Sidney Frances (Cowell) Bateman (March 29, 1823 – January 13, 1881) was an American actor, playwright, and theatrical manager who spent much of her career on the American stage.

Biography

Sidney Frances Cowell was the daughter of Joseph Cowell, an English comic actor who had settled in America, and the actress Frances Cowell (née Sheppard). Aged 16 she married

Hezekiah Linthicum Bateman Hezekiah Linthicum Bateman (December 6, 1812March 22, 1875), was an American actor and manager. Life Born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1812, the fourth child and second son of Amzi Bateman (c.1777–1816), a fisherman, and his wife, Catherine Bate ...

, also an actor. They moved to St. Louis in the 1850s before moving on to New York and later to London, where Hezekiah managed the Lyceum Theatre. After her husband's death in 1875, Sidney Frances Bateman continued to manage the

Lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the t ...

for another three years until she had a disagreement with

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

over the quality of her daughters' acting, when it was reported: "With regard to the Lyceum, it is stated that the difference between Mr. Irving and Mrs. Bateman had reference to the personnel of the company. Mr. Irving is said to have told Mrs. Bateman that he was resolved to have actors to act with him, and not dolls, otherwise he would no longer play at the Lyceum. The result was that Mrs. Bateman threw up the management of the theatre, and Mr. Irving takes her place."'The Future of Sadler's Wells and the Lyceum Theatre' - ''

The Builder ''Building'' is one of the United Kingdom's oldest business-to-business magazines, launched as ''The Builder'' in 1843 by Joseph Aloysius Hansom – architect of Birmingham Town Hall and designer of the Hansom Cab. The journal was renamed ''Bu ...

'', September 28, 1878 She became manager of the Sadler's Wells Theatre and took her daughters with her. She held the position until her death. She was the first to bring to England an entire American company with an American play,

Joaquin Miller Cincinnatus Heine Miller (; September 8, 1837 – February 17, 1913), better known by his pen name Joaquin Miller (), was an American poet, author, and frontiersman. He is nicknamed the "Poet of the Sierras" after the Sierra Nevada, about which h ...

's ''The Danites''. Bateman was also the author of several popular plays, in one of which, ''Self'' (1857), she and her husband made a great success.

Family

The Batemans had at least six children, with all four of their daughters appearing on stage. The two oldest,

Kate Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...

(b. 1842), and Ellen (b. 1845), began their theatrical careers so young that their act was known as the "Bateman Children." Bateman and her husband managed the children's careers, including extensive touring, for a decade before the girls retired from child acting in 1856. Kate would later return to the stage as an adult actor and appeared in several plays produced or written by her mother. The third daughter to go on the stage was

Virginia Frances Bateman Virginia Frances Bateman (Mrs Edward Compton and Virginia Mackenzie; 1 January 1853 – 4 May 1940) was an American actress and actor-manager who performed with her husband Edward Compton in his Compton Comedy Company which toured the prov ...

(1853-1940), who first appeared in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in the title part of her mother's play ''Fanchetle'' in 1871. The fourth daughter,

Isabel Isabel is a female name of Spanish origin. Isabelle is a name that is similar, but it is of French origin. It originates as the medieval Spanish form of '' Elisabeth'' (ultimately Hebrew ''Elisheva''), Arising in the 12th century, it became popul ...

(b. 1854), was also well known on the London stage.

Sources

Author Anniversaries
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bateman, Sidney 19th-century American actresses American stage actresses 1823 births 1881 deaths Actor-managers 19th-century theatre managers 19th-century American dramatists and playwrights 19th-century American women writers American women dramatists and playwrights American people of English descent