AGM SAVE THE DATE

Members are asked to please save the date for the Society’s 22^nd Annual General Meeting in celebration of Sir Henry Irving’s Birthday.  This year’s festivities will take place on the afternoon of Sunday 11 February, 2017.  Members are asked to assemble at the Irving Statue on Charing Cross Road at 2.15pm.   Following the ceremonial laying of the wreath at the Irving Statue, members will walk to the Concert Artistes’ Association, 20 Bedford Street, London WC2E 9HP for the Annual General Meeting. Proceedings will conclude with a talk from the Society’s Honorary Treasurer, Dr Kristan Tetens, entitled ‘Henry Irving, Hall Caine, and the Missing Mahomet’.

In her talk, Dr Kristan Tetens will discuss a play that might well have changed the course of British theatrical history had it been produced: a four-act historical drama by Hall Caine based on the life of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, that was commissioned by Henry Irving in 1890. Caine had the play half written when word came from the Lord Chamberlain that it would not be licensed for production. This talk will explore why the play was banned and its impact on the careers of both Caine and Irving. Kristan’s PhD thesis, recently completed at the University of Leicester, is the first study of Caine’s writing for the stage and his collaborations with leading actors and managers, including Irving, Wilson Barrett, Viola Allen, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Louis Napoleon Parker, Mrs Patrick Campbell, George Alexander, and Arthur Collins. Kristan has published in the Journal of Victorian Culture and Nineteenth Century Theatre and Film, and has delivered papers at conferences sponsored by the North American Victorian Studies Association, the Society for Theatre Research, the Institute of Historical Research, and the International Federation for Theatre Research. She currently serves as the Irving Society’s honorary treasurer.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS

Members will soon receive their membership renewal forms for the 2018 membership year (apologies for the delay in posting these forms, but the Honorary Secretary was unexpectedly in hospital for surgery before and during the Christmas period).

The Committee is pleased to announce that the Society’s finances are presently in a healthy state and this has enabled fees to once again be frozen for the coming year.

Full Membership

First Knight Only Membership

After you have made your payment (via Bank Transfer, payal or cheque in British Sterling), please complete and mail your membership form to:

Dr Kristan Tetens, Honorary Treasurer, kristan.tetens@gmail.com.

COMMITTEE AND OFFICER POSITIONS TO BE FILLED

It is with regret that the Society’s Vice Chair, Alex Bisset, is standing down this year from his position. So, too, the Editor of First Knight, Piers Henderson, and the Honorary Secretary and Editor of The Irvingite, Megan Hunter, will be standing down as soon as their replacements can be found. Members wishing to stand as replacements for any of the Officer roles in particular will be gratefully considered, and outgoing officers have promised to assist with long and thorough handovers. All three will remain active members of the Society. The Committee thanks them greatly for their hard work and, particularly, wishes to thank Alex for his service to the Society over many years.

Members wishing to stand for one of the Officer positions – or for a place on the Committee – should submit notification of their interest in writing to the Society’s Chair, Frances Hughes, by 7 February. Elections will take place at the Society’s Annual General Meeting.

If no other nominations are received the current Committee Members Jennie Bisset, Paul Campion, Imogen Irving and Helen R. Smith will be deemed to be re-elected, Frances Hughes to remain as Chair and Dr Kristan Tetens to remain as Honorary Treasurer.

REVIEW OF THE SOCIETY’S NOVEMBER VISIT TO THE LONDON METROPOLITAN ARCHIVES

On a cold late November morning and under the guidance of our esteemed colleague Paul Campion, 11 intrepid Irvingites gathered together at the London Metropolitan Archives in Clerkenwell to view a most elegantly presented exhibition ‘ Life on the London Stage’.
We were delighted to see a life size photograph of our hero, looking sly,
dangerous and dignified in his celebrated role of Shylock. The wide sash in his costume is at the Ellen Terry museum at Smallhythe and I remember being allowed to handle it when I performed my one-man show ‘Macready’ there in 1980.
Other theatrical luminaries of the period were well-represented and other periods too, reaching back to Shakespeare’s day.
Most touchingly there were contemporary records of the death of Shakespeare’s younger brother, the actor Edmund Shakespeare who died in 1607 at the age of 27 and of Edmund’s son Edward who died in the same year as his father and is described as ‘base bourne’ meaning illegitimate.
In addition to photographs and engravings, excerpts from an 1827 volume ” The Road to the Stage” were displayed on wall charts. One announced ” How little education has to do with acting” and then backed it up with an account of an illiterate actor who performed a creditable Richard the third though he couldn’t read a word of the text. Apparently the part was read to him and he absorbed it instantly. A touch of hyperbole there I suspect.
Recordings of actors of today were played including a particularly interesting one of Judi Dench describing her approach to playing Lady Macbeth. Judi felt that the character’s overwhelming love for her husband was the motive, which led her into paths of evil. She believed that Lady Macbeth is desperately asking – not demanding the spirits to make her capable of ‘direst cruelty’. A crucial difference which humanised the character and contributed to the most persuasive Lady Macbeth in my memory.
A more (literally) down to earth attraction in the exhibition were the foot outlines of celebrities from the ‘ Feet Books ‘ of the distinguished boot makers ‘ Peal and Company ‘ whose records came to the London Archives following the demise of the company in 1965. It was fun to ‘stand on the feet’ as it were of Charlie Chaplin, Ethel Barrymore and Laurence Olivier before hot footing it to the nearby Quality Chop House in Farringdon Road for an enjoyable lunch. Frances Hughes thanked Paul most gracefully for organising our adventure so generously and efficiently while Michael Kilgariff pronounced the undeniable truth that whenever members of the Henry Irving Society are gathered together, the atmosphere is always warm and convivial. On this occasion it survived a truly bizarre main course of bolognaise sauce on toast, which we’d chosen in a spirit of adventurous cooperation with our young and charming waitress. Next time it’ll be Chops.’

– Frank Barrie, November 27th 2017.

SIR HENRY IRVING ITEM UP FOR AUCTION

AND, FINALLY…

Many thanks to our former Editor, Michael Kilgarriff, who writes:

Pages 28-9 of Arthur Bryant’s The Fire and The Rose (Collins 1965) give the following description of Thomas Becket’s physical appearance and analysis of his character.

‘Becket was not by nature a religious man; he was self-centred, egotistical, an artist and an autocrat.  Though pure in life, and generous to his servants and retainers, he did not instinctively love men or turn the other cheek. He was neither meek nor humble. […] Yet for the lonely, spectacular role he now chose Becket was superbly equipped.  His towering height, his pale sensitive face, the aquiline nose and restless penetrating eyes, the white feminine hands and quick eager movements made him look what he aspired to be, a saint.’

