Category: The Irvingite

  • The Irving Society Newsletter No 71

    The Irving Society Newsletter No 71

    IRVING SOCIETY VISIT TO NORTHAMPTON

    Tuesday 29th September 2015

    Following the success of the visits to Richmond, Surrey (2013) and Bristol (2014), a trip has been organised to Northampton by Society member Paul Campion on Tuesday, 29th September 2015.  The day is planned to include a guided tour of Northampton Guildhall (designed by Edward Godwin), a visit to Northampton Museum (where we hope to see Irving’s shoes used in ‘Faust’), a walk around the ‘Theatre’ area to see the exteriors of the Royal Theatre and Derngate Centre and a visit to 78 Derngate, the only house designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in England.

    As an addition to our interest in Irving and the 19C Theatre, members may wish to visit All Saints Church and the Market Square. All are located in the town centre.
    A light lunch will be available, if required, at The Parlour, 72 Giles Street.
    Those who stay overnight on Monday 28th before the tour, may wish to visit the Derngate Centre to see the musical Hairspray on Monday evening at 7.30pm.  There are several hotels and B&Bs near the centre of the town of which The Park Inn (by Radisson) is c7 minutes from Northampton Station and has car parking.

    Members must make their individual booking for:

    The Derngate Centre:

    ‘Hairspray’
    visit: http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/YourVisit
    or call the Box Office on: 01604 624811.

    Hotel and transport

    A train currently leaves London Euston at 09.49 hrs and arrives in Northampton at 10.44 hrs but these times may change under the autumn schedule. Members will be met outside Northampton Station at c10.45hrs. Return trains to London are frequent. Car travel is not recommended as day parking is inconvenient and expensive.

    Members are asked to apply ASAP. The final date for bookings to be received by Paul Campion is 19 September. The minimum number of visitors acceptable to take part on the trip is 10, the maximum is 20. The cost for the day, which does not include refreshments or travel, is £10.

    Details of timings etc will be sent well before the day to those who have booked.

    Book your place

    Please click here to download the booking form.

     


     

    Notice of Sale

    Of interest will be two items offered for sale by Society member Alan Stockwell MBE –

    Ellen Terry Jubilee programmeSouvenir programme of Ellen Terrys Jubilee matinee on 12 June 1906.

    This is 12” x 9½” with thick card covers. These have become detached as the spine has failed. All pages are present but connected with very loose stitching.

    Bradford AlhambraProgramme of Sir John Martin-Harvey in The Only Way  Wk Comm 3 April 1939

    Typical 12 page programme of the time. Mostly ads, but it contains photos of Martin-Harvey and Turner Layton – the following week’s attraction. This item is from the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, a date on Martin-Harvey’s farewell tour. The actor would have been 75 at the time and died five years later.

    Offers are invited for both items, either together or separately. Contact bandastockwell@tiscali.co.uk

     


     

    Park Theatre

    We’re delighted to announce that the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park has released details of its Autumn Season, and that they will be staging:

    The Knight From Nowhere and The Bells
    Written by Andrew Shepherd/ Leopold Lewis
    Directed by Chris Lawson
    Park Theatre, London
    24th Nov – 19th Dec 2015

    A celebration of the life of Sir Henry Irving adapted from ACS Random’s 2005 production playing in a double bill with The Bells – the play that made Irving an overnight star on the 25 November 1871.

    Tickets are on sale now with a £10 online offer with the promo code: KNIGHT

    Casting for versatile actors able to play a variety of roles in both productions is due to take place from 21 July.
    Interested parties should visit:  http://www.acsrandom.co.uk/ACS_Random/Home.html

     


    General Notices

    • The Chair is delighted to announce that she has acquired permission from the estate of Herbert Farjeon to include in the forthcoming edition of First Knight his article about his admiration for The Guv’nor entitled Irving: My Hero-Worship.  As Farjeon says, “There was more animal magnetism in his shadow than in the substance of any star now visible”.  We eagerly await sight of it in the next edition, which is due for release in October!
    • 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.
    • Members are reminded that, due to requests from the membership, forthcoming publication dates for the Society’s journal and newsletter will be staggered in order to provide more regular contact throughout the year- as well as to capture time sensitive updates and information.  The next issue of First Knight will be published in October 2015, and the next issue of The Irvingite will be published in December 2015.
    • 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.

     

  • The Irving Society Newsletter No 70

    The Irving Society Newsletter No 70

    19th AGMOverview of the 19th AGM of The Irving Society & the 19th Century Theatre

    The Society’s 19th Annual General Meeting was this year held on Sunday, 8 February 2015 at the Concert Artistes’ Association at 20 Bedford Street in London.  The day was unseasonably bright and mild, and the Society’s festivities were well attended by Members.  The afternoon began as usual with the laying of a wreath at the foot of Sir Thomas Brock’s statue to Sir Henry Irving on Charing Cross Road.

     


     

    Imogen Irving‘The Message in the Bottle’ GUSTAVUS VAUGHAN BROOKE (1818-1866)

    Imogen Irving, great-great-great Grandaughter of Sir Henry led the assembled crowd in three cheers to her ancestor, and then Members retired to the CAA.  Practicalities were concluded with a fascinating talk by the Society’s Chair, Frances Hughes, entitled ‘The Message in the Bottle’ GUSTAVUS VAUGHAN BROOKE (1818-1866).

    Birthday cake was had in celebration of the man of the hour, and the meeting ended with a raffle of prizes. Members remarked that they are looking forward greatly to next year’s AGM, marking as it will the 20th anniversary of the Society.

     


     

    The recent death of the distinguished actor Alan Howard brings vividly to mind today’s links with the theatre of the nineteenth century in that his theatrical forbears included Henry Compton (1805-1877) and his wife Emmeline Montague (1820-1911) both of whom are buried in Brompton Cemetery in London together with their unmarried actor son Henry  Compton(1852-1911).  The grave of their actor/manager son Edward Compton (1854-1918) and his wife Virginia Bateman (1855-1940) is in Brookwood Cemetery, near Woking.

    An extended article on Alan Howard’s family background will appear in the autumn issue of First Knight.

     


     

    SARGENT: Portraits of Artists and Friends.
    National Portrait Gallery, 12 February – 25 May 2015

    Ellen Terry
    Photo of Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth by John Singer Sargent, 1889 (c) Tate, London

    Frances Hughes writes:  Dominating eight rooms in the NPG John Singer Sargent is revealed through the presentation of seventy paintings, many not displayed in the UK before,as having a striking modern talent. Portraits  painted in Paris (1874-1885), Boston and New York (1888- 1912) and London (1889-1913) will bring alive especially for Irvingites,  the leading actors, dancers, playwrights and authors of the late 19C in France, USA and Great Britain.

    The painting of Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth needs no advocacy and it still demands attention even if well known in the UK but there are portraits which have not been displayed in Great Britain before. From private collections comes an oil of Lawrence Barrett, the celebrated American actor (1838- 1890) most famed as Cassius in Julius Caesar and then a literally towering oil painting in the same year of Edwin Booth commissioned by members of the Players Club in New York. Four years later Sargent painted Ada Rehan ( born in Limerick as Delia Crehan) who played leading roles on both sides of the Atlantic. Sargent did not always take commissions but persuaded his sitters using his charm to sit for him briefly. In 1893 Eleanora Duse came to London to play the Princess in Sardou’s Fedora; she sat for him for just one hour but the portrait is remarkable.

    Sargent’s charcoal and chalk drawings of Harley Granville Barker, Faure, Mrs Pat Campbell and Mary Anderson plus Henry James on his 70th birthday came in the first two decades of the 20C when Sargent had largely abandoned portraiture – I found them just as riveting because in a crowded gallery they establish their own confidence.

    There are a series of talks at the NPG plus a day conference on Friday 17th April on  Sargent and the Arts of his Time  £30 (£25)

    Timed admission is requested on booking and the exhibition is somewhat overcrowded but it is worth going just to see the Spanish dancer La Carmencita perform on canvas – and to recognise the NPG statement that  in the twenty first Century John Singer Sargent is still seen as ‘intimate, idiosyncratic and experimental’.

     


     

    Donald Sinden MemorialSir Donald Sinden

    A Celebration
    at Wyndhams Theatre
    Tuesday 19 May 2015 at 2.30 pm

    For tickets, send name & address to:
    The Royal Theatrical Fund
    11 Garrick St, London WC2E 9AR
    by 4 May


    General Notices

    • Due to requests from the membership, the Committee has agreed that forthcoming publication dates for the Society’s journal and newsletter will be staggered in order to provide more regular contact throughout the year- as well as to capture time sensitive updates and information.  Future publication dates for The Irvingite will be in April, July and December, with First Knight released in February and October.
    • The Committee wishes to update members that the refresh of the Society’s website is making good progress and should soon be launched.  Members will be informed as soon as the new site is live.
    • 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.

     

    And finally, it is with deepest regret that we must report the death of Irving Society Member Keith Hutton.  Keith was a Founding Member of the Society, having joined when it was first established in 1996.  He was very involved with our activities and events throughout the years and his presence will be sorely missed.  The Society wishes to extend their most heartfelt sympathy to Keith’s family and friends at this difficult time.

  • The Irving Society Newsletter No 69

    The Irving Society Newsletter No 69

    In Memory of Sir Donald Sinden

    Donald Sinden
    (Photo Credit: Rex)

    On 14 September 2014, Sir Donald Sinden, the much beloved Patron of The Irving Society and an Honorary Life Member of the Society for Theatre Research, passed away aged 90.  The formidable actor, renowned for his ease in playing both tragedy and farce, was an active and long-time member of the Society whose absence will be keenly felt by all those who knew him.

    A particularly fond memory will undoubtedly be the celebration of his 89th Birthday at the Garrick Club in November 2012.  The Society extends its most sincere condolences to Sir Donald’s family at this time.  A celebration of his extraordinary life is being planned for next year.

     


     

    The Irving Society Bristol Visit: 22-23 September, 2014

    The Irving Society Bristol Visit: 22-23 September, 2014
    (Photo, from left to right:  Mary Greenslade, Frances Hughes, Paul Campion and Michael Read.  Credit: Tony Taylor.)

