Samuel "Sam" Anderson Emery (1814–1881) was an English stage actor, the father of the actress

Winifred Emery Winifred Emery (1 August 1861 – 15 July 1924), born Maud Isabel Emery, was an English actress and actor-manager of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was the wife of the actor Cyril Maude. Born into a family of actors, Emery began ...

and grandfather of the actress

Margery Maude Margery Kathleen Maude (April 29, 1889 – August 7, 1979) was an English actress of stage, screen and television. Early life Margery Maude was born in Wimbledon, London, the elder daughter of the actors Cyril and Winifred (née Emery) Maude. ...

and the judge John Cyril Maude.

Early life

The son of John Emery, he was born in Hyde Street, Bloomsbury, 10 September 1817. He was educated at Bridport Hall,

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, under W. Fitch, both a schoolmaster and the lessee of the City Theatre, Milton Street. On leaving school he was placed with his uncle, John Thompson, an Irish provision dealer, and became also clerk to a stockbroker, and subsequently to a jeweller and goldsmith. In May 1834 Emery appeared at the Queen's Theatre, Tottenham Street (then known as the Fitzroy), in his father's character of Dan in ''

John Bull John Bull is a national personification of the United Kingdom in general and England in particular, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter- ...

''. Then under the name of Anderson he played at the same house as Robin Roughhead, and assumably in other parts. He worked at

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

for Downe, the manager of the York circuit, went in 1835 to Edinburgh under Murray, and played in some smaller Scottish houses. He then became established in Liverpool, and for several years played there, at Manchester, Chester, and neighbouring towns.

On the London stage

As Giles in ''The Miller's Maid'', and Lovegold in ''The Miser'', Downe made, 18 April 1843, at the Lyceum Theatre, his first appearance in London. He was engaged by Henry Wallack for Covent Garden, and appeared there 19 October 1843 as Fixture in ''A Roland for an Oliver''. Here, it is said, a thwarted stage carpenter attempted his murder. In 1844 he was at the Lyceum under

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and Mary Ann Keeley, and established his reputation. Emery then joined

Leigh Murray Henry Leigh Murray (1820–1870) was an English actor. Early life Murray was born in Sloane Street, London, 19 October 1820, with the surname Wilson. While a clerk in a merchant's office he made a start on amateur acting, in a small theatre in ...

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 ...

, was stage-manager for Charles Shepherd at the Surrey Theatre, and went in 1850 to Drury Lane, then under

James Robertson Anderson James Robertson Anderson (8 May 1811 – 3 March 1895) was a Scottish stage actor and dramatist. Life Anderson was born in Glasgow on 8 May 1811. His father was an actor and he went to school on Leith Walk in Edinburgh. He acted as a toddler in ...

. He played at country houses during the summer, and at Drury Lane was seen in many parts. He then joined B. Webster of the Haymarket and Adelphi. At the Olympic in 1853 under Alfred Sydney Wigan he was the original Fouché in Tom Taylor's ''Plot and Passion'', and was subsequently Mr. Potter in the ''Still Waters run deep'', again by Taylor. He was seldom long at any theatre. He was in 1857 manager for a short time of the Marylebone Theatre.

Later life

Some time around 1860 Emery went to America, but returned shortly after disagreements with his managers. In November 1864 he appeared at the Theatre Royal in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

in the first performance of

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 ...

's ''

Arrah-na-Pogue ''Arrah-na-Pogue'', also known as ''Arrah-na-Pogue; or the Wicked Wedding'', is a play in 3 acts by Dion Boucicault. Along with ''The Colleen Bawn'' (1860) and ''The Shaughraun'' (1874), it is considered one of the three major Irish plays penned ...

'' with Boucicault,

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

and

John Brougham John Brougham (9 May 1814 – 7 June 1880) was an Irish-American actor and dramatist. Biography He was born at Dublin. His father was an amateur painter, and died young. His mother was the daughter of a Huguenot, whom political adversity had f ...

in the cast. In Australia also, towards the end of his life, he was not a success. Six weeks after his return from Australia he died, 19 July 1881, of

erysipelas Erysipelas () is a relatively common bacterial infection of the superficial layer of the skin ( upper dermis), extending to the superficial lymphatic vessels within the skin, characterized by a raised, well-defined, tender, bright red rash, t ...

at King William Street,

Strand, London Strand (or the Strand) is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. It runs just over from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4 ...

References

Dickens Playbills

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Emery, Samuel Anderson 1814 births 1881 deaths 19th-century British male actors British male stage actors