Giles Linnett Barrett (b. c. 1744 - d. 18 November 1809) was an English actor who came to the United States in the 1790s, and was most popular in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

.Fifty-years of a Play-goer's Journal
p. 32 (1860)

England

In England, Barrett was the manager of the

Norwich Theatre Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...

in the 1780s and was married to the daughter of a Norwich alderman. He later left his wife and travelled to America with a second wife.Seilhamer, George O
History of the American Theatre: New foundations
pp. 357-59 (1891)Highfill, Philip H, Jr. et al
Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Vol. 1
p. 306 (1973) He was also, at some point, the manager of what may have been the

Theatre Royal, Exeter The Theatre Royal, Exeter was the name of several Theater (structure), theatres situated in the city centre of Exeter, Devon, England in the United Kingdom. Early theatres and fires The name "Theatre Royal" was first applied in Exeter by the ...

America

Barrett had his American debut in Boston on 28 December 1796, playing the role of Ranger in ''

The Suspicious Husband ''The Suspicious Husband'' is a 1747 comedy play by the British writer Benjamin Hoadly.Nicoll p.207 It premiered at the Covent Garden Theatre in February 1747. The original cast included David Garrick as Ranger, Roger Bridgewater as Strictland, L ...

'' (a 1747 play by

Benjamin Hoadly Benjamin Hoadly (14 November 1676 – 17 April 1761) was an English clergyman, who was successively Bishop of Bangor, of Hereford, of Salisbury, and finally of Winchester. He is best known as the initiator of the Bangorian Controversy. Li ...

). He first appeared in New York at the

John Street Theatre John Street Theatre, situated at 15–21 John Street, sometimes called "The Birthplace of American Theatre", was the first permanent theatre in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York.''The Oxford Companion to the Theatre'' (Fourth Editio ...

in August 1797, playing the role of Don Felix in ''The Wonder'' (a 1714 play by

Susanna Centlivre Susanna Centlivre (c. 1669 (baptised) – 1 December 1723), born Susanna Freeman and also known professionally as Susanna Carroll, was an English poet, actress, and "the most successful female playwright of the eighteenth century". Centlivre's " ...

).Adams, William Davenport
A dictionary of the drama, Vol. 1
p. 114 (1904) He managed the

Federal Street Theatre The Federal Street Theatre (1793–1852), also known as the Boston Theatre, was located at the corner of Federal and Franklin streets in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was "the first building erected purposely for theatrical entertainmen ...

in Boston circa 1798 until it was destroyed by a fire in February 1798. He briefly returned to managing the theater in 1799 after it was rebuilt, but the season was not a success.Ball, William T. W
The Old Federal Street Theatre
in ''The Boston Society Publications'', Volume 8 (1911) In late 1798, Barrett wrote to U.S. President

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

for assistance.Letter from Giles Leonard Barrett to U.S. President John Adams
(6 October 1798) Barrett notes therein that Adams had seen him perform the role of General Warren in ''Bunker-Hill'', a 1797 play by

John Daly Burk __NOTOC__ John Daly Burk (ca.1776–1808) was an Irish-born dramatist, historian and newspaperman in the United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He died fighting a duel in Virginia in 1808. Biography Burk was probably born i ...

, and was "induced to hope, my humble exertions may still Live in Your Memory." When Adams had seen the play in New York and been asked his opinion afterward by Barrett, Adams replied "My friend, General Warren was a scholar and a gentleman, but your author has made him a bully and a blackguard." This was likely a political reaction to the play, not Barrett's performance.Wilmer, S.E
Theatre, Society and the Nation: Staging American Identities
p. 53 (2004) Barrett also reports in his letter to Adams that he had been forced to " support my family by the exertion of my talents in the Science of defence"; Barrett was an accomplished fencer.Clapp, William Warland
A Record of the Boston Stage
pp. 37-39 etc.(1853) Barrett died in Boston on 18 November 1809 at age 65.Dunlap, William
A History of the American Theatre
p. 354 (1832) His second wife ("Mrs. Barrett") was also an actor and died in Boston in 1832. Their son George Barrett was also an actor.

References

External links

Letter from Giles Leonard Barrett to U.S. President John Adams
(6 October 1798) 1744 births 1809 deaths American male stage actors English male stage actors 18th-century American male actors 18th-century English male actors {{US-stage-actor-stub