    Mary Greenslade writes:  Exploring Bristol in warm autumnal sunshine is always pleasurable but the Irving Society group were to have an added bonus. Frances Hughes, Alex Bisset and Michael Gaunt had made an earlier reconnaissance and now Frances shared their enthusiasm leading us to  places associated with  Henry Irving’s childhood.
    Our party of six on Monday 22nd (increased to twelve on Tuesday 23rd) certainly appreciated a new view of a great city. Monday afternoon we walked in the Cathedral area finishing at the Bristol Old Vic to enjoy a tapas supper before seeing Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock.   Niamh Cusack played Juno with sensitivity in a production balancing tragedy with gentle humour. The critics’ accolades were well-deserved. We had seats in the Upper Circle where the original 1766 boxes had been.

    Next morning  outside Temple Meads station we all boarded a city bus to Stokes Croft and Picton Street where a plaque on the house records where the little boy Irving stayed with his parents when he came by boat from his Aunt’s home in Cornwall in the  early 1840s.  Young Johnnie Brodribb saw Prince Albert about to launch the ‘S.S.Great Britain’ in 1843 – the vessel is now a tourist attraction in dry dock in Bristol – and later saw the American animal trainer Van Amburgh  (1811 – 1865) driving his chariot down Park Street. Picton Street, the scene of race riots in the 1980s, is now smothered with sub ‘Banksy’ paintings but the area has elegant early  buildings and a quirky charm. (The charm was very noticeable at our lunch at the Bristollian Bistro where we were individually welcomed and well fed and watered.)

    Reluctantly leaving we walked downhill to the Brunswick Congregational Chapel Chapel and Cemetery where Henry’s father, Samuel (d.1876) and uncle Thomas, are buried in graves still to be identified.  We walked on to 21, Portland Square where the distinguished architect/designer Edward William Godwin (1833 – 1886) lived with his wife, Sarah, in 1862. It is an elegant five floor 18C house now marked with a plaque. Three doors away is St.Paul’s Church which the Godwin’s attended on Sundays.  It is now an Art & Drama centre! We imagined  Ellen Terry visiting Godwin – in the event, her future partner – for Shakespeare readings and costume advice as an adolescent.

    Minutes later we were walking through Bristol’s huge modern shopping centre to find the oldest Wesleyan Chapel (1739) with a fine equestrian statue of John Wesley (1703 – 1791) outside. It is very possible that the young Irving worshipped here with his parents.  A talk was in progress so we settled into side benches able to appreciate the original surroundings. Tip-toeing out 15 minutes later we went by bus to Queen Square. This was where the teen-age Terry girls ran around the magnificent statue of William III –still shining in the sun despite being a favoured perch for the local gulls.  Alex Bisset produced a list of the house numbers where the actors of the mid-19 C.  lived,  during the theatre seasons. Following a final look at the exterior of the Bristol Old Vic, with its street still cobbled, we enjoyed a leisurely tea and cake out in the open.

    Many of us also found time  to visit the superb church of St Mary, Redcliffe, now over 800 years old.  G. F. Handel (1685 – 1759) played the organ there and, amongst the many monuments is one to the tragic Bristol-born poet Thomas Chatterton (1752 – 1770) who, as a possible suicide, was buried in an unmarked grave in the now-lost Shoe-lane Workhouse Cemetery in London.  A memorial plaque records the death and burial in 1819 of Arabella Schaw, a niece of the actor David Garrick.  Some of us saw the edifice by night – high-steepled, floodlit with a south porch restored by E. W. Godwin.  As Oscar Wilde wrote on Godwin’s death:

    ‘His dream’s were visions of art’s golden age’

    I think we all had that vision, too, on our Bristol tour.


     

    Michael KilgarriffFarewell and Thanks to Our Former Editor

    The Society wishes to thank its outgoing Editor, Michael Kilgarriff, for his 12 dedicated years’ service to The Irvingite and First Knight, as well as to the Society’s webpage.

    During his time in post, Michael’s commitment to his duties as Editor has been greatly valued, and his publications have been both informative and entertaining to read.  He is wished all the very best for his future endeavours, and the Society looks forward to his continued and active involvement as a member.

     


     

    Members’ News and Updates

    The golden age of pantomimeOn Wednesday October 15 Dr Michael Read delivered the opening lecture in the 2014-2015 series for the Society for Theatre Research.  The subject was “Toole among the Americans” covering his 1874 visit.  Dr Read is in the process of writing a biography of J. L. Toole who was a trusted friend and mentor for Henry Irving.

    The latest book by Professor Jeffrey Richards – The Golden Age of Pantomime – has just been published with the promise that it is “a treat as rich as turkey and Christmas pudding.” – Alex Bisset


     

    Statue of Henry IrvingThe Committee has been contacted by the Manchester Art Gallery regarding their plans to restore a particularly striking statue of Henry Irving as Hamlet by the artist Edward Onslow Ford.

    Of the statue, the Gallery says:  “This statue of the great Victorian Shakespearean actor Henry Irving was given to Manchester City Galleries in 1908, seven years after the death of its sculptor, Edward Onslow Ford. Ford, a Londoner trained in Munich, had achieved great fame in the Victorian art world. The Shelley memorial in Oxford (1892) is usually considered to be his masterpiece, but Mancunians are more familiar with his Queen Victoria (1901) in Piccadilly Gardens.”

    “In giving Henry Irving to Manchester, Ford’s family declared: It gives us much pleasure to know what a splendid home this work will have for all time, and nowhere could it be more appreciated, both from the artistic point of view and that of the love Manchester felt for our great actor. ”

    “Sadly, our Henry Irving has a great deal of chipping and layers of dirt, and a missing finger. Therefore the treatment plan is to first carry out a full surface clean. The ‘bronzing’ is bronze paint, which will never be shiny, but with a thorough clean will reveal much more of the interesting and important texture of the sculpture. Secondly, consolidation and structural repairs to the plaster work are necessary. With the permission of the Guildhall Art Gallery, we would be able to cast a new finger from the marble version of the work. Other losses to the plaster include a section of cloak that has clearly broken off and been less than seamlessly reglued. Finally, the recast and filled sections will require toning-in.”

    “As we have no object conservator on our staff, we would be offering the conservation work to a qualified freelance object conservator. Amanda Wallace, our Head of Asset Management, a former objects conservator, is of the opinion that a potential conservation treatment will be spectacular, with an impressive difference between the ‘before’ and ‘after’.”

    The Society has agreed to make a small donation in support of this restoration.  The Chair, Frances Hughes, also plans to give a lecture at the Gallery in the spring of 2015, the proceeds from which will be donated to the good cause.  Members wishing to make individual contributions are encouraged to be in touch with the Gallery directly.


    Frances Hughes and Frank BarrieWitty and incisive, entertaining but also politically radical and thought-provoking, Bernard Shaw wrote more than 60 plays during his long lifetime. Through next month, the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park will present Shaw at the Park, four evenings of rehearsed readings celebrating the playwright’s works and providing an opportunity to enjoy the variety and exuberance of a master dramatist

    The Society’s own Chair, Frances Hughes will direct two evenings of performances: O’Flaherty VC on 17 November starring member Frank Barrie as the General, and Lies, Spies and Crocodiles- A Triple Bill of Shavian Farce on 8 December.  Performance times are  at 7.30pm, and tickets are £10/ £8 Concessions.

    For more information or to book, please visit: http://www.parktheatre.co.uk or call 020 7870 6876.


     

    The occasion of the September visit to Bristol brought to notice a recent piece of work by our Somerset member, actress and writer Angela Barlow.  She has produced a fascinating slim volume on the dancing career of her former ballet teacher, Madame Nalda Murilova.  As with Henry Irving, this was a stage name and one of several she used through her working life.  She was born in London in 1906 Muriel Louisa Lawrence Barnett, the great-grand-daughter of Russian/Polish migrants.

    Her great love from childhood was to dance and by the mid 1920s was involved with the Serge Diaghilev company and by 1926 had achieved a place in the Anna Pavlova company.  Her subsequent career as a dancer and eventually as a much loved and respected teacher is followed to her death in Bournemouth in 1990.
    For anyone interested in dance this volume tells with affection the story of a life in dance at  a time of new beginnings for ballet in this country.  It is understood that a version will be available on-line in the near future.- Alex Bisset


    Members wishing to submit items for inclusion in the February edition of The Irvingite are encouraged to be in touch with the Honorary Secretary at theirvingsociety@gmail.com.


     

    Gustavus Vaughan BrookeAGM- Save The Date

    This year’s AGM, scheduled for Sunday 8 February 2015, will once again be held at the Club for Acts and Actors in Covent Garden.  Following the ceremonial wreath laying at the statue to Henry Irving, The Chair will deliver a keynote speech entitled The Message In The Bottle: Gustavus Vaughan Brooke (1818 – 1867) and the young Henry Irving.

    Formal notifications of the AGM will be distributed to members in due course.

    The Committee 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 8 February.

    The AGM will also allow members an opportunity to meet the Society’s new Editor of First Knight, Piers Henderson, and to vote on his nomination for membership of the Committee.


     

    General Notices

    • Following on from last year’s AGM, the Society’s name has now been changed to ‘The Irving Society & the 19th Century Theatre’.  This will reflect the broadening scope of the Society to include the whole of the 19th Century theatre as well as the work of Irving’s contemporaries.
    • The Committee wishes to inform members that a long overdue refresh of the Society’s website is currently underway.  The new site will be launched to members before the new year and members will be informed of this.  The Honorary Secretary has also requested that members provide her with up-to-date contact information- including email addresses- as this will ensure that they receive all notifications in a timely manner.  She can be reached at theirvingsociety@gmail.com.  N.B. Members without email addresses will continue to receive their correspondence by post.
    • The Honorary Treasurer updates that the new membership year for the Society will run from 1 January – 31 December 2015.  She requests that all membership subscriptions and renewals be received before Christmas.
    • 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.

     


     

    Irving HouseAnd finally, it is with regret that we report that Honorary Members George Leslie Mason and Roger Lewis Mason of Irving House have sadly passed away.  The Messrs Mason were the owners of Irving House in Keinton Mandeville  which is the house in which Sir Henry Irving was born.