So who does this remind you of…?

GENERAL NOTICES

• Members are invited to submit content for inclusion in either of the Society’s publications. Submissions should be sent directly to theirvingsociety@gmail.com.  Submissions for inclusion in The Irvingite will be considered by the Honorary Secretary, and submissions for inclusion in First Knight will be considered by the Editorial Sub-Committee.
• And finally, as a reminder, should any members no longer wish to retain single or multiple back issues of First Knight, the Editorial Committee would be pleased to receive such copies to meet the needs of those seeking to fill gaps in their collection – lost or mislaid – or for the benefit of new members seeking to add to their collection.

FORTHCOMING IRVING SOCIETY AUTUMN EVENT

At 11.00 am Monday 27 November, 2017, The Irving Society is planning an outing to the London Metropolitan Archives (40 Northampton Rd, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 0HB) to visit their exhibition Life on the London Stage.  Entry to the exhibition is free and, following the visit, those who wish would be welcome to join us for lunch at 1.30 pm at The Quality Chop House (88-94 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3EA ).

Committee Member Paul Campion is kindly receiving RSVPs, which are required.  As both the Archives and the restaurant have limited capacity, we need to provide them with an indication of numbers in advance.  If you would like to join us, please do contact Paul at Pwpcampion@aol.com and he will provide you with a booking form.

Life on the London Stage is a new exhibition at London Metropolitan Archives which uncovers the lives of some of the actors and actresses recorded in our archives, capturing both professional and personal details that provide a glimpse of the challenges and joys of theatrical life since the days of Elizabeth I.

Drawing on a wide variety of photographs, prints and documents, we have brought together a collection of stories which illustrate different aspects of the lives of London’s performers, from those who achieved great success to those who endured poverty and hardship.

Documents recording the life of Edmund Shakespeare, William’s forgotten brother, appear together for the first time presenting the seemingly tragic story of the young actor who followed his older brother to London.

Ledgers and letters document the lives of some of London’s most celebrated stars, including Kenneth Williams, Dame Ellen Terry and Eliza (Madam) Vestris. The houses associated with Nell Gwyn, surely one of London’s greatest rags to riches stories, are presented alongside Sir Laurence Olivier’s bespoke orders from one of the capital’s most prestigious boot makers.

There are also those who were recorded by London’s authorities for less salubrious reasons, notably the actor Gabriel Spencer who fought a series of bloody duels in 1590s Shoreditch and Marie Lloyd, who alarmed the Victorian authorities with her music hall routines.

Of course, alongside the famous names that live on through generations are huge numbers of working performers who have graced the London stage since the first theatre was built in London in 1576 but are largely forgotten today. They are remembered here in our displays of programmes and playbills.

ROTTEN PERFECT AT THE WATT’S GALLERY, SURREY

From Friday 29 September – Sunday 1 October, Lynchpin Productions present Rotten Perfect, a witty snapshot of the impassioned backstage lives of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving.  Once the young wife and muse of G F Watts, Ellen Terry is now the leading lady at the Lyceum Theatre.  Actor Manager Henry Irving is doing everything he can to keep his theatre up and running and to keep his star actress, but she is tired of coming second to his classical heroes.

Friday 29 September – Sunday 1 October
7.30pm
£15 (£12.50 concessions)
Watts Gallery

REVIEW OF BRAM AND THE GUV’NOR

Jefny Ashcroft’s play is designed to draw attention to the Bram Stoker archive held at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in Stratford upon Avon, where it is accompanied by an exhibition of an interesting selection from the archive.

In the play, taking as a starting point the release from prison and disgrace of Oscar Wilde, she examines encounters between Henry Irving, Ellen Terry and Bram Stoker, Irving’s Business Manager, at the time of the first publication of  ‘Dracula’, also in May 1897. Stoker, convincingly played by David Reakes, is anxious for Irving to stage a play based on his original gothic novel. Such a play was read at the Lyceum for copyright purposes; an original poster advertising that event was included in the exhibition.

Commentators disagree on how far Count Dracula is based on Irving, and the well directed play is only able to hint at the subtle interplay of  Stoker’s relationship with Irving. Barrie Palmer makes a brave attempt at a role which involves him in briefly portraying Dracula as played by Irving and Jo Price has no opportunity to be other than a leading actress, without Ellen Terry’s elusive charm. Jefny Ashcroft has done considerable research to set the play in context and, judging by reactions of members of the audience, it has whetted several appetites for more information about this fascinating period of theatrical history.

Seeing the small selection of memorabilia on display makes one wish for an opportunity to see a much larger exhibition – surely one of our London museums could mount one, given the right encouragement.

It is most heartening to know that Irving, his friends and colleagues still attract attention and interest 120 years after these events took place.

– Paul Campion and Helen Smith

IRVING SOCIETY MEMBERS PUBLISH NEW BOOKS

The Society is delighted to share with the membership the news of a number of new books which have been published by members.

Alan Stockwell’s new book MAN-MONKEYS: From Regency Pantomime to King Kong, was released on Vesper Hawk Publishing on 1 June.

Did you know that men have been dressing up as apes for the entertainment of the public since 1801?  Did you know that men have been dressing up as apes for the entertainment of the public since 1801?  The first play to feature an ape as a character was La Perouse, a work that became standard in the repertoire of the theatres of the day. In 1825, the French dancer Mazurier became the sensation of Paris and London playing the lead in the ballet Jocko ou le Singe du Brésil. These two stage works made such an impression that an entire sub-genre of drama arose and held sway for 100 years and beyond, leading to modern times with King Kong and The Planet of the Apes on screen.

Inside these covers you will find the stories of performers who specialised in playing dramatic ape roles – men like the ill-fated Parsloe who fell from stardom in London to die a lonely death in America, the irascible almost legless Hervio Nano, Teasdale who turned to God after stabbing his wife, and the simpleton potboy who was transformed into Monsieur Gouffe and made a fortune attracting the bon ton of London.  Within these pages you will find some of the oddest, most unfortunate, ill-requited, luckless, and doomed performers who ever chose to tread the boards – the artistes known as ‘man-monkeys’.

Further details can be found on the Vesper Hawk website, and a review of the book written by the Society’s Chair, Frances Hughes, will be included in the next edition of First Knight.

Christina Britton Conroy researched her historical novel series, His Majesty’s Theatre, over many years.  It is now being published by Endeavour Press, UK.  Launch dates for the books – which are available on Amazon – are:

Not from the Stars – Friday 18th August

Filled with the history of the British theatre and allusions to Shakespeare, Not From the Stars is the first in the His Majesty’s Theatre series about the lives of the actors and academics who lived in the repressive days of Edwardian England, but refused to be stifled. 

