

eloped Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...

to France.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.146 Mattocks had his first acting appearance in Liverpool at the

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

in 1767. One of his final parts at Covent Garden was in John O'Keeffe's '' The Castle of Andalusia'' in 1782. He had continued to tour Britain in the summer, and was particularly associated with

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 later

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, where he was stage director during his final years. Around 1784, he was identified as a co-partner of Joseph Younger in the management of the Theatre Royal Liverpool. Mattocks died in 1804 and was buried in Edinburgh.

References

Bibliography

* Gilman, Todd. ''The Theatre Career of Thomas Arne''. Rowman & Littlefield, 2013. * Highfill, Philip H, Burnim, Kalman A. & Langhans, Edward A. ''A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800: Volume 4''. SIU Press, 1975. 18th-century English people 18th-century British people English male stage actors British male stage actors 18th-century English male actors 18th-century British male actors 1735 births 1804 deaths {{England-actor-stub