    Members may recall the Society’s visit to the house In February 2011, during which Dickie Briers unveiled a blue plaque to commemorate the site.  The Mason family also kindly allowed us to visit the small ground floor room where HI was born.  Their grandson has informed the former Editor that the house will eventually be going on the market.  Any interested members should contact the Honorary Secretary to be put in touch directly.

     

     

  • The Irving Society Newsletter No 68

    The Irving Society Newsletter No 68

    LAURENCE IRVING 100 YEARS ON

    by Richard Easterbrook

    Laurence Irving & Mabel Hackney
    Laurence Irving & Mabel Hackney

    Laurence Irving and Mabel Hackney died in the sinking of the Empress of Ireland in the St Lawrence River on 29 May 1914. The story of their tour of Canada and last hours on the ship is recounted by Denis Salter in the June 2003 edition of First Knight.

    Many hundreds of families were affected down the generations by this disaster, in which 840 passengers and 172 crew lost their lives. Amongst the dead were my grandparents, Harold Neville and Elsie Vron Neville, who were members of Irving’s touring company and left behind three young children.

    When my sister and I heard that the loss of the ship was being commemorated by the Empress Museum on its hundredth anniversary, we decided to travel to Rimouski, on the shore of the St Lawrence, to say a farewell to these intrepid artists, who had just finished a 3,000 mile tour of Canadian theatres. (As far as we know this is the first time the scene of their deaths has been visited by friends or relations.) We joined a week of (often moving) events for the descendants, including the reading of the names of all those lost that night, and the ringing of the church bells along the riverside at 1.55am on 29 May 2014. Later we signed the memorial book to record our visit.

    Meeting the families, organisers, and ordinary Canadians as we travelled, we were struck by how well-known the sinking of this passenger ship is in Canada. And many people were aware that Laurence Irving was involved. His memory is kept alive in several publications, including the website www.empress2014.ca which has a picture of the couple (see above) and which remarks that they were, ‘without a doubt, the best known passengers aboard’.

    Denis Salter explores the possible resting places of the Irvings and my grandparents. Most likely they lie in or near the ship itself, which is now treated as a grave. Passing over the wreck in a small boat is a sobering experience. Even in May the weather is cold, and the shoreline seems far off. As to the causes of the accident, a film shown during the week (Journey to Oblivion) makes a fair assessment of the responsibilities of the captains involved, concluding that both were exercising caution on the best information they had.

    A happier vignette comes from my grandmother’s last letter from the tour, as the four actors returned to Quebec by train, prior to embarking: ‘They often ask Harold and me to sit with them in the dining car… You would be astonished if you suddenly came in and saw us feeding with Mr and Mrs Laurence Irving and one cannot help being perfectly natural. He is so nice and simple.’ As fitting a tribute as any.

    Empress of Ireland Museum,
    Empress of Ireland Museum, Father Point, Rimouski. Designed to suggest a ship in distress.

    DAY VISIT TO BRISTOL – A REMINDER

    by Alex Bisset

    The Autumn Outing is on Tuesday 23 September 2014. We will meet at Bristol (Temple Meads) Station in the main entrance at 11.30am. Please arrange your own transport in advance, especially train tickets, for cheapest fares.

    During the day we shall visit sites including where Irving lived as a child with his parents for a brief period in 1843; his father and uncle’s burial place in the Dissenters’ Chapel and nearby Portland Square to see Edward William Godwin’s house which Kate and Ellen Terry first visited as teenage actresses . We continue onto Queen’s Square and the Bristol Old Vic. Finally, we go to the church of St Mary Redcliffe, said to be the finest Parish church in England, which has close association with Cabot, Handel, Southey, Coleridge and Chatterton.

    We travel round Bristol on bus and foot. If you have a Senior Bus pass please bring it and travel in Bristol free. Day passes at reasonable price can be purchased on the day for non -holders. Lunch at about 12.30pm will be at the Bristollian Café, 2 Picton Street, Bristol B56 5QA, and you can look out of the window at the plaque on Irving’s Bristol residence.

    Some members may wish to come to Bristol on the previous day. There are some very reasonable hotels such as Premium Inns near to the Old Vic. There is no charge by the Society except for an administrative deposit of £5 (cash or cheque made out to ‘The Irving Society’) which will be returned on the day. Please register now with Frances Hughes – tel: 020 8992 0772 or by email at lyntonfra@aol.com

    DRESSING TO KILL: The Costumes of Ellen Terry at Smallhythe Place

    by Philipa Coughlan

    Ellen Terry‘More difficult to deal with is the Lady Macbeth of Miss Ellen Terry…however, divinely beautiful. The woman…in a quaint and indescribably beautiful costume… might have stood in the court of Camelot.’* wrote the Morning Post, of Ellen’s spectacular green beetle-wing dress, which featured in HI’s revival of Macbeth at the Lyceum Theatre in December 1888. Visitors today can now marvel at the intricacy, beauty and sheer opulence of the shimmering costume, designed by Alice Comyns-Carr and made by Mrs Nettleship, which takes pride of place at Ellen’s Kent home (see painting left by John S Sargent).

    We were given an insight into the conservation work by staff of the highly delicate costumes which had recently been under threat by a carpet bug infestation. Laboriously treated at a Winchester textile store and put into deep freezers to kill the bugs, the precious garments are now safely catalogued and stored. We learnt that Ellen’s daughter, Edy, who maintained the collection after her mother’s death, never allowed the costumes to be washed, and that the first place to search for infestation is of course the dress armpits!

    In the costume stores the following were revealed: Ellen’s Japanese kimono (from Liberty’s) bought by the painter James Whistler; the only dress to have been designed by Edward Burne-Jones which Ellen wore as Guinevere; and, strangely, a vivid pink costume (with tiny waist ) that appears to have belonged to Lillie Langtry.

    There is much to interest visitors at a home which in many ways represents a highly personal archive of Victorian theatrical life. For more information and opening times visit www.nationaltrust.org .uk/smallhythe.

    *Morning Post 31 December 1888 ; also printed in The Era, 26 January 1889 p17 and reprinted iu National Trust Historical Houses and Collections Annual 2011 by Emma Solcombe.)

    FLORENCE, DEMON SUFFRAGIST

    Kristan Tetens sends in this titbit concerning HI’s fearsome widow.
    In her diary Kate Parry Frye, organiser of the New Constitutional Society for the Women’s Suffrage campaign in Kent recorded a meeting with sixty-eight year-old Florence Irving at her home in Folkestone on Thursday, 22 October 1912.

    ‘Back to tea and to write letters, then at 8 o’clock I tidied myself and went off to call on Lady Irving by appointment at 8.30. I was interested and so much enjoyed the interview, and she joined us as a member. I had been told of her powdered face, how, like the cat, she always walked alone, that all Folkestone hates her. I liked her immensely; she seems the only real person I have met, the only understanding person. I am told her temper is abnormal, that maybe, she was sweet to me, and, after all, these sweet-tempered creatures can be temper trying enough for anything. That she and Henry Irving could not get on together I can quite understand. ‘No surrender’ is writ large in her composition – and after all why should the woman always give way. I imagine she had very strong views as to what was fitting for a wife and probably he did not live up to these. I did not stay long but we got a lot in the time and I think she liked me. How wonderfully young she is. Suffrage to her finger tips, and Suffrage before it was passably comfortable to be Suffrage.’

    Reprinted in Campaigning for the Vote: Kate Parry Frye’s Suffrage Diary ed. Elizabeth Crawford (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2013)

    FROM THE EVENING TELEGRAPH 7 JULY 1895:

    ‘There is a capital story, says a gossip in the Queen, told about Sir Henry Irving, whose knighthood his fellow actors assembled to honour last week, during his latest visit to the States . Sir Henry, as is well known, will sit up to any hour of the morning with his cronies on a big night. One morning in the States, after such a night , when he was sitting at breakfast, a large rat bounded right past his legs. Sir Henry naturally started, but the waiter, who knew what a social evening he had gone through, came up to him reassuringly, and whispered, “It’s all right, Mr Hirving; it was a rat.”’

    COME ON, ’ENERY!

    Amongst the runners at last March’s Cheltenham Festiva l was a much-fancied nag called Irving. It had won its previous four outings and started at 4/1. But alas, unlike his bipedal namesake, the equine Irving ‘failed to perform’ and finished nowhere.

    CONTACT DETAILS

    Hon Sec Megan Hunter may be emailed on theirvingsociety@gmail.com.
    As retiring Editor – the next edition of TI will be my last – my email address is now michael@kilgarriff.org.uk.
    Other contact details remain the same:
    10 Kings Avenue,
    London W5 2SH
    tel 020 856 6 83 01.
    www.theirvingsociety.org .uk

