William Oxberry (1784–1824) was an English actor. He also wrote extensively on the theatre, and was a printer and publisher.

Early life

Oxberry was the son of an auctioneer, born on 18 December 1784 in

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, ...

, London, opposite Bedlam. After a false start as a pupil of

George Stubbs George Stubbs (25 August 1724 – 10 July 1806) was an English painter, best known for his paintings of horses. Self-trained, Stubbs learnt his skills independently from other great artists of the 18th century such as Joshua Reynolds, Reynold ...

at age 14, he worked in a bookseller's shop, and in the office in

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road t ...

of a printer named Seale, an amateur actor. At a stable near Queen Anne Street, and subsequently at the theatre in

Berwick Street Berwick Street is a street in the Soho district of the City of Westminster built between 1687 and 1703. Berwick Street runs between Oxford Street to the north and Peter Street at the south. History Berwick Street was built between 1687 and 1 ...

, he took on parts including Hassan in '' The Castle Spectre'' ( "Monk" Lewis) and Rosse in '' Macbeth''. Oxberry's indentures were cancelled in 1802, and he appeared under Samuel Jerrold, at the Watford theatre. He joined, as low comedian, Trotter's company (Worthing, Hythe, and Southend theatres).

Metropolitan actor

In 1807 Henry Siddons recommended Oxberry to the Kemble management at Covent Garden Theatre. He made his first appearance on 7 November 1807 as Robin Roughhead in ''Fortune's Frolic'', but was not a critical success. At the close of the season he was released from his engagement, and went to Glasgow, where he made a success as Sir David Daw in the ''Wheel of Fortune''. In Aberdeen he was tried as Michael Ducas in ''Adalgitha'': he then played other tragic roles. After returning to Glasgow, Oxberry accepted from Raymond an engagement in London at the Lyceum Theatre, then known as the English Opera House, and appeared in a piece by Henry Siddons, called 'The Russian Impostor,' in which he made a success. He was then engaged for the Lyceum by Arnold. An engagement at

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

followed. and he played for the first time with the burnt-out company at the Lyceum, 25 September 1809, as the Lay Brother in the ''Duenna''. After the opening of the new Drury Lane theatre his name is not mentioned until the end of the season. At Drury Lane he remained until the close of the season of 1819–20. He created many original parts in plays, dramatic or musical, by Arnold,

Thomas John Dibdin Thomas John Dibdin (21 March 1771 – 16 September 1841) was an English dramatist and songwriter. Life Dibdin was the son of Charles Dibdin, a songwriter and theatre manager, and of "Mrs Davenet", an actress whose real name was Harriett Pit ...

, James Kenney, George Soane, and others. Oxberry as a comic actor was not always a distinguished performer. He was compared only to John Emery as Tyke, John Lump, Robin Roughhead; his Slender, Sir David Daw, and Petro were held to have been unsurpassed. When

Robert William Elliston Robert William Elliston (7 April 1774 – 7 July 1831) was an English actor and theatre manager. Life He was born in London, the son of a watchmaker. He was educated at St Paul's School, but ran away from home and made his first appearance on ...

reduced the salaries at Drury Lane, he refused the offer, and starred at minor theatres (the Surrey, the East London, and Sadler's Wells).

Later life

Oxberry was for a long time manager of the Olympic, but the experiment collapsed. In December 1821 he took the Craven's Head chophouse at Drury Lane, a house of literary and theatrical resort. Here he died 9 June 1824. His remains were interred in a vault in

St. Clement Danes Church St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the curr ...

, Strand.

Works

Harvard Theatre Collection - Zekiel Homespun Thr 428

Oxberry was author of: * ''The Theatrical Banquet, or the Actor's Budget'', 1809, 2 vols. * ''The Encyclopædia of Anecdote'', 1812. * ''The History of Pugilism, and Memoirs of Persons who have distinguished themselves in that Science'', 1814. * ''The Flowers of Literature'', 2nd edit., London, 1824, 4 vols. * ''Oxberry's Anecdotes of the Stage'', London, 1827. He also edited ''The New English Drama'', consisting of 113 plays, with prefatory remarks, in 22 vols. 1818–24; and wrote ''The Actress of All Work'', played in Bath on 8 May 1819, in which

Elizabeth Rebecca Edwin Elizabeth Rebecca Edwin (–1854) was an Anglo-Irish stage actress active in Ireland and England during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Life Elizabeth Rebecca Edwin was the daughter of actor William Talbot Richards (d. 1813), ...

assumed half a dozen different characters. He converted ''He would be a Soldier'' of Pilon into ''The High Road to Success'', and produced it at the Olympic. He was responsible for an adaptation of

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

's '' Marmion'', played at an outlying theatre. For a short period he edited the '' Monthly Mirror'', to which, and to ''The Cabinet'', he contributed fugitive pieces. A portrait of Oxberry by Samuel De Wilde, in the

Garrick Club The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in the heart of London founded in 1831. It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world and, since its inception, has catered to members such as Charles Kean, Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Ar ...

, shows him as Petro in Arnold's ''Devil's Bridge''. An engraving of him as Leo Luminati in ''Oh! this Love'' is in the ''Theatrical Inquisitor'' (vol. i.); and a second, presenting him in private dress, is in Oxberry's ''Dramatic Biography'', a work projected by Oxberry, and edited after his death by his widow; it was published in parts, beginning 1 January 1825. After the completion of the first volume in April 1825 the issue was continued in volumes, and was completed in five vols. in 1826.

Family

In 1806 Oxberry married, at Southend, a young actress playing minor parts in the Trotter company, Catherine Elizabeth Hewitt. The actor William Henry Oxberry was their son.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxberry, William 1784 births 1824 deaths English male stage actors English dramatists and playwrights 18th-century English male actors 19th-century English male actors English male dramatists and playwrights