But From Thine Eyes – Friday 15th September

London, December, 1903. Seventeen-year-old Elisa Roundtree escapes her life in Yorkshire heading for His Majesty’s Theatre, hoping to become an actress.  Filled with details of theatre life at the turn of the century, But From Thine Eyes will have you cheering for Elly, long before she ever takes the stage.

Truth and Beauty – Friday 20th October

“Readers will be immediately drawn into the story and find it hard to leave…” – Manic Readers

Beauty’s Doom – Friday 17th November

“Captivating… a real page turner.” – Mary Jones, WRVC Radio

IRVING’S SIGNATURE AT SHAKESPEARE’S BIRTHPLACE

Many thanks to our former Editor, Michael Kilgarriff, who sent through (courtesy of his daughter) this fascinating picture of a window at Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon, a building he inherited from his father and let out as an inn.  The image has been rotated so that HI’s signature can be seen scratched out in the top right-hand corner.  Other famous signatories (though not discernible) include Ellen Terry, Thomas Carlyle and Walter Scott.

More information about this story can be found on the website of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

The Henry Irving Foundation and the Henry Irving Correspondence Website

It is ten full years since the Henry Irving Correspondence website came online. It is currently visited by an average of at least 60 people a day; from 109 different countries already this month. Use seems to be growing.

Frances Hughes and I have worked recording the manuscript letters from 2003, and the database now contains summaries of over 9225 letters and documents, displayed in chronological order. There is still unrecorded material here and in America.

When John H.B. Irving died last December the trustees of his Henry Irving Foundation decided to take stock. His charitable Foundation, with a few generous donations, had funded the website with its hosting costs, and the volunteers have worked without pay or expenses, but the funds are now almost exhausted.

Unless we can find a new host or sponsor the whole site and its database will have to be archived by the British Library, where it will be frozen and not easy of access. Also needing a home is a large paper archive of the original records, including some full transcriptions not on the website.

If any member of the Irving Society has ideas about a future for the site, please let Frances Hughes or me know. We can provide further details.

– Helen Smith

SAVE THE DATE FOR AGM / NOTICE OF MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS

Members will soon receive their membership renewal forms for the 2018 membership year.

Members are also asked to please save the date for the Society’s 22nd Annual General Meeting in celebration of Sir Henry Irving’s Birthday.  This year’s festivities will take place on the afternoon of Sunday 11 February, 2018.  Further details including a programme of the day’s event will follow shortly.

MESSAGES TO THE SOCIETY

The following messages have been received to the Society’s email inbox. Members and non-members wishing to get in touch should contact theirvingsociety@gmail.com

MESSAGE FROM AUTHOR SUSAN WANDS

 Dear Irving Society,

Friday, October 13th, there will be a book presentation of Magician and Fool, the historical fiction based on the life of Pamela Colman Smith, an artist who based her tarot card of The Magician on Sir Henry Irving. The presentation will be at Watkins Books, 19-21 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ, UK, at 6pm and will last approximately one hour. The presentation is free, with a question and answer period following the brief reading.

Here is a synopsis of the book:

In Magician and Fool, Pamela Colman Smith begins her career as an artist at the end of the Victorian Age at the Lyceum Theatre, where she grows from innocent empath to seer and channeler; creating her now world-famous deck of tarot cards. Introduced to The Golden Dawn cult by Bram Stoker, the second in command at the Lyceum Theatre, she is commissioned to create a tarot deck for the members to use in their quest for magic. Golden Dawn’s most evil member, Aleister Crowley, becomes obsessed with unlocking the mysteries of the Tarot. His obsession peaks when he sees the power of her deck and realizes he can create a rival deck, leading him to manifest magical power to harm Pamela’s incarnates of her cards. Sir Henry Irving, the actor/manager of his day, figures as the pivotal role of The Magician, as he leads her along her path as a talent and an empath.

There is a website for the book and a Facebook page for the book and the book’s background materials.

At the presentation, there will also be t-shirts and mugs with Sir Henry Irving as the center of the artwork as The Magician.

I would like to invite the Irving Society to attend. Magician and Fool is the first book in a series of books based on the Rider Waite tarot cards. Sir Henry Irving is the main character through the arc of the series. I’ve attached artwork of the book cover and bonus merchandise that features Sir Henry.

I would love to meet any members of the Irving Society.

Cheers!

Susan Wands

Bookings can be made in order to guarantee a seat by visiting eventbrite.

GENERAL NOTICES

• Members are invited to submit content for inclusion in either of the Society’s publications. Submissions should be sent directly to theirvingsociety@gmail.com.  Submissions for inclusion in The Irvingite will be considered by the Honorary Secretary, and submissions for inclusion in First Knight will be considered by the Editorial Sub-Committee.
• And finally, as a reminder, should any members no longer wish to retain single or multiple back issues of First Knight, the Editorial Committee would be pleased to receive such copies to meet the needs of those seeking to fill gaps in their collection – lost or mislaid – or for the benefit of new members seeking to add to their collection.

THE IRVING SOCIETY HOLDS ITS 21st ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The Society’s 21^st Annual General Meeting was this year held on Sunday 12 February 2017. As in previous years, members assembled at the Irving Statue on Charing Cross Road from 2.30pm for the laying of the wreath (which was ceremonially laid at the Guv’nor’s feet by new committee member and Sir Henry’s great-great-great Granddaughter Imogen Irving).

At 3pm, the Annual General Meeting proceedings began at the Concert Artistes’ Association on Bedford Street. The Society’s Chair, Frances Hughes, led proceedings by thanking the committee, officers and Society’s members for another successful year. Particular thanks were recorded to Committee members and officers stepping down for the 2017 membership year, including Mike Ostler, Dr Varsha Panjwani (Honorary Treasurer) and Hilary Phillips. Thanks were also recorded to member Nick Bromley for his hosting of the Garrick Club dinner on 4 October 2017. The dinner was agreed by all to have been a great success, and it was noted in particular that Mr Bromley had been an excellent and engaging speaker.

Warm wishes were also extended on behalf of the Society to long-standing member Virginia Surtees on the occasion of her hundredth birthday.

Prospective activities proposed for the coming year included a lunch at the Two Brydges Club which could also, perhaps, dovetail with a historical walking tour of the area surrounding the club – the home to a number of 19^th century theatres.

Members were encouraged to continue to submit articles and materials for the Society’s twice annual journal, First Knight, and to help with spreading the word to others who might be interested in joining as members.