    MEMBERSHIP AS AT AUGUST 2014

    Mr Brian Ainslie …………………………………………………………………………… Sanderstead
    Mr J Robert Aldous …………………………………………………………………………….. London
    Mr Peter Baldwin ………………………………………………………………………………… London
    Mr J A & M rs C F Ball …………………………………………………. Saham Toney, Norfolk
    Ms Angela Barlow ………………………………………………………………….. Wells, Somerset
    Mr Frank Barrie Hon Member ……………………………………………………………… London
    Mr Peter Berkeley ………………………………………………………………. East Langdon, Kent
    Mr Alexander Bisset Vice Chair …………………………………………………………… London
    Mrs Jennie Bisset ………………………………………………………………………………… London
    Mr Richard L Black ………………………………………………………………………. Texas, USA
    Mrs Caroline Blomfield ………………………………………………………… Richmond, Surrey
    Dr Arthur Bloom ………………………………………………………………… Pennsylvania, USA
    Mr John & Mrs Rosemary Boyes-Watson ……………………………………………. Coventry
    Mrs Ann Briers …………………………………………………………………………………… London
    University of Bristol Theatre Collection ………………………………………………….. Bristol
    Miss Doreen I Brown …………………………………………………………………………… London
    Dr James Brown …………………………………………………………………………………. London
    Mr Raymond Buckland ……………………………………………………………………. Ohio, USA
    Miss Janice Burr …………………………………………………………………………….. Faversham
    Mr Paul Campion ………………………………………………………………………………… London
    Messrs Brian Chaston & Bruce Cleave ………………………………………………….. London
    Miss Sheila Chilcott …………………………………………………………. Stratford-upon-Avon
    Professor Katharine Cockin ……………………………………………………………………….. Hull
    Ms Christina Britton Conroy ……………………………………………………. New York, USA
    Miss Wendy Corelli-Evans ……………………………………………………….. Hoylake, Wirral
    Mrs Philipa Coughlan ……………………………………………………………………. East Sussex
    Ms Ellen Terry Craig Patron ………………………………………………………………… London
    Dr Monty Denneau …………………………………………………………………. New York, USA
    Mr David Drummond ………………………………………………………………………….. London
    Mr Alan Felton ……………………………………………………………………… Brighton & Hove
    Professor Richard Foulkes ……………………………………………………………. Northampton
    Mr Stephen Gallagher …………………………………………………………… Mellor, Blackburn
    Professor Michael Gaunt Committee ………………………………………………….. Guildford
    Mr Christopher Godwin ………………………………………………………………………. London
    Miss Tina Gray …………………………………………………………………………………… London
    Miss Mary Greenslade ………………………………………………………….. Richmond, Surrey
    Miss Frances Guthrie …………………………………………………………………………… London
    Dr G V Hales …………………………………………………………………………………. Cambridge
    Mr Glen Hayes Hon Member ……………………………………………………………….. London
    Mr E Gerald Hill …………………………………………………………………………………. London
    Sir Michael Holroyd CBE FRHistS FRSL ……………………………………………… London
    Honnold Mudd Library ……………………………………………………………. California, USA
    Messrs Keith Hutton & Richard Morley ……………………. Terrington St. John, Cambs
    Mrs Frances Hughes Chair ………………………………………………………………….. London
    Miss Megan Hunter Hon Secretary ………………………………………………………. London
    Mr John H B Irving Patron ……………………………………………… Castle Cary, Somerset
    Miss Imogen Irving Hon Member ……………………………………………………. Winchester
    Mr Malcolm Jones …………………………………………………………………….. Bromley, Kent
    Mr Mark R Jones ………………………………………………………………………………… London
    Miss Dawn Kellogg ………………………………………………………………. New Jersey, USA
    Mr Michael Kilgarriff Hon Member ……………………………………………………… London
    Miss Barbara Lanning ………………………………………………………….. Pinner, Middlesex
    Mr Brian Lead …………………………………………………………………………………. Blackburn
    Ms Maria Letters ……………………………………………………………. Queensland, Australia
    Mackimmie Library ………………………………………………………………… Calgary, Canada
    Ms Rosemary Macvie ………………………………………………………………………….. London
    Mr Brian Manvell ……………………………………………………………. Stratford-upon-Avon
    Mr Roger Mason Hon Member …………………………….. Keinton Mandeville, Somerset
    Mr Michael C Meredith ………………………………………………………………………. Windsor
    Ms Dolores McCord Monaco ……………………………………………………….. Florida, USA
    New York Public Library …………………………………………………. New York City, USA
    Mr Mike Ostler Committee ………………………………………………………….. Grays, Essex
    Dr Varsha Panjwani Hon Treasurer ……………………………………………………… London
    Mrs Hilary Phillips Committee ……………………………………………………………… London
    Mrs Iseult Pilkington …………………………………………………………………………… London
    Ms Victoria Powell ……………………………………………………………………………… London
    Mrs Ann Rachlin MBE & Mr Iain Kerr …………………………. Iscklesham, East Sussex
    Dr Michael Read ………………………………………………………………………………….. Cardiff
    Professor Jeffrey Richards …………………………………………………………………. Lancaster
    Profess or Denis Salter …………………………………………………………… Montreal, Canada
    Shakespeare Centre Library. ……………………………………………… Stratford-upon-Avon
    Mrs Linda Sharvell-Martin Hon Member …………………………… Wincanton, Somerset
    Miss Ruth Silvestre ……………………………………………………………………………… London
    Sir Donald Sinden CBE FRSA Patron ………………………………………. Tenterden, Kent
    Mr Richard Smedley ………………………………………………….. Newark, Nottinghamshire
    Miss Helen R Smith Committee (Queries Sec) ……………………………………… Londson
    Mr Nicholas Smith …………………………………………………………………….. Sutton, Surrey
    Ms Sylvia Starshine Hon Member ………………………………………………………… London
    Mr Alan Stockwell MBE …………………………………………………………….. Ashford, Kent
    Mrs Virginia Surtees ……………………………………………………………………………. London
    Miss Elizabeth Sutter …………………………………………………………………………. Glasgow
    Mrs Ellen Sykes ………………………………………………………………………………….. London
    TACT (The Actors’ Children’s Trust) …………………………………………………… London
    Mr A A & Mrs M J Taylor …………………………………………………………………… London
    Ms Kristan Tetens ……………………………………………………………………………… Leicester
    Ms Sarah-Jane Harker Vivian ………………………………………………… Perelle, Guernsey
    Mr Donald Walker …………………………………………………….. Great B entley, Colchester
    Mrs Ann Wansborough-White ……………………………………………………………… London
    Mr Alan Wilson ……………………………………………………….. Lland rindod Wells, Powys
    Ms Suz Winspear …………………………………………………………………………….. Worcester

  • The Irving Society Newsletter No 67

    The Irving Society Newsletter No 67

    DICKIE AND THE GUV’NOR

    Michael Kilgarriff

    Richard Briers
    Richard Briers

    Few of our members can have evinced so fierce a devotion to HI as Richard Briers. We saw him lay the annual wreath at the Irving statue with the utmost reverence, we heard him spe ak with wit and insight at our Annual Dinners and at the 2007 AGM; he unveiled the plaque at the Irving birthplace, he was for many years a trustee of The Henry Irving Foundation, and he helped clean up the Brodribb family grave in Bristol. In the 1995 film In The Bleak Midwinter he gave a brief but startlingly recognisable snapshot of the Guv’nor, and in 2009 most ably and knowledgeably chaired the discussion at the Cottesloe Theatre of Sir Michael Holroyd’s A Strange Eventful History.

    Richard Briers as Mathias, Liverpool PlayhouseIn 2005 he and Annie attended the University of Leicester Irving Centenary conference, where it was pointed out that he enjoyed the rare distinction of having played four of his idol’s most celebrated roles: Richard III, King Lear, Hamlet, and, of course, Mathias in The Bells.  (see photo right).

    * * * * * * * *

    A report by our Vice-Chair, Alex Bisset, on the Celebration of Dickie’s life and work staged at the Criterion Theatre, Piccadilly Circus, last April will appear in the August edition of First Knight.

    WOLSEY v. RICHARD

    Last February’s First Knight included Jack Windsor Lewis’s highly technical evaluation of the notorious Wolsey recording, allegedly made by Irving but prob ably not. The American speech therapist Kate DeVore has also listened to the Wolsey and compared it with the authentic Irving recording of the opening speech from Richard III, both of which can be heard on our website. Here are her thoughts:

    ‘It is not the same person. Granted, the difference in the microphone and recording context could invalidate much of my opinion but the timbre is simply a different voice. The pharyngea l space is different, the resonance is different. The Wolsey speaker is more quavery, giving an impression of working for it rather than just being it. He was also shaping his vocal tract differently – acoustics don’t lie. The pitch variations were comparable, but they didn’t match the expression of the text; the real one is real, the questionable one is working to make it sound real.’

    So if Prof Lewis and Ms DeVore are right, who was the ‘questionable one?’

    ODDS AND ENDS

    Royal Mail have issued a new series of First Class stamps depicting celebrated Britons born in 1914. These include such worthies as Sir Alec G uinness, Kenn eth More and Joan Littlewood. Why, therefore, did they turn down the Society’s suggestion in 2005 that the centenary of HI’s death be similarly recognised?

    From The ERA Saturday 12 June 1886

    ‘There has just died at Halsetown, close to St. Ives, Cornwall, a Miss Betsey Penberthy, aged seventy-four years. She had resided in Halsetown for a number of years, and was the village schoolmistress, continuing her occupation until very recently. It was at Miss Penberthy’s school that England’s greatest actor, Mr Henry Irving, learnt his alphabet, and went from his primer to read in the bible. The old lady was always very glad and very proud to talk of her old scholar “Master Johnny Broadrib, or Mr Irving as he is ca lled now,” and was fond of stating that whenever he was in Cornwall and was within a drive of Halsetown he always paid her a visit and introduced her to his friends as “my old scho olmistress.” It was at the Bible Christian Chapel, Halsetown, it is said, that Mr Irving gave his first recitation in public.’

    NB: Miss Penberthy is d escribed in Laurence Irving’s biography of HI as a ‘namesake’ of his Penberthy aun ts rather t han a rela tive.
    Submitted by Alex Bisset.

    The following is from a website called www.houseofnames.com :

    ‘The name Brodribb comes from when the family lived in Some rset, wher e they took their name from the parish of Bawdrip. The place-name first appears in the Domesday Book in 1086, as Bagetrep. Further research revealed that the name is derived from the Old English terms bage and trep, which means badger and trep, respectively. It denoted a place where badgers were snared.’

    AUTUMN OUTING: DAY VISIT TO BRISTOL

    Alex Bisset writes: The day trip to Bristol is on Tuesday 23 September 2014. We will meet at Bristol (Temple Meads) Station in the main entrance at 11.30am. Please arrange your own transport in advance, especially train tickets, for cheapest fares.

    During the day we shall visit sit es including where Irving lived as a child with his parents for a brief period in 18 43; his father and uncle’s burial place in the Dissenters’ Chapel and nearby Portland Square to see Edward William Godwin’s house which Kate and Ellen Terry first visited as teenage actresses. We continue on to Queen’s Square and the Bristol Old Vic. Finally, we go to the church of St Mary Redcliffe which has close association with Cab ot, Handel, Southey, Coleridge and Chatterton.

