Robert Copeland was a

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 perfor ...

who managed the

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

theatre circuit in England in the early part of the 19th Century. The circuit initially included the theatres at

, Sandwich and

Deal A deal, or deals may refer to: Places United States * Deal, New Jersey, a borough * Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * Deal Lake, New Jersey Elsewhere * Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia * Deal, Kent, a town in England * Deal, a ...

but in 1801 he added the

Theatre Royal, Margate 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 ...

. Copeland was business like and practical and he managed to turn round the fading fortunes of the Theatre Royal. In Copeland's first season he hired the services of the distinguished actors Mrs Jordan and

George Frederick Cooke George Frederick Cooke (17 April 1756 in London – 26 September 1812 in New York City) was an England, English actor. As famous for his erratic habits as for his acting, he was largely responsible for initiating the romantic style in acting t ...

. The season of 1803 saw the Theatre Royal, Margate requisitioned by the army to be used as auxiliary barracks. Copeland returned to manage the Theatre Royal 1811. Through his descendants Copeland left quite a mark on British theatre. His daughter

Fanny Fanny may refer to: Given name * Fanny (name), a feminine given name or a nickname, often for Frances In slang * A term for the vulva, in Britain and many other parts of the English-speaking world * A term for the buttocks, in the United States ...

went on to become an actress. After marrying the actor

Edward Fitzwilliam Edward Fitzwilliam (1788–1852) was an actor of Irish descent and the husband of noted actress Fanny Fitzwilliam. Fitzwilliam was born of Irish parents near Holborn in London on 8 Aug. 1788, In 1806 he was actor and property man with Trotter, ...

she performed as Mrs Fitzwilliam. His brother Benjamin's grand-daughter Isabella, also an actress, became the wife of the actor, playwright and theatre manager John Baldwin Buckstone. The Buckstone's went on to have children who became prominent actors both here and in the United States. His son

William Robert Copeland William Robert Copeland (1799–1867) was an English theatre manager. He was born in Deal, Kent, the son of Robert Copeland (Theatre Manager), Robert Copeland who managed the Dover theatre circuit. His sister Fanny became the noted actress Fanny Fi ...

followed in his father's footsteps by managing theatres in London and Liverpool. Other stars of the stage such as Fay Compton and Vesta Tilley also married Copeland's descendants.

References

English theatre managers and producers 1765 births 1842 deaths {{UK-theat-stub