The Chair’s report closed with a moment of remembrance for members who had passed away in the previous year, including Alan Wilson and the Society’s patron, John Irving. In particular, thanks were recorded to Angela Barlow who attended John Irving’s funeral on behalf of the Society and wrote a warm account of the Service for Issue no. 74 of The Irvingite.

After the business of the meeting had concluded, members were entertained by fellow member Alan Stockwell, who discussed his excellent book What’s the Play and Where’s the Stage. What’s the Play and Where’s the Stage tells the story of the Jonas and Penley Company of Comedians – a theatrical family of the Regency Era. The discussion was a great success – and all copies of the book which had been brought to the AGM sold out! Sincerest thanks to Alan Stockwell for travelling into London for the AGM and for leading such a fascinating discussion.

The day’s festivities concluded with refreshments and birthday cake in honour of Sir Henry.

PERFORMANCE OF ‘TIS I

On Sunday 9 April 2017, Robert Poulter’s New Model Theatre in association with Pollock’s Toy Museum Trust presented a special commission for The Irving Society, a performance of ‘Tis I.  The performance, an examination of the life and working practices of the great Actor Manager, constituted three parts and an epilogue and was performed at the Art Worker’s Guild.

LORD OF THE LYCEUM BROADCAST ON RADIO 4 EXTRA

On 12 April 2017, Radio 4 Extra aired two broadcasts of member Professor Jeffery Richards’ Lord of the Lyceum. First broadcast by Radio 4 in 1988, Lord of the Lyceum celebrates the theatrical life and achievement of our first knight, Sir Henry Irving. The programme is available to listen to on BBC iplayer through 12 May 2017.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND OFFICERS

The Committee of The Irving Society is delighted to share with the membership the news of three new committee appointments. Joining the committee from May 2017 are Jennie Bisset and Imogen Irving. Also joining the committee, as well as assuming the role of Honorary Treasurer, is Dr Kristan Tetens. A further introduction to Kristan in particular, including details of how she can be contacted, will follow shortly. In the meantime, we are very pleased to have Jennie, Imogen and Kristan join us and look forward to working closely with them in the coming months.

Grateful thanks are once again extended to the long serving committee members and officers who stepped down at the last AGM: Mike Ostler, Dr Varsha Panjwani and Hilary Phillips. Their presence on the committee will be sorely missed, but all have promised to remain active members of the Society and we look forward to welcoming them at future events and activities.

FORTHCOMING PERFORMANCES OF INTEREST

From Monday 15 May 2017 – Saturday 20 May 2017, a new play inspired by the Bram Stoker theatrical archive entitled Bram and the Guv’nor: Play and Archie Exhibition will be performed at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon.  The performance and archive display have been generously funded by Arts Council England and are free to the public.  More information can be found on the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s website.

Friends of the Society at Lynchpin Productions have also asked that members be notified of a forthcoming Irving related production which should be of interest.  About the partnership between Henry Irving and Ellen Terry the play, Rotten Perfect, is securely based in factual research and also features Alice Comyns Carr.  It’s a fascinating insight into the dynamics and difficulties of making theatre work at the highest level of the day.  Conflict and humour abound to ensure a great evening.  Rotten Perfect was first performed in the Barn Theatre at Smallhythe Place (home of Ellen Terry) in 2016.  Having been extensively revised, planning is now well underway for a new production by Artifice and directed by Kate Napier at the Watts Gallery, Compton which will run from 29 September to 1 October 2017.  The production will form part of the centennial celebration of the eminent painter George Frederick Watts – to whom Ellen was briefly married as a teenage girl.

MESSAGES TO THE SOCIETY

The following messages have been received to the Society’s email inbox. Members and non-members wishing to get in touch should contact theirvingsociety@gmail.com

BRODRIBB GENEALOGY: INFORMATION REQUEST

Members of the committee have been contacted by a friend, Gail Naughton, who will shortly begin work on the Brodribb Genealogy.  Members who have any information or who might, perhaps, have done similar research in the past are encouraged to contact the Society so that this can be passed along – or so that they might be put in touch with Ms Naughton directly.

MESSAGE FROM SUZ WINSPEAR

The Society has been contacted by a former member, Suz Winspear, who is in the process of selling off her large and impressive collection of Irvingiana. The centrepiece of the collection is the 1893 Blackwell bronze plaque. Ms Winspear notes that, whilst it isn’t in perfect condition due to the marble having split, that it could most likely be repaired. The collection also includes large quantities of programmes, souvenir-publications, postcards, books and prints.

Offers are welcomed, either for the entire collection or for individual items. Ms Winspear notes that she’s most concerned with the collection going to a good home where it can be thoroughly appreciated. Also up for consideration is a large collection of items related to Martin Harvey.

Members interested in finding out more are encouraged to contact the Honorary Secretary so that they can be put in touch with the seller.

MESSAGE FROM HENRY WILLIS

The Society has also been contacted by an antique silver dealer in Dorset, Mr Henry Willis. He has recently acquired an American silver cup, which was presented by Henry Irving to Francis Cowley Burnand (playwright and editor of Punch Magazine) in 1901. The item is listed on his website.

Members who are interested, or who might have more information about this item which could be added to build the story, are encouraged to contact Mr Willis directly.

MESSAGE FROM SARAH-JANE HARKER VIVIAN

Finally, the Honorary Secretary has been in touch with member Sarah-Jane Harker Vivian, who wishes to share the following news with the Society:

The old Harkers Studios of my Great Grandfather’s and even where my Father worked are to be turned into luxury flats. Joseph Harker  worked with Irving and Stoker and indeed his Father worked with Irving as a young man.

I attach these articles from the Guardian and Spitalfields also:

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/feb/05/susannah-harker-family-joseph-harker-scene-painting-london-studio

At Joseph Harker’s Paint Studios

I hope to spread the word as much as possible before these studios are gone forever.

GENERAL NOTICES

• Members are invited to submit content for inclusion in either of the Society’s publications. Submissions should be sent directly to theirvingsociety@gmail.com.  Submissions for inclusion in The Irvingite will be considered by the Honorary Secretary, and submissions for inclusion in First Knight will be considered by the Editorial Sub-Committee.
• And finally, as a reminder, should any members no longer wish to retain single or multiple back issues of First Knight, the Editorial Committee would be pleased to receive such copies to meet the needs of those seeking to fill gaps in their collection – lost or mislaid – or for the benefit of new members seeking to add to their collection.

GARRICK CLUB DINNER REVIEW

Luckily October 4th was a fine autumn day so there was no depositing of umbrellas and soggy raincoats when we arrived at the Garrick Club for our Annual Dinner.