    We travel round Bristol on bus and foot. If you have a Senior Bus pass please bring it and travel in Bristol free. Day pa sses at reasonab le price can be purchased on the day for non-holders. An early lu nch at about 12.30pm will be booked at the Bristollian Café, 2 Picton Street, Bristol B56 5QA. They serve a variety of soft drinks, wine, beer, light snacks, etc., and you can look out of the window at the plaque on Irving’s Bristol residence in 1843. Members of the Committee who have had a light lunch there on a preliminary visit can recommend it. Make your choice and your own payment!

    Some members may wish to come to Bristol on the previous day. There are some very reasonable hotels such as Premium Inns near to the Old Vic. The maximum number for the outing may be limited to 15 people. There is no cost on the part of the Irving Society or the Society for Theatre Research except for an administrative deposit of £5 (cash or cheque made out to ‘The Irving Society’) which will be returned on the day if you take the tour.

    Further details will be circulated later but p lease register now with Frances Hughes – tel: 020 8992 0772 or by email at lyntonfra@aol.com.

    WATTS GALLERY

    Ellen Terry: The Painter’s Actress
    10 June – 9 Nov 2014
    Down Lane, Compton, Guildford, Surrey, GU3 1DQ.
    Tel: 01483 813 593
    For opening hours and prices of admission see www.wattsgallery.org.uk

    ‘Every famous man of the 1 9th Century – provided he were a playgoer – has been in love with her’ – George Bernard Shaw Ellen Terry : The Pa inter’s Actress will be the first exhibition to explore how the influence of Britain’s most famous Shakespearean actress reached beyond the stage to inspire generations of visual artists. Bringing together paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography and film – including material rarely or never previously exhibited – the show will trace Ellen Terry’s journey from emerging teenage starlet to cultural icon.

    The exhibition is timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Ellen Terry’s marriage to the great Victorian artist George Frederic Watts (1817-1 904). Although their relationship lasted for less than a year, the artist’s paintings of his young bride have been described as ‘his most glorious visions on canvas’.

    FOR SALE

    Postcard of Henry Irving and an autographed letter by him from the Queen ’s Hotel, Manchester, dated 5 December 18 91, in which he writes: ‘My dear Sir, many thanks for your very kindly letter & for the capital verses which it contained. Believe me (compressed) ever truly yrs H Irving’

    This transcription of HI’s notoriously difficult handwriting is by our Queries Secret ary, Helen Smith, who also advises that the letter ‘is surely to the Stalybridge blacksmith and poet Samuel Hill – s ee the Henry Irving Correspondence website www.henryirving.co.uk. Since Stoker later replied I think this is a quick note written by Irving to a hand delivery at the hotel. Hill had sent verses previously. These survive at Str atford-upon-Avon.’

    OIRO £30 t o Mr W Martin 7 Eliot Crescent, Lowaters, Hamilton ML3 6SN, Scotland

    LOSS OF THE EMPRESS OF IRELAND

    A reminder that events commemorating the centenary of the sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland, in which Laurence Irving and his wife Mabel Hackney were drowned, may be found on http://www.empress2014.ca/seclangan/calendar.html

    PERSONAL STATEMENT BY THE EDITOR

    After twelve years in post I have reluctantly decided to step down as Editor of both The Irvingite and its big brother First Knight. If you are computer-savvy and f eel that either or both jobs might suit you get in touch for full det ails (see below). MK CONTACT

    INFORMATION

    Hon Sec Megan Hunter may now be emailed on theirvingsociety@gmail.com, and the Editor’s new email address is michael@kilgarriff.org.uk. His other contact details remain the same: 10 Kings Avenue, London W5 2SH. tel 020 8566 8301.

  • The Irving Society Newsletter No 66

    The Irving Society Newsletter No 66

    EIGHTEENTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

    Sunday, 9 February, 2014
    Concert Artistes’ Association, 20 Bedford Street, London WC2E 9HP

    Despite the wettest and stormiest start to a year since records began, our annual pilgrimage to the Irving statue was blessed with as clement a February day as could be hoped for, and over thirty of the faithful watched RADA student Imogen Irving climb the ladder, place our wreath at the Guv’nor’s feet, and call for three cheers for her great-gr eat-great- grandfather.

    The brief ceremony concluded, we walked across St Martin’s to the CAA where our Chair, Frances Hughes, pointed out that we not only had in our midst a direct descendant of Irving himself, b ut also a gr eat-grand daughter of Ellen Terry – our Patron Ellen Terry Cr aig – and a great-granddaught er of both Sir Squire Bancroft and Sir John Hare – Caroline Blomfield.

    Frances then ran swiftly through the formalities of the AGM, including a decision by the Committee not to put the subscription rates up next October. The proposed visit to various Irving-related sites in Bristol was discussed, the two-day trip to take place in September. Kristan Tetens told us from the floor that she was back in the UK to continue her researches into Hall Caine’s play The Prophet, planned for production at the Lyceum by Irving but abandoned after pressure from the Lord Chamberlain. A rehearsed reading is another Society event under consideration.

    The Committee was voted back in nem. con. as were our two new officers: Megan Hunter – Hon Secretary, and Varsha P anjwani – Hon Treasu rer (see overleaf). From t he floor your Editor regretted the lack of original copy being submitted for First Knight, and that he was increasingly obliged to fill the pages with reprints of published material. The Chair announced that Committee member Hilary Phillips was looking at revising the Rules and Constitution in order to extend the Society’s sphere of interests from the late 18th century to 1914.

    After a short break Caroline Blomfield took part in a Q&A session with F rances and our Vice-Chair, Alex Bisset, on her new book about her great-grandparents The Bancrofts On and Off the Stage (see p4), affording us a charming and humorous half hour.

    It was a warm and friendly meeting, as always, rounded off with the excitements of the annual raffle, the cutting of the Birthday cake, and a glass of wine. A very happy afternoon.
    Editor

    VARSHA PANJWANI

    Dr Varsha Panjwani
    Dr Varsha Panjwani

    Our new Honorary Treasurer has an exceptionally distinguished academic career, with a first-class honours degree from Leeds Trinity University in Renaissance Literature and a PhD from the Un iversity of York in Renaissance Theatre. Currently she is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Fordham University (London Campus).

    Her administrative experience includes running the Renaissance Reincarnations Project which involves fundraising, sponsor seeking, negotiating fees, collaborating with local arts b odies, pub licity, event organizing, handling finances and budgets.

    Varsha has also attended workshops on Commedia dell’ Arte techniques, Cicely Berry’s sessions on voice, and Penelope Wilton’s sessions on performance choices.

    We could scarcely have a more widely experienced or highly qualified candidate, and the Committee is delighted that she has agreed to come on board.

    OBJECTIONS TO OBSEQUIES

    Irving by HistedThe Dean of S t Paul’s refused to bury HI’s remains in his cathedral; the Dean of Westminster Abbey also demurred, though this report in The Stage dated 26 October, 1905, shows the pressure he was subjected to, and to which he eventually yielded.

    ‘Amongst the distinguished signatures appended to the memorial presented to the Dean of Westminster, pra ying that Sir Henry Irving might be interred in Westminster Abbey, were those of the following:– Mr. George Meredith, Mr. Algernon Charles Swinburne, Sir Fredk. Treves, Baroness Burdett-Coutts, Professor Sir James Dewar, Mr. Arthur W. Pinero, Sir George Lewis, the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Tennyson, the Bishop of Ripo n, Sir James Knowles, Sir Theodore Martin, Right Hon. Joseph Chamb erlain, M.P., Sir Squire Bancroft, Sir Charles Wyndham, Mr. John Hare, Sir Alex. Mackenzie, FieldMarshal Sir Fred erick Hain es, Sir R. Douglas Powell, Lord Burnham, Sir Hubert Parry, Viscount Goschen, the Duchess of St. Albans, Sir Howard Russell, the Provost Eileen Atkins Ellen Terry of Trinity, Dublin, the Principal of Glasgow University, and the Duke of Devonshire.

    The Palace theatre exhibited on the bioscope on Friday the admirable portrait of Sir Henry Irving by Histed (see above) and under it Long fellow’s lines:–

    Lives of great men all remind us
    We can make our lives sublime,
    And, departing, leave behind us
    Footprints on the sands of time.’

    ELLEN TERRY with EILEEN ATKINS

    Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London SE1 9DT.
    13 January, 2014
    Report by Paul Campion

    The newly-opened Sam Wanamaker Playhouse on Bankside is the setting for Eileen Atkins’ presentation of her one woman performance – a tribute to both Ellen Terry and Shakespeare.

    Eileen Atkins
    Eileen Atkins

    Dame Eileen uses material from Terry’s lectures, with which she famously toured Britain, the United States and Australasia , to create this fascinating ninety-minute show and in doing so gives us insights into a dozen or so of Shakespeare’s heroines – most of whom were played on stage by Terry herself They range from Beatrice – which with Irving as Benedick was one of their most successful stage pairings – to Mistress Page, from Portia to Ophelia and each comment of Terry’s (and thus, of Atkins) illuminates the personalities of these extraordinary women. Terry’s views on the interpretation of these roles were witty and insightful; she clearly loved them and, more importantly, loved playing them. Each character is realised in brief extracts from the plays, among which Cordelia’s scene with her father, King Lear, was particularly moving.

    Ellen Terry
    Ellen Terry

    This performance is a tour de force and the setting is equally impressive. The Wanamaker Playhouse is a small and fully enclosed space but designed in the spirit of its older brother, the Globe Theatre. The solid oak construction makes for a splendid acoustic and the naked candlelight adds atmosphere to any genre of performance. Plays, opera and concerts are all planned for later in the year.

    Make every effort to see this show; make every effort to visit the new theatre. If possible, see them together. (Till 23 February)

    NOTE: Our Chair, Frances Hughes, who has also seen the show, warns that the wooden bench-type seats are very uncomfortable – take your own cushion.

    HI’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE

    Henry Irving's birth certificate
    Henry Irving’s birth certificate

     

    HI’s birth certificate clearly shows that he was registered solely as John Brodribb – Henry was a baptismal name only. His father, Samuel , is described as a Linen Draper, and his mother’s maiden name, Bohenna, seems to be misspelled as Bohanna.

    Box one reads: ‘ A t Keinton Mandeville the sixth day of February about five o’clock in the evening.’

