Stephen Hammerton ( fl. 1629–47) was a

boy player Boy player refers to children who performed in Medieval and English Renaissance playing companies. Some boy players worked for the adult companies and performed the female roles as women did not perform on the English stage in this period. Others ...

or child actor in

English Renaissance theatre English Renaissance theatre, also known as Renaissance English theatre and Elizabethan theatre, refers to the theatre of England between 1558 and 1642. This is the style of the plays of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson ...

, one of the young performers who specialized in female roles in the period before women appeared on the stage. His case illuminates the conditions of boy actors in this era.

Beginnings

Stephen Hammerton was the son of a Richard Hammerton of Hellifield,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. In his youth he was apprenticed to a London

merchant tailor In the Middle Ages or 16th and 17th centuries, a cloth merchant was one who owned or ran a cloth (often wool) manufacturing or wholesale import or export business. A cloth merchant might additionally own a number of draper's shops. Cloth was ext ...

, William Waverly, of the

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

. At the time, veteran actors

Richard Gunnell Richard Gunnell (fl. 1613 – 1634) was an actor, playwright, and theatre manager in Jacobean and Caroline era London. He is best remembered for his role in the founding of the Salisbury Court Theatre. Actor and playwright Nothing is known of Gu ...

and William Blagrave, founders of the

Salisbury Court Theatre The Salisbury Court Theatre was a theatre (structure), theatre in 17th-century London. It was in the neighbourhood of Salisbury Court, which was formerly the London residence of the Bishop of Salisbury, Bishops of Salisbury. Salisbury Court was ...

, were struggling to form a new company of child actors, similar to the

Children of the Chapel The Children of the Chapel are the boys with unbroken voices, choristers, who form part of the Chapel Royal, the body of singers and priests serving the spiritual needs of their sovereign wherever they were called upon to do so. They were overseen ...

and the

Children of Paul's The Children of Paul's was the name of a troupe of boy actors in Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it a ...

of thirty years before. Those troupes, famous in their own time, had been highly effective at training young actors and funnelling them into the adult companies that needed their talent; but the troupes of boy players had been defunct for nearly fifteen years when Blagrave and Gunnell started their Children of the Revels troupe in 1629. The relevant documents indicate clearly that part of the project's rationale was the training of young actors for the King's Men at the

Blackfriars Theatre Blackfriars Theatre was the name given to two separate theatres located in the former Blackfriars Dominican priory in the City of London during the Renaissance. The first theatre began as a venue for the Children of the Chapel Royal, child acto ...

. Blagrave had encountered the young Hammerton and decided that the Children of the Revels needed him. Blagrave purchased the remaining nine years of Hammerton's apprenticeship contract from Waverly in October 1629. (Hammerton allegedly agreed to this change; it happened "by and with his own liking.") This was not a unique transaction; there are other instances on record in which actors and theatre managers effectively bought the services of boys for their troupes.

King's Men

Unfortunately, the new boys' company failed to attain success, because of a long closure of the theatres due to

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...

at the time. According to one report, the boys were left without adequate food and clothing; fourteen boys had seven shirts among them, and one of the fourteen died of neglect. Hammerton fared better, though; sometime in 1632 he jumped to, or was recruited into, the King's Men. His transition was not without controversy; manager Blagrave was involved in a lawsuit over control of the apprentice actor. In November 1632, Blagrave joined with

William Beeston William Beeston (1606? – 1682) was an English actor and theatre manager, the son and successor to the more famous Christopher Beeston. Early phase William was brought up in the theatrical world of his father; he became an actor, and also his ...

in a petition to the

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main cha ...

to recover custody of Hammerton. Beeston's involvement in the matter is cryptic, and the Blagrave/Beeston suit was unsuccessful; Hammerton remained with the King's Men and acted for them for the next ten years, till the theatres were closed in September 1642 at the start of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

Female to male

Hammerton started out by playing female roles, as would be expected; in 1632 he played Oriana, the heroine in John Fletcher's ''

The Wild Goose Chase ''The Wild Goose Chase'' is a late Jacobean stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher, first performed in 1621. It is often classed among Fletcher's most effective and best-constructed plays; Edmund Gosse called it "one of the brightest a ...

''. In 1633, when

William Prynne William Prynne (1600 – 24 October 1669), an English lawyer, voluble author, polemicist and political figure, was a prominent Puritan opponent of church policy under William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury (1633–1645). His views were presbyter ...

published '' Histriomastix, the Players' Scourge'', his famous attack on the theatre and the players, he singled out Hammerton as "a most noted and beautiful woman-actor." By the late 1630s Hammerton transitioned from female to male roles. He played in Sir John Suckling's ''

The Goblins ''The Goblins'' is a Caroline-era stage play, a comedy written by Sir John Suckling. It was premiered on the stage in 1638 and first published in 1646. Performance and publication The play was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, ...

,''

James Shirley James Shirley (or Sherley) (September 1596 – October 1666) was an English dramatist. He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Charles Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so m ...

's ''

The Doubtful Heir ''The Doubtful Heir,'' also known as ''Rosania, or Love's Victory,'' is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by James Shirley and first published in 1652. The play has been described as "swift of action, exciting of episode, fertile ...

,'' and

Thomas Killigrew Thomas Killigrew (7 February 1612 – 19 March 1683) was an English dramatist and theatre manager. He was a witty, dissolute figure at the court of King Charles II of England. Life Killigrew was one of twelve children of Sir Robert Killigrew ...

's ''

The Parson's Wedding ''The Parson's Wedding'' is a Literature in English#Caroline and Cromwellian literature, Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Thomas Killigrew. Often regarded as the author's best play, the drama has sometimes been considered an anticipat ...

.''

Andrew Gurr Andrew John Gurr (born 23 December 1936) is a contemporary literary scholar who specializes in William Shakespeare and English Renaissance theatre. Life and work Born in Leicester, Gurr was raised in New Zealand, and educated at the Universi ...

, ''The Shakespeare Company 1594–1642,'' Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004; p. 229. Amyntor in the

Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I (1603–25). They became known as a team early in their association, so much so that their jo ...

play ''

The Maid's Tragedy ''The Maid's Tragedy'' is a play by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. It was first published in 1619. The play has provoked divided responses from critics. Date The play's date of origin is not known with certainty. In 1611, Sir George Buck, ...

'' was the type of "juvenile lead" part for which he became famous. He acquired a reputation as a sort of 17th-century matinee idol, especially favored by the young women in the audience. The Epilogue to ''The Goblins'' comments on Hammerton's popularity: ::The women — Oh if Stephen should be killed, ::Or miss the lady, how the plot is spilled? Killigrew makes the same point at the end of ''The Parson's Wedding'': if "Stephen misses the Wench...that alone is enough to spoil the Play." (Hammerton's celebrity was such that he was identifiable by his first name alone — much like celebrities of later centuries.) Hammerton was made a

Groom of the Chamber Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Household of the monarch in early modern England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and in Eng ...

on 22 January 1641, along with five other King's Men. After the theatres closed in 1642, Hammerton's fortunes, like those of the other King's Men, were eclipsed and obscured. He was one of the ten King's Men who signed the dedication to the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio in 1647.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammerton, Stephen King's Men (playing company) Year of birth missing Year of death missing 17th-century English male actors English male stage actors Boy players