On this occasion our genial host was Garrick Club member Nick Bromley, well known to many of us as Master of the Drury Lane Theatrical Fund, a charity established in 1766 by David Garrick for the relief and support of retired and disabled performers belonging to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

We, two dozen or so Irving Society members and guests, assembled in the Milne Room which now contains the fine Sir John Everett Millais portrait of Irving as well as a striking portrait of Ellen Terry as Portia by American artist Grace Baldry.  Whilst all enjoying a pre-prandial glass of wine our Chair, Frances, took the opportunity of a fifteen-minute slot, before cheese soufflés were ready to be served, to give a knowledgeable background talk on the paintings lining the walls.

With named place-cards at the tables and a linked guide to individual chosen menus the service of food, after an appropriate Grace by Hilary Phillips, was speedy, efficient and unobtrusive.  A very satisfying meal concluded with coffee and light-hearted reminiscences by Nick of Irving’s links with Drury Lane.

Irving was not a member of the Drury Lane Theatrical Fund, the length of his appearances at Drury Lane being insufficient to make him eligible.  Other than a couple of Benefit performances in which he participated, he appeared in three seasons only – in 1869 he played for 117 nights in Dion Boucicault’s “Formosa” and in  1903 he gave 82 performances in “Dante” by Victorian Sardou and Emile Moreau.  It was, however, at Drury Lane that Irving gave, with the exception of a benefit performance of “Waterloo” at His Majesty’s Theatre, his last performances in London, ending on June 15th 1905.  Over a period of six weeks his repertoire consisted of “Becket,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “Waterloo,” and finally “Louis XI.”  Nick recalled reports of the last night when the enthusiasm of the audience brought curtain call after curtain call with shouts of “No! Not good-bye” until finally Irving came forward and simply said “Well, good-night then.”  The tragic events of October 13th in Bradford were but four months later.

The redoubtable Frank Barrie rounded off the dinner by his reading, in fine 19thC dramatic style, from a document in Jennie Bisset’s collection, one of the multitude of long stanzas of an address in verse form written by C.S. [was this Clement Scott?] It was originally given at the grand farewell dinner held in the St James’s Hall prior to the Lyceum company’s departure on their first American tour in 1883.  All glasses were raised in a toast to Sir Henry and the assembled company slowly said their various farewells before departing into the hurly-burly of 21stC London.

– Alex Bisset

SAVE THE DATE FOR AGM / NOTICE OF MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS

Members will soon receive their membership renewal forms for the 2017 membership year.  Regarding these renewals the Committee is pleased to announce that, despite an increase in annual dues having been approved at last year’s AGM, the Society’s finances are presently in a healthy state and this has enabled fees to be frozen for the coming year.

Members are also asked to please save the date for the Society’s 21^st Annual General Meeting in celebration of Sir Henry Irving’s Birthday.  This year’s festivities will take place on the afternoon of Sunday 12 February, 2017.  Members asked to assemble at the Irving Statue on Charing Cross Road at 2.30pm.  Further details including a programme of the day’s event will follow shortly.

ALAN WILSON – (1923 – 2016)

It is with sadness that we have learnt of the recent death of our long-standing member Alan Wilson in Wales.

In recent years ill health has prevented him from attending meetings but his interest in the Society was not diminished.  An actor by profession he had a deep interest in the theatre of the 19th century; Henry Irving was certainly of importance to him but it was Miss Kelly, the great Fanny Kelly [1790-1882] who meant most to him and who occupied his theatrical research activities for many years.  When research was no longer an option his treasury of assembled material, including a draft biography, was passed to the Lamb Society for safekeeping.  The June 1999 issue of First Knight contained one of the articles he wrote and many members will certainly remember how, at a meeting in November of that year, he gave an electrifying rendition of The Dream of Eugene Aram, the Thomas Hood poem so greatly favoured by Henry Irving as a ‘party piece’ at benefit performances.

Our sympathies go to his widow Rosemarie and to all his family both here and abroad.

ELLEN TERRY & THE AESTHETES

On Monday 6 February from 6.30pm – 8.00pm our Chair, Frances Hughes, will give an illustrated talk about Ellen Terry & The Aesthetes.  The discussion, which will take place at Westminster Reference Library, is free to attend however places must be confirmed in advance by visiting the booking page, emailing referencelibrarywc2@westminster.gov.uk or telephoning (0)207 641 6200 extension 2.

LOUISA RUTH HERBERT

1830 – 1890

Only recently, as a result of my being asked about a grave in Brompton Cemetery in London, a book by our fellow-member Virginia Surtees, published in 1997, came to notice.  Somehow it appears to have slipped under the radar in the intervening years.

It comprises two vignettes, studies in the social mobility of two young women in the 19th century.  The first of these, “The Actress”, is of particular relevance in that it covers the life and career of the actress Miss Herbert (née Louisa Ruth Maynard).  Regularly discussed in reviews and reports as having ‘grace, delicacy and power’ and as being ‘a perfect model of gentility and grace’ her golden-haired beauty attracted the attention of the Pre Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti and today her features are best known from an examination of his work.

Her career as an actress developed successfully and she became, for some years, the manager of the St James’s Theatre in London.  It was in this capacity that we take especial interest, for it was she who invited Henry Irving   to join her company to perform initially the role of Rawdon Scudamore, which he had done with great success in Manchester. Success was his again, which erased the memory of his unsuccessful London venture at he Princess’s Theatre in 1859 – the rest is history.

Virginia Surtees, a distinguished author and authority on the work of D. G. Rossetti, is none other than a great grand daughter of Miss Herbert and is well placed to bring this story to life.  The grave in Brompton Cemetery which brought this book to notice is that of Louisa Ruth Herbert – 1830 -1890.

Scour the Internet or your local second-hand and charity bookshops to find a copy – it is well worth the effort.

– Alex Bisset

IRVING IN DRAG!

With the approach of the pantomime season it is interesting to note that, at the Theatre Royal in Edinburgh, the first important production of the 1858-59 season was the pantomime The Sleeping Beauty – made more interesting by the fact that Venoma, the spiteful fairy, was played by twenty-year-old Henry Irving.  A review of the performance in The Scotsman observed that “Mr Irving as Venoma was a model of a disagreeable and spiteful genius.”

THE VAMPIRE!

On 31 October – Hallowe’en – Horatio Blood’s Corinthian Theatre; or, The British Stage in Miniature presented, at the historic 18th century Stone House, Deptford, a single toy theatre performance of J. R. Planché’s The VAMPIRE! or, the Bride of the Isles.  The play was first performed at the Royal English Opera House [now the Lyceum Theatre] on 9 August 1820 with T. P. Cooke in the title role.  The toy theatre version was also published in 1820.

The cast of ten characters, voiced by seven players, was supported by four musicians and two manipulators of the characters and scenery.  Featured in two major roles was our veteran member and former actor, David Drummond, who gave dramatic voice to Ruthven, Earl of Marsden – the Vampire – and to the character of McSwill, henchman to Ronald, Baron of the Isles.

The playbill for the second English Opera House performance on 10 August 1820 declared that “it were vain to attempt a description of the magic effect produced on a crowded Audience by the Performance of THE VAMPIRE last night….” This declaration can truly be applied to the toy theatre production seen almost two centuries later.

– Alex Bisset

WHAT’S THE PLAY AND WHERE’S THE STAGE

A Theatrical Family of the Regency Era

By Alan Stockwell

ISBN 978-0-9565013-6-3

Vesper Hawk Publishing

As Society’s title has recently been extended to include all the years and interests of the nineteenth century theatre as well as Sir Henry, it is a pleasure that one of our long-standing members, Alan Stockwell, has written a four hundred-page book about the Jonas & Penley Company of Comedians who acted during the first four decades of the nineteenth century and handed on the torch to later generations.

In the late eighteenth century Mary Penley married John Jonas, a puppeteer and actor who performed at Bartholomew Fair for nearly a decade and probably appeared also at Astley’s Amphitheatre.  Mary’s other two brothers joined the newly wed couple to form a Company when the Licensing Act of 1788 allowed local magistrates to open licensed theatre for sixty days a year.  The new acting group had generally successful limited seasons in Tenterden, Eastbourne, Rye and Battle.  In time William Penley left taking his three children with him.  By then the Jonas’ family had seven children and the Sampson Penleys five.  They were educated by their strolling parents, as was Ellen Terry four decades later.  The author gives us detailed stories of how, when ‘Master Betty’, the Young Roscius, flooded both Drury Lane and Covent Garden in 1804 with huge audiences, the country player Sampson Jr., aged twelve, was, in the same period playing the same hit roles – Young Norval in “Douglas” and Frederick in “Lovers’ Vows.”  Master Betty was earning £75 a night but the young stroller did not!

The book contains excellent reproductions of many playbills and includes a number of black and white drawings of the theatre of the time.

Interesting events are the Jonas & Penley Company performances in London at the minor, but well-attended theatres.  Mrs Jordan acted with them in Lewes for a few nights towards the end of the Napoleonic War as Violante in “The Wonder.”  When the war ended the author records how Sampson Penley made ‘an astonishing decision’ and took the Jonas & Penley Company to Amsterdam in a Dutch ship with a cargo of treacle.  In 1822 they played “Othello” in Paris without much success.

After the death of the elders in his ‘Act Four’ Alan Stockwell gives a detailed ‘eye-opening’ story of the young women in the family, especially Rosina Penley who had played Lady Teazle with Charles Kemble in the Theatre Royal Cheltenham and later played Gertrude to his Hamlet when he was now pensionable.

There is much to learn and much to read – a good accompaniment for lengthening winter evenings.

– Frances Hughes

THE IRVING SOCIETY HOLDS ITS 20^th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Sunday, 21 February 2016 was a thankfully bright and warm day for our for Members as they gathered at Sir Henry Irving’s Statue on Charing Cross Road and watched Luke Irving ascend the ladder to place a wreath at his famous great-great-great Grandfather’s feet.

After the wreath laying, the party assembled at the Concert Hall of the Concert Artistes’ Association in Covent Garden, London for the Irving Society’s 20^th Annual General Meeting.  Our Chair noted continued thanks to Member Glen Hayes – who is also of the CAA – for his continued help in ensuring that this annual gathering is a success.  Thanks were also recorded to the newest Committee member Paul Campion who, in the autumn of 2015, organised a very successful trip for the Society to Northampton.  A number of locations for future Society trips were suggested, and Members are encouraged to continue to share their ideas for such events with the Committee.

Condolences were extended to the family and friends of Members who had passed away in the previous year, including Doreen Brown, Keith Hutton, Roger Mason, Brian Manvell and Nicholas Smith.  In particular honour of the life and memory of Nicholas Smith, his poems Theatre (1963) and Last Night (1968) were warmly read in tribute by the Chair.

The meeting concluded with updates on the Society’s membership numbers, financial position and new website – and with the re-election of all Committee Members and Officers.  As business drew to a close, the Chair led all of those assembled in a chorus of Happy Birthday – both for Sir Henry Irving, as well as for our Vice Chair, Alex Bisset!  Birthday cake duly followed.

Entertainment for the Society’s 20^th Anniversary was especially memorable, as Chair Frances Hughes and Members Mary Greenslade and Rosemary Macvie joined actor Tony Wise in a light-hearted interlude for four voices: Reading the Will: 1616 – 2016 (pictured above).

Thanks to all who were able to attend.  Here’s to another 20 years!

BBC SOMERSET INTERVIEW

Our Chair, Frances Hughes, was interviewed by Claire Carter for BBC Radio Somerset on the morning of Monday, 21 March 2016.  Topics of conversation included the Shakespeare 400 and Sir Henry Irving, Irving’s links to the Somerset area, and the work of the Society more generally.  Many thanks to Frances for spreading the word about the Society and for helping to promote it in such a public way!  We are hoping to obtain a recording of her interview from the BBC and, if successful, will send a link to members in due course.

IRVING ANNIVERSARIES

The month of May brought two Irving related anniversaries.  On 24 May 1895, actor Henry Irving was officially granted his Knighthood.  And on 26 May 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula – for which Irving was claimed to be the inspiration – was first published.

IRVING IN THE PRESS

Members may be interested to see the following article, published recently in the Birmingham Post, and which mentions a connection to Sir Henry Irving.  The article reports on the former Harborne and Edgbaston Institute, opened by Irving in 1878, and which served as an entertainment and cultural hub in Harborne for over 25 years. During its time as an arts centre, the Institute hosted an array of notable performances – even a supposed reading by the poet Hilaire Belloc!  The Grade II listed building has undergone a number of changes in use over the past century and a half, most recently undergoing a transformation into a development of luxury homes.

A brief mention of Irving’s association with the Institute can be found in the excellent book Sir Henry Irving: A Victorian Actor and His World by Jeffrey Richards.

IRVING AND THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW

Throughout his life, Irving had a great number of honours bestowed upon him.  Aside from his Knighthood, Irving was a member of the House Order of Combined Saxe-Coburg Gotha and Saxe Meiningen as well as Doctor of Letters of Dublin University, Doctor of Letters of Cambridge University and Doctor of Laws of the University of Glasgow.