    Many thanks to Alex Bisset for this item.

    THE BANCROFTS ON AND OFF THE VICTORIAN STAGE

    Caroline Blomfield at the AGM
    Caroline Blomfield at the AGM

    Caroline Blomfield
    Introduction by Sir Michael Holroyd
    Leyborne Publications 2013
    PB 360 pp Over 10 0 illustrations
    Bibliography and Full Index ISBN 978 0 952051575
    Copies £10 + £2.60 p&p from the author.
    7 Leyborne Park, Kew
    Richmond, Surrey TW£9 3HB
    Tel: 0208 940 8749
    Email: david.blomfield@virgin.net

    Editor: Michael Kilgarriff
    email m.kilgarriff@btinternet.com
    tel 020 8566 8301
    10 Kings Avenue, London W5 2SH

  • The Irving Society Newsletter No 65

    The Irving Society Newsletter No 65

    RICHMOND REVISITED: THE SOCIETY GOES SURREYSIDE

    Thursday, 3 October, 2013
    Report by Alex Bisset

    Caroline Blomfield, Alex Bisset, David Blomfield, Frances Hughes, Mary & Frank Barrie. Photo by Jennie Bisset
    Caroline Blomfield, Alex Bisset, David Blomfield,
    Frances Hughes, Mary & Frank Barrie. Photo by Jennie Bisset

    Undeterred by dire weather forecasts which, however, proved to be wrong, eighteen stalwart Society members met at 11.30am at Richmond Station. Led by local historian David Blomfield the group embarked on a theatre-related excursion, stopping first on the edge of Richmond Green at the Matcham-designed Theatre Royal where we had an opportunity to visit the fine auditorium. A walk across the Green, enlivened by anecdotes and commentaries by our guide and by our Chair, Frances Hughes, brought the group to the site of the Theatre Royal of Edmund Kean’s day, close to what remains of the extensive royal palace of Tudor times. Here Frances read an extremely moving letter from her collection, written in 1833 by the poor old actor John Powell to John Pritt Harley, seeking assistance in getting from central London to his old colleague Kean’s funeral at Richmond.

    Recrossing the Green, more or less as did Kean’s cortège, we reached the church of St Mary Magdalene and the adjacent restaurant La Buvette where a splendid lunch had been organised. Satisfactorily fed and watered we proceeded to the church where, alas, Kean’s final resting place in the vault can no longer be po sitively identified.

    A supplementary visit for many in the group involved a short bus journey to Kew Green where we visited the lovely church of St Anne’s – about to celebrate its tercentenary – and saw the graves of the artists Thomas Gainsborough and Johan Zoffany, both of whom had strong theatrical connections.

    To bring to a close the outing which had been not only theatrically informative but essentially of a social nature, the rump of the group ended as guests of our distinguished guide and his wife Caroline (see photo) where we were soon immersed in memorabilia of the Hare and Bancroft families.

    Helen Smith writes: Quite often the Henry Irving Correspondence website www.henryirving.co.uk can illuminate articles and notes in The Irvingite. For instance, relevant to our visit to Richmond, a check on the website reveals a connection between Irving and Kean. In 1894 one John Skewes-Cox wrote to HI (Letter 6525) saying that the Kean entablature, then on the outer wall of Richmond Parish Church, needed to be replaced at an estimated cost of £5.10s. Irving in a note for his reply agrees to pay, but Jennie Bisset has shown that the work was not carried out until1904 when the monument was cleaned and moved inside. Others who contributed to the cost were Sir Squire Bancroft, Lewis Waller, Isidore Spielmann and Mr & Mrs F M Paget.

    Post Script: In the August Irvingite (No 64), Arthur Bloom and the Editor provided information about Elizabeth Davenport aka Lizzie Weston (Mrs Charles James Mathews); the HI Correspondence website includes six warm letters from her to Irving in which she signs herself Mrs Charley, and Irving describes her as a very dear friend.

    SYLVIA STARSHINE

    Sylvia Starshine
    Sylvia Starshine, Annual Dinner 2009

    Our Honorary Treasurer has, alas, decided to resign. For over a decade Sylvia chased up our subs, fiercely guarded our pennies and kept us solvent, and one can understand that she feels it is now time to hand the accounts over to someone else. The Society is deeply obliged to her for so many years of excellent service.

    SIT VAC

    For the time being our Chair, Frances Hughes, is looking after the finances, but a permanent Hon Treasurer is required. The duties are not that time-consuming so if you feel inclined to volunteer please cont act Frances on lyntonfra@aol.com for further information.

    WELCOME TO OUR NEW HON SEC

    Megan Hunter
    Megan Hunter

    Your Committee is delighted to announce that Megan Hunter has agreed to take on the post of Honorary Secretary of the Society. Currently Megan is the Press and Public Relations Manager of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and thus has a wealth of administrative experience as well as a close association with the world of theatre. Recommended by Committee member Prof Michael Gaunt, her appointment will be ratified at next February’s AGM.

    EDWIN BOOTH: A BIOGRAPHY AND PERFORMANCE HISTORY

    Arthur W Bloom
    Pubs: McFarland & Co Inc., North Carolina (2013)
    European distributors: Eurospan Ltd., 3 Henrietta St., London WC2E 8LU
    Tel: 020 7845 0853 .
    Email: Catherine Lawn catherine.lawn@eurospan.group
    Price: £37.10 incl. 25% discount for Irving Society members.
    Hb. 358 pp. 18 ills. Comprehensive index. ISBN 978-0 -7864-7 289-5
    Review by Richard Foulkes

    Dr Arthur W Bloom, who gave the Heritage Talk in February (a trans cription of which can be found in First Knight Vol. 17 No. 2), is the author of this new study of the American actor Edwin Booth.

    As the title implies this substantial volume covers Booth’s personal circumstances including several troubled relationships wit h memb ers of his family (his assa ssin brother; mentally disturbed second wife) and his stage career, which must be rated as the most successful of an American actor thereto, every performance of which is recorded in the Performance History section.

    Booth, Irving’s senior by five years, was born into an acting dynasty and undoubtedly felt he ranked the higher of the two when he encountered the fledgling Henry Irving (Laertes to his Hamlet, Cassio to his Othello, Bassanio to his Shylock) in Manchester in 1861. By the time Booth made his belated return in 1 880 -1 the roles were reversed as the American actor gratefully alternated Othello and Iago with his host who was generally agreed to have won the contest.

    Bloom devotes only a few lines to this encounter, rather less than he does to Mary Booth’s deteriorating condition at th e time, and to find out more the reader must refer to the Performance History where contemporary accounts are reprinted at some length. Dr Bloom no doubt had his reasons for organising his book in this way, though this reviewer was not entirely persuaded of its merits.

    FOR SALE

     

    Letter from Henry Irving
    (1) Two Lyceum programmes: Olivia (1885) and Becket (1893). Also a letter n.d. from Irving thanking a Mr Marsh ‘for the flowers. They are lovely’ (see above). Asking prices: £20 for each programme and £40 for the letter.Offers to: Nick Hale Flat 4, 2 Trinity Road Scarborough, North Yorks YO11 2TA email: cruiseshipsinger@yahoo.co.uk

    Irving as Shylock

    (2) 28cm x 20cm oil-on-board sketch of Irving as Shylock. Artist unknown. Guide price £1,500. Offers to: Greg Page-Turner 2, The Stable Yard, Woodhayes, Honiton Devon EX14 4TP tel: 07958 699 645 email: greg@woodhayes.co.uk

    ODDS AND ENDS

    In Seymour Hicks’ Twenty-Four Years of an Actor’s Life the author recalls a conversation with HI, who said:
    ‘Do you know you remind me of Charles Mathews; very like him, very.’
    ‘I’m so glad,’ I replied.
    ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘you wear the same sort of collars.’

    ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

    Sunday, 9 February, 2014 2.30pm

    Wreath-laying at Irving’s statue 3.15pm AGM at the CAA in Bedford Street. Full details to be circulated after Christmas.

    Editor: Michael Kilgarriff
    email m.kilgarriff@btinternet.com
    tel 020 8566 8301
    10 Kings Avenue, London W5 2SH

  • The Irving Society Newsletter No 64

    The Irving Society Newsletter No 64

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    OTHELLO at the National Theatre Wednesday , 24 July, 2013 at 1.30pm

    Michael Gaunt writes: Eleven Irving Society members were most fortunate to be part of a party booking to see Nicholas Hytner’s modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s play Othello. The performance took place on the Olivier Theatre stage in front of a capacity audience. Hytner and his team had given the play a contemporary setting. The action takes place in an overseas military base, the type of place that viewers regularly see on television news reports about conflict in the Middle East. A military advisor was brought in to ensure the accuracy of living conditions on such a base.

    The set is made up of a series of ‘moveable’ rooms, in addition to impersonal exterior places around the base The rooms are advanced on to the stage and retracted according to the required location and enable the action to flow continuously. The rooms have ceilings, which at times obscure the actors’ s faces from audience members in the theatre’s upper seating. The confined space of the rooms provides a claustrophobic atmosphere and this effect adds to the isolation of the characters in a dangerous territory, while the varying lighting states suggest oppressive heat.

    The audience could not doubt that the action of the play is taking place in a military base peopled by soldiers. The critical moment in Act 3, scene iii when Othello seizes Iago by the throat and says ‘Villain, be sure thou prove my love a whore. Be sure of it.…’ takes place in a functional office furnished with work-stations and computers. In Act 4 scene i, Othello hides in a WC cubicle in a washroom, to overhear Cassio apparently speaking of Desdemona to Iago ‘I think i’faith she loves me.’ Desdemona’s murder takes place in the stark married quarters in a harsh bedroom light.

    There are powerful performances from Adrian Lester as Othello and Rory Kinnear as Iago. The scenes in which Iago slowly but surely undermines Othello’s trust and belief in Desdemona and stimulates his jealousy of Cassio are relentless and believable. Olivia Vinall plays Desdemona and Lyndsey Marshal is Emilia. This is a production to see if possible. It has been filmed and it will be possible to see a single showing of it in national cinemas this September.

     

    THE BELLS – THE MUSICAL

    Brian Manvell

    The tiny Irving Theatre a t 17, Irving Street, Leicester Square – a stone’s throw from Sir Henry’s statue – was located in a room above a resta urant and reached by a narrow staircase at the side. This bijou theatre was created and owned by D P Chaudhuri and operated from 1951 until his death in 1964.

    It existed, ostensibly as a Members Only theatre, a device designed to avoid the restrictions imposed by the Lord Chamlerlain’s Office, though these may not have been strictly adhered to.

    Opera ted as an intimate revue venue, it extended its programmes to most other types of theatre entertainment including Victorian melodrama, Grand Guignol, and eventually strip shows. Many performances were late night shows which a llowed actors to attend after their own plays had ended.

    On 13 October, 1955, it presented a musical version of Leopold Lewis’s The Bells, to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Sir Henry Irving’s death. The book was by George Edge and Margaret Morris with the lyrics by Lord Byron (sic) and George Edge and music by Reynell Wreford. Directed by Guy Vaesen, the cast consisted of:

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    Christian
    Annette
    Hans
    Sozel

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    Todd Thompson
    June Elvin
    Peter Mander
    Deirdre Day

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    Walter
    Catherine
    Dr Zimmer
    Mesmerist

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    Bernard Fox
    Patricia Routledge
    Richard Morgan
    Bernard Fox

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    On 14 October The Daily Telegraph reported:

    The transformation (into a musical) is done with the same subtlety that invests the performance of the highly competent cast. The old ham melodrama is not visibly guyed in adapted dialogue, songs, or even score. And wisely, it is played straight. In a sense, however, it is “Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark” for the Irving part never appears on stage.

    The lyrics are wittily devised,wittily sung and wittily stageed; and the direction was admirably clear. For all the tiny theatre, tiny stage and single piano for accomp animent, this was a full scale and s atisfying entertainment. The presentation of The Bells without Mathias must have raised a few eyebrows and, in any case, it is difficult to visualis e the play as “satisfying entertainment” .

    It would be interesting to speculate what possible effect might be achieved by a coalition, say, of Sir Henry Irving and Andrew Lloyd Webber!

    Editor’s Note: See First Knight Vol 8 No 1 (June 2004) for a report in The Building News of a High Court hearing concerning plans for the construction of an Irving Theatre in West St, London WC. The St Martin’s Theatre now occupies the site.

    LIZZIE WESTON aka LIZZIE DAVENPORT

    Prof Arthur Bloom sends the following email from Pennsylvania:

    Two people at the [AGM] a sked if I had anything on an a ctress named Lizzie Weston. I do not know their names. Anyway, here is what I have:

    Mrs. Lizzie Weston Davenport played Julia de Mortemar to [Edwin] Booth’s Richelieu at the Boston Theatre on September 1 5, 18 57; p layed Desdemona to Booth’s Iago at the Boston Theatre on September 16 and 21 , 185 7; played Portia to Booth’s Shylock at the Boston Theatre on September 17, 1857; played Ophelia to Booth’s Hamlet at the Boston Theatre on September 2 3, 1857 ; played Katherine to Booth’s Petruchio at the Boston Theatre September 25, 1857.

    Editor’s note: Lizzie Weston, née Jackson, married the English comic actor Charles J Mathews in 1858 in New York. Her subsequent career on the British stage was brilliant but brief, for after 1864 she was little seen on the boards. She died on 12 January, 1899, aged 66, and her ashes were deposited in her husband’s grave at Kensal Green. All the leading theatrical lights of the day either attended her funeral or sent tokens of esteem. Sir Henry Irving, a close friend of her husband who had died in 1878, sent a wreath inscribed: ‘In affectionate remembrance of a loved and dear friend.’ See her obituary on p.16 of The Stage, 12 January, 1899, for further details, though her first husband, the American actor A H Davenport, whom she divorced just ten days before marrying Mathews, is not mentioned.

    FORTHCOMING EVENTS

    Thursday, 3 October, 2013

    A luncheon at La Buvette, Church Walk, Richmond, in place of the usual annual dinner. The event will include visits to the site of the Star & Garter Inn where the likes of Dickens and Irving found time to relax; St Mary’s Church where Edmund Kean is buried; the present Richmond Theatre and the site of the 18th century building; and, time and energ ies permitting, p erhaps also to St Ann’s, Kew, where Zoffany and Gainsborough are buried. Our guide will be distinguished local historian Dr David Blomfield, and th e cost including luncheon is £2 5. Full details have been emailed/posted to all members.

    Sunday, 9 February, 2014

    The AGM will be held as usual at the CAA in Bedford Street, Covent Garden, at 3.15pm aft er the tradition al wreath-laying at the Irving St atue at 2 .30pm.

    Summer, 2014

    Plans are being laid for an outing to Bristol, to visit the many sites there associat ed with Irv ing and the Brodribb family.

    FOR SALE

    An autograph letter signed by Henry’s Irving’s elder son H B (Harry) Irving, 3pp, to ‘Dear Sir’ from South Western Hotel, Southampton, Oct. 8(?), 1907, thanking him for a letter of encouragement. Please email Elaine Adams on adamsmelaine@aol.co.uk or phone 07969 23376 5 if you wish to make an offer.

    Addendum to FOR SALE Irvingite 63:

    Further news of t he steel trunk made for HI’s court dress: Sir Donald Sinden reports that it was once owned by HI’s grandson, Laurence, who told him that when it was opened the clothes within had been consumed by moths. Sir Donald still has the head-dress which Laurence gave him, but what happened to the ceremonial sword?

    THE MERMAID’S CAGE – a theatre play by Danielle Ross

    Among the victims of the wreck of the RMS Empress of Ireland were Laurence Irving (younger son of Sir Henry) and his wife Mabel Hackney, returning home after a four month cross-Canada tour. The liner, making her ninety-sixth crossing, sank on 29 May, 1914, in only fourteen minutes, taking with her 1,012 lives.

    Almost a century later, a woman returns home after serving with Médecins Sans Frontières. Suffering from post-traumatic shock, she slips off her sailboat. The current carries her to the wreck where she meets Laurence and Mabel and four fictional drowned persons.

    They will learn about the Great War which broke out shortly after their ill-fated voyage. This encounter will also be a confrontation between our present-day world and the Edwardian period.

    Written in French by Dan ielle Ross and translat ed by Pierre Lenoir, Montréal. A PDF of the text is posted on www.mermaids cage.ca

    archiveshub.ac.uk.

    The Archives Hub provides a gateway to thousands of the UK’s richest archives. Representing over 220 institutions across the country, it is an effective way to discover unique and often little-known sources. Whether you are just starting out or exploring in depth, the Archives Hub can help inform your work. Thanks to the Society for Theatre Res earch for deta ils of this va luable new website.

    SPOTTED IN THE TIMES2 CROSSWORD Wednesday, 19 June, 2013

    23 Down: Sir Henry , English actor (6) Erm…

    Editor: Michael Kilgarriff
    email m.kilgarriff@btinternet.com
    tel 020 8566 8301
    10 Kings Avenue, London W5 2SH[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

  • The Irving Society Newsletter No 63

    The Irving Society Newsletter No 63

    The IrvingiteANNUAL THEATRE OUTING

    OTHELLO at the Olivier Theatre
    Wednesday, 24 July, 2013 at 1.30pm. Price: £26

    Circle tickets for the acclaimed NT production starring Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear are available from our Chair , Frances Hughes. Contact her by email lyntonfra@aol.com or telephone 0208 992 0772.

     

    FOR SALE

    trunk1Mrs Lorna Whitlock wishes to sell the following unusual item: It is a slim metal trunk approx. 12″ wide and 4½” deep and 40½” long. It bears two brass plates, one ‘Henry Irving Esq’ and the second an escutcheon of Henry Poole & Co (of Savile Row) who made the high-class court dress uniform and sword which were originally inside it. The initials HBI ( Henry Brodribb Irving) are embossed on the lid. Apparently the trunk came from the effects of someone who worked at Elstree Film Studios. I discovered and bought it approx. twenty years ago in an antique shop in Birmingham.

    A letter to Mrs Whitlock dated 1 March, 2013, from Henry Poole & Co confirms the provenance of the trunk, which is made of japanned steel and dark green in colour. There is no lining though straps may be seen in the photograph on the left.

    trunk-2Anyone interested in acquiring this unique piece of Irvingiana should contact Mrs Whitlock at 36, Whittell Gardens, Sydenham, London SE26 4LN (near the Crystal Palace). Telephone 0 208 69 9 5033 . Viewers welcome. Price negotiable.

     

    SOUNDS PECULIAR

    by Michael Kilgarriff

    While idly surfing the internet last March I came across a fragmentary recording made by Robert Browning in 1889, in which he attempts to recite How They Brought the Good News fro m Ghent to Aix. After three or four lines he stops, pauses, and then says, “I can’t remember me own verses!”

    This reminded me Irving’s 1898 recording of the opening speech of Richard III in which he also pronounces ‘my’ as ‘me’, as in  Unform’d, unfinished, sent before me time…’, a usage which can be heard a dozen or so times in Edwin Booth’s 1890 recording of Othello’s speech to the Senate (1.iii), e.g.: ‘Rude am I in me speech…’ (Visit www.archive.org/details/othellobyedwinbooth1890)

    But both actors also pronounce ‘my’ diphthongally, so was this shortening of the possessive pronoun merely a stage affectation, or was it a traditional method for differentiating textual and poetical subtleties? On p274 of The Story of My Life Ellen Terry attempts an explanation when she says:

    The use of “m’” or “me” for “my” has often been hurled in my face as a reproach,  but I never contracted “my” without good reason. I had a line in Olivia which I began by delivering as – “My sorrows and my shame are my own.” Then I saw that the “mys” sounded ridiculous , and abbreviated the first two ones into “me’s.”

    Quite why the “mys” sounded ridiculou s ET does not say. In October, 1976, a paper on the practice was given by Jack Windsor Lewis to the British Institute of Recorded Sound, and which I hope to reproduce in next Autumn’s First Knight.

    Also in Crookback’s opening speech Irving says ‘looking-glass’ with a short ‘a’, which we would today regard as a Midland/North Country inflection. But was it so in the nineteenth-century? In her recording of Every Little Movement has a Meaning of Its Own Marie Lloyd , the quinte sence of Cockneydom, clearly pronounces ‘passing’ with a short ‘a’, and George Robey, a South Londoner, in Bang Went the Chance of a Lifetime consistently pronounces ‘chance’ to rhyme with ‘Penzance’. And why, in It’s a Great Big Shame, does Gus Elen, born and bred in Pimlico, sing ‘put’ to rhyme wih ‘glut’? Pronunciation, it seems, like language itself, is ever evolving.

    Let us not, therefore, critcise HM King George V for saying ‘larnch’ rather than ‘launch’, and let us accept that ‘tryst’ should properly rhyme with ‘heist’. ‘Bicycle’ was sometimes ‘by-cye-cle’; margerine originally had a hard ‘g’. And surely noone would have accused Sir John Gielgud of being slipshod when he said ‘humour’ without the ‘h’. I always thought it sounded terribly grand.

    PS: Irving’s recording of Wolsey’s final speech from King Henry VIII is generally thought to be bogus. His 1903 recording of Shylock’s courtroom speech is lost; the only other authentic Irving recording, a few lines of ‘Monk’ Lewis’ The Maniac, was made in 1888 and is, alas, virtually incomprehensible as is an extract from Sir Edwin Arnold’s The Feast of Belshazzar recorde d on the sam e occasion . Thanks to B ennett Maxwell for this information.

     
    Ellaline Terriss in The Beauty of the Bells
    Ellaline Terriss in The Beauty of the Bells

    JUST A LITTLE BIT OF STRING

    by Ellaline Terriss

    Ellaline Terriss (1871-1971) was the daughter of William Terriss and wife of (Sir) Seymour Hicks. This extract is from her autobiography. 

    ‘So it was m y great luck, as a litt le girl, to have many opportunities of seeing and getting to know both Ellen Terry and Irving. Will there ever be two people like them again? You could not be with them more than a few moments without their greatness being borne upon you, without realizing that you were in the company of two exceptional human beings.

    Ellen Terry always seemed to me to be a creature of light and air. She bubbled with gaiety, youth and with optimism. Yet she was so intensely human, so understanding, never concerned with herself but always ready to give cheer and material help to all who needed it.

    With Henry Irving it was different. He was more reserved, more distant, his face was that of a great prelate of olden times, his air had th at cloistral touch as well, there was something of the timelessness of a
    cathedral about him. His eyes, behind their pince-nez, seemed to gaze right into your heart, to read your inmost thoughts, yet his smile would have graced a beautiful woman.’

     

    SCAMP TAKES GOLD

    At this year ’s Great London Plant Fair, held at the Royal Horticultural Society Halls in Westminster, the gold medal for Early Daffodils was won by Ron Scamp, the UK’s only commercial grower of Henry Irving daffodils. See The Irvingite No 45 . To order bulbs email: rascamp@daffodils.uk.com

    Henry Irving Silhouette
    Created by W Bly at the Garrick Club 1899

    KEEPING IN TOUCH

    If you change any of your personal details – address, phone number, email, etc – remember to inform Alex Bissett, Membership Sec., The Irving Society, 50 Stockwell Road, London, SW9 0DA. Email: alexbisset@mac.com.

    For queries about HI’s life and times or if you have any items for sale contact Helen R Smith, 7 Bristol House, 80A Southampton Row, London WC1B 4BA Email: helen186@btinternet.com. Helen also reminds us that the Henry Irving Correspondence archive, on which she and Frances Hughes have been working for a number of years, now lists some 8,600 letters. Please contact Helen if you know of any correspondence not yet included. Visit www.henryirving.co.uk.

    See the Society’s website for up-to-date information about outings and events: www.theirvingsociety.org.uk

    Editor: Michael Kilgarriff
    email m.kilgarriff@btinternet.com
    tel 020 8566 8301
    10 Kings Avenue, London W5 2SH

  • The Irving Society Newsletter No 62

    The Irving Society Newsletter No 62

    The Irvingite

    SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

    Sunday, 17 February, 2013
    Concert Artistes’ Association, 20 Bedford Street, London WC2E 9HP
    Report: Michael Kilgarriff Photos: Bunty Taylor

    Imogen Irving
    Imogen Irving

    This year Mother Nature smiled upon our annual ceremony of homage, the mild temperature and lack of snow enouraging a record turn-out to watch Imogen Irving lithely scale the ladder and place the Birthday Wreath at her great-great-great-grandfather’s feet.

    Imogen is in her first year at RADA, so we can look forward to seeing a performer with the Theatrical Blood Royal in her veins upon our stage once again.

    In the pannelled Concert Room of the CAA, a few minutes’ walk from the Irving statue, members and their guests signed the register, bought raffle tickets, and settled into three wide semi-circles facing the fireplace – could the Guv’nor have warmed himself at that self-same ornate grate? The history of the building tells us that it’s entirely possible.

    Our Chair, Frances Hughes, opened the meeting by reminding us that 2013 was the 175th anniversary of HI’s birth. We were also told that Elizabeth Sutter, who has been so very generous to the Society, has modestly declined the offer to become one of our Patrons.

    Imogen Irving placing the wreath; at the foot of the ladder Frances Hughes and Michael Kilgarriff
    Imogen Irving placing the wreath; at the foot of the ladder Frances Hughes and Michael Kilgarriff

    The past year’s three activities were recalled: the launch of Their Exits by Henry Vivian-Neal ( with input from our Vice-Chair, Alex Bisset), the coach trip to Rye and Winchelsea, and the dinner at the Garrick Club, with Dr Arthur W Bloom Richard Briers unveiling plaque at Irving House, Keinton Mandeville 6 February 2011 Sir Donald Sinden as Guest of Honour to mark his ninth decade. The dinner, though somewhat
    crowded, was a huge success, and with no hidden charges the cost to the Society was nil.

    Dr Arthur W Bloom
    Dr Arthur W Bloom

    Michael Kilgarriff’s long-delayed resignation as Hon Secretary was marked by making him an Honorary Member of the Society; Nicholas Smith having resigned through ill-health the only nomination to the committee was Helen R Smith who has agreed to field queries; all the other members were re-elected unopposed, i.e. Alex Bisset (Vice -Chair and Membership Secretary), Michael Gaunt, Frances Hughes (Chair), Mike Ostler, Hilary Phillips (Minutes Sec), Hal Sinden, Sylvia Starshine (Hon Treas). Michael Kilgarriff will continue to edit First Knight and The Irvingite, and to maintain the website.

    Future events under consideration include a group booking to see Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear in Othello at the National Theatre, and a trip, possibly with an overnight stay, to Bristol to visit the many places in the city with Irving and Terry connections. A play-reading is also on the cards, though the meeting displayed no enthusiasm a t the suggestion of a luncheon rather than a dinner this year. Sylvia Starshine, Hon Treasurer, reported that the Society’s finances were healthy, despite sabotage attempts by Lloyd’s who had deducted a number of phantom direct debits. This year’s Heritage Lecture, Edwin Booth and Henry Irving : A Delicate Relationship, was delivered by Dr Arthur W Bloom, who had honoured us by flying over from the United States especially for the occasion and whose reputation brought in a number of members of the STR. The talk was a triumph. Dr Bloom was clear, audible, precise, witty, authoritative, painlessly instructive and hugely entertaining. Altogether a total treat.

     
    Richard Briers unveiling plaque at Irving House, Keinton Mandeville 6 February 2011
    Richard Briers unveiling plaque at Irving House, Keinton Mandeville 6 February 2011

    RICHARD BRIERS CBE (1934-2013)

    Alas, the ‘demented typewriter’ has fallen silent. We have lost not just a much-loved actor and friend but an ultra-keen Irvingite. Until recently Dickie and Annie were to be seen regularly at our events, and his depth of knowledge of his idol Henry Irving was shown when he took the chair at the Cottesloe for a discussion with the author of Sir Michael Holroyd’s A Strange Eventful History. Dickie was also a Trustee of the Henry Irving Foundation and had the rare – probably unique – distinction of having played four roles associated with the Guv’nor: Hamlet , Richard III, Lear and Mathias in The Bells.

     

    FOR SALE (1)

    On 14 February, 18 80, HI celebrated the 100th performance of The Merchant of Venice with a grand supper on stage a t the Lyceum Theatre. Some three hundred guests representing the cream of society and the arts were invited; the magnificent event is described in detail in Laurence Irving’s Henry Irving: The Actor and His World pp353 -6. Each guest was presented with a commemorative copy of Irving’s arrangement of the play, one of which is now offered for sale by Bryan Boeckelmann of St Louis, Missouri.

    The Merchant of VeniceThe book is 8 ” x 5¼ ”, hardbound in white leather, with gold edging. It is in good condition though there is some damage to the spine The seventy-four pages of text are preceded by a bound-in eight page programme showing the cast and usual Lyceum credits. Pasted on the inside front cover is an account from the 22 February issue of The Era of the supper and the speeches; below it is affixed a printed label showing the name W. L. Telbin, one of the production’s scenic designers. The handwriting around this label appears to be that of Telbin so it would seem that he was the original owner. Telbin was, of course, one of HI’s regular designers and set painters.

    OIRO £150 + p& p £10 approx. If you are interested email Mr Boeckelmann at bryanandvicki@att.net or contact the Editor, from whom more illustrations are available.

     

    IRVING AND THE DAVENPORT BROTHERS – SPOOKS v. SPOOFS

    Sir John Major’s recent history of the Music Halls, My Old Man, repeats, alas, the old canard that in his early days Irving had been assistant to the Davenport Brothers. This story seems to have been first aired by H Chance Newton in his Idols of the Halls, and treated as gospel ever since. We Irvingites know better, of course, the truth being that in February, 1864, HI and two fellow-actors from the Theatre Royal, Manchester, staged at a local hall a burlesque of the Davenports’ deplorable display of bogus spiritualism. So successful was the spoof that they repeated it the following Sunday, whereupon their employer, John Knowles, scenting substantial box-office interest, ordered them to perform it at the Theatre Royal. But Irving, ever mindful of the dignity of the drama, refused. Such integrity was not to