As for the last, thanks is sent to our former Editor and Society Member Michael Kilgarriff for unearthing the following piece from The Stage, published on 23 February 1899:

“It is good news to learn that the University of Glasgow proposes conferring upon Sir Henry Irving the degree of Doctor of Law.  When this has been accomplished Sir Henry will hold the degree for England, Ireland and Scotland — an honour that has never been the lot of any other actor.  Sweets to the sweet, and Sir Henry deserves all that comes to him.”

FORTHCOMING EVENT

Theatre in the Regency Era: Plays, Performance and Practice: 1795 – 1843

From 29 – 21 July, 2016 the Society for Theatre Research (STR) will hold its much anticipated conference: Theatre in the Regency Era: Plays, Performance and Practice: 1795 – 1843.  The STR has invited fifty speakers to present papers at the conference and their subjects will explore the period’s dance, music and drama from a range of historical and methodological perspectives.

The conference will be held on the beautiful campus of Downing College, Cambridge and in its traditional nineteenth century neo-classical rooms and Georgian inspired theatre auditorium, dating from 2010.  The fully-restored college was designed in 1806 by William Wilkins the Younger, the architect who designed the National Gallery and the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds, among other significant buildings.  The College’s theatre, also built in 1814, will provide a rare opportunity for conference attendees to see an original surviving Regency three level horseshoe auditorium.

Members interested in finding out more about the Conference – or, indeed, booking a place to attend – should visit its dedicated website.

REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE FROM THE SOCIETY:

The following requests for assistance from the Membership have been recently received.  If Members are able to help, please contact the Honorary Secretary at theirvingsociety@gmail.com and she will put you in touch with the relevant parties:

MESSAGE FROM HOWARD OSTROM

Howard Ostrom oversees an excellent website, the A-Z Index of Sherlock Holmes Performers, and he is seeking information about a particular performer, Clarence Hague.

Hague, whose real name was James M Hague, was a Welsh actor born in 1857 and is known mainly for his roles in productions of Cymbeline, Henry VIII, Faust and King Arthur which were performed with Henry Irving’s Company between 1894 and 1895.

Clarence Hague played a parody of Holmes (Hezekiah Hurlock Sholmes) in a 1900 production of R.F. and M.F.: or, the Two Are One.  Mr Ostrom is seeking any information about – or photos of – this production.

MESSAGE FROM STEPHEN HALL

Stephen Hall (Programme Leader, Drama at the University of Winchester) has contacted the Honorary Secretary regarding a research/ creative practice project which he is presently undertaking.  He wonders if members might be able to assist with providing information about James ‘Jimmy’ Allen.

GENERAL NOTICES

• Members are invited to submit content for inclusion in either of the Society’s publications. Submissions should be sent directly to theirvingsociety@gmail.com.  Submissions for inclusion in The Irvingite will be considered by the Honorary Secretary, and submissions for inclusion in First Knight will be considered by the Editorial Sub-Committee.
• Members are reminded that The Irvingite will now be published on the Society’s website. To continue receiving this publication by email, Members should subscribe by entering their email into the relevant subscription box at the bottom of the website.  Anyone who requires assistance with this can contact the Honorary Secretary and she will be happy to help.  Members without email addresses will, of course, continue to receive postal subscriptions.
• At our most recent AGM an updated Constitution was put before the Membership, and this has now been ratified. Any Members who would like to receive a copy of these amended Rules should contact the Honorary Secretary.
• And finally, as a reminder, should any members no longer wish to retain single or multiple back issues of First Knight, the Editorial Committee would be pleased to receive such copies to meet the needs of those seeking to fill gaps in their collection – lost or mislaid – or for the benefit of new members seeking to add to their collection.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS AND AGM SAVE THE DATE

To all of our Members, we send belated Season’s Greetings and our wishes for a very Happy New Year!

By now, you will have received your membership renewal forms for the 2016 membership year, but if they have not arrived with you please don’t hesitate to contact us at theirvingsociety@gmail.com.

The Committee looks forward to another exciting year of activities and publications, starting with the 20th Annual General Meeting.  Please save the date for this annual gathering in celebration of Sir Henry Irving’s Birthday.  This year’s festivities will take place on the afternoon of Sunday 21 February, 2016 and, after the ceremonial wreath laying at the statue to Henry Irving, we will once again adjourn to the Club for Acts and Actors in Covent Garden.

The Committee also wishes to note that nominations for additional members of the Committee are gratefully received.  All current Committee Members and Officers have expressed an interest in serving for another term, and this will be put forward to the members on 21 February.

Agendas for the AGM, as well as formal membership cards for the 2016 membership year, will be distributed to Members in the coming weeks.

NEW WEBSITE FOR THE SOCIETY IS LAUNCHED!

The Committee is delighted to announce that The Irving Society’s much anticipated new website is now live! Special thanks must be extended to our website designer, Vicki Holland, for her hard work and dedication in designing such an exemplary and visually arresting site.

The website address remains the same: www.theirvingsociety.org.uk.  Members are encouraged to send any comments or feedback to the Honorary Secretary at theirvingsociety@gmail.com.

Please note that forthcoming issues of The Irvingite will be available on the website, together with regular news and updates.  Members are asked to register as subscribers to ensure that they continue to receive timely, electronic news from the Society.  Instructions on how to subscribe will be sent to Members by email prior to the next newsletter publication date in April 2016.

Those Members without access to the internet will, of course, continue to be sent hard copies of the newsletter through the post.

AUTUMN VISIT TO NORTHAMPTON

28th and 29th September 2015

A group of Irvingites stayed overnight and went to the Theatre Centre of Northampton to see Hairspray at the Derngate Theatre.  Next morning we met the others who came by train from Euston on Tuesday. We made our way to the Guildhall where our member Paul Campion had arranged to start the best timed and informed day one could wish for.

The Guildhall dominates the Square, its Victorian- Gothic frontage as fresh and delicate as finished by Edward William Godwin in 1864. Paul had engaged Kate Willis to guide us round.. First, outside where the history of Northampton and the figures who had participated in it ran across the front from the invasion of the Danes in the 12th century to the
Civil War (where Cromwell had boots made for his army but moved on without payment), and on to Queen Victoria’s visit in 1844. A niche had been reserved for a group of cordwainers, the shoe makers who used only the best leather and techniques in their craft, still practised in Northampton albeit on a smaller scale now.
Inside the building we saw the Great Hall and the Godwin Room decorated in the aesthetic movement style and so much of the original furnishings remaining that it is now a popular venue for weddings while still being used for its civic purposes.

Following lunch we went to the Museum which was celebrating its 150th anniversary. Paul introduced us to Rebecca who led us downstairs where we sat before a long table. On it she placed the shoe box. Rebecca gave a brief account of shoe making in Northampton and the Museum’s collection of 4,500 shoes, including those of Nijinsky and Little Tich. Then the opening of the box and the exhibition of the shoe we had all come to see! Frances identified it as possibly one of the pair HI had worn when playing Louis X1. Cameras were out, white gloves given to Alex who held it near his shoe size 9 and a 1/2 ? It was a treasure but was it Irving’s?

We had a quick look around the varied theatrical shoes and other objects but then if we were to squeeze in the Rennie Mackintosh house we had to leave.

78 Derngate had been designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1916. It was his final major commission. Although some of the original Mackintosh furniture had been lost there was still enough, with the unique wallpaper and artefacts, to envisage it as designed for Mr. Bassett-Lowke who appreciated it rather more than Mrs Bassett-Lowke! We put on the shoe protectors after seeing the garden and back elevation going to the kitchen, the sitting room and the bedroom.

Time, then, to say goodbye with warm thanks to Paul and return to the station.

“So you went all the way to Northampton to see a shoe from some actor?!” Yes, he was some actor and we saw not only the shoe but so much more besides

– HILARY PHILLIPS

ERNEST MOORE’S PORTRAIT OF IRVING

The enterprising Barnsley Art on Your Doorstep project has undertaken a programme of research, and published a study of all artists born in the Barnsley, South Yorkshire, area.

They applied to the Irving Society for help about the lost late portrait of Henry Irving painted by Ernest Moore. Committee members provided information and we have been sent a copy of their interesting volume ‘The Hidden Artists of Barnsley‘. (Another artist included, of theatrical interest, is the costume designer Sheila Graham, 1927-2009.)

Irving on tour was several times entertained by the Sheffield Press Club and in 1897 they commissioned a portrait from the local painter Moore, 1865-1940, who was already established as successful in this genre. The researchers have found that it was some time before sittings could be arranged, in part due to Irving’s 1898 illness, and that they took place while he was convalescing in Cliftonville, near Margate and at his home at 15A Grafton Street in London. The portrait was unveiled in the new building of the Press Club on 6th December 1900 in the presence of Irving and Bram Stoker. The authors record that Irving and Moore got on well during the sittings, the actor finding the painter “a charming personality” and they remained friends. Three days before he died, on 10th October 1905, Irving gave Moore a signed copy of ‘The Merchant of Venice’.

Only one letter related to this is on the Henry Irving Correspondence website (Letter 6635) but the Shakespeare Institute Library at Stratford upon Avon holds a dinner menu for the Press Club which reproduces a drawing by Moore.

The project members have been unable to locate the portrait itself and think it may have been destroyed during the bombing in Sheffield in the last war.

The attractive, sympathetic portrait was however engraved. A copy of the engraving was offered for sale from the Sharvell Martin collection and is reproduced in the Dominic Winter Auctions catalogue for 29 January 2015, Lot 720, which for the present can be seen on screen.

– HELEN R SMITH

CONGRATULATIONS TO DR KRISTAN TETENS!

The Committee wishes to extend its hearty congratulations to Irving Society Member Dr Kristan Tetens who, in August 2015, completed her PhD at the University of Leicester.

Kristan’s thesis, entitled ”Hall Caine, dramatist, with a special study of Mahomet (1890)’, was a study of a play based on the life of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam, that was written by one of England’s best-known authors (Hall Caine) for one of England’s best-known actors (Henry Irving).

Her research interests include nineteenth-century British history and literature; the life and career of the English actor-manager Henry Irving (1838-1905) and his circle; the life and career of the English/Manx novelist Hall Caine (1853-1931) and his circle; representations of India and the ‘East’ on the Victorian stage; theatrical practice in British India; theatrical practice in the Ottoman Empire, especially court theatre in Constantinople c.1875-1900; dramatic censorship; theatre historiography; and digital humanities (especially multimedia applications for the study of Victorian history and culture).

More information about Kristan’s research can be found on the University of Leicester’s website.

IRVING ICONOGRAPHY

The National Portrait Gallery is to publish as complete an iconography as possible for Henry Irving in the Later Victorian Portraits catalogue research series. Work is nearly complete but the following message has been sent by Carol Blackett-Ord who is the research worker. She is interested to hear of rare original works, perhaps in private collections.

Portraits of Ellen Terry and Henry Irving at the National Portrait Gallery

For the  Later Victorian Portraits catalogue, see http://www.npg.org.uk/research/programmes/late-victorian-catalogue/later-victorian-portraits-search.php.

As part of this project, the catalogue of Ellen Terry’s NPG portraits, and her worldwide  iconography, have recently appeared on the Gallery’s Research website:

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/personextended.php?linkid=mp04458&tab=biography

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/personExtended/mp04458/dame-ellen-alice-terry

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/personextended.php?linkid=mp04458&tab=iconography

Irving’s portraiture is drafted and will appear in the same format in the new year. Nuggets of  information on rare or unfamiliar original portraits of Irving – no thanks to cuttings/prints, well covered – are still welcome, and privacy will be respected.

Please contact Carol Blackett-Ord cblackettord@npg.org.uk.

GENERAL NOTICES

• Dear Irving Society Members,
  Please accept my apologies for the delay in publication of the October edition of First Knight. This has been the result of surgery I underwent during the Autumn. This edition will be with you very soon.
  Piers Henderson
• Members are invited to submit content for inclusion in either of the Society’s publications, and submissions should be sent directly to theirvingsociety@gmail.com.  Submissions for inclusion in The Irvingite will be considered by the Honorary Secretary, and submissions for inclusion in First Knight will be considered by the Editorial Sub-Committee.

As a reminder, should any members no longer wish to retain single or multiple back issues of First Knight, the Editorial Committee would be pleased to receive such copies to meet the needs of those seeking to fill gaps in their collection – lost or mislaid – or for the benefit of newer members seeking to add to their collection.

IN MEMORIAM

Finally, it is with great sadness that we must share news of the passing of two greatly admired Members of The Irving Society: Doreen Brown and Nicholas Smith.

Doreen Brown was a long standing member of The Irving Society as well as, for 17 years, the Chair of the Shakespeare Reading Society.  Her funeral was held in St John’s Wood, London on 1 December 2015.

Founding Irving Society Member and well-known actor, writer and musician Nicholas Smith passed away on 6 December 2015. Members will also recall his enjoyable poetry, which he was kind enough to share with the Society during a reading held some years back.  An article focused on his acclaimed career and writings will be featured in a forthcoming edition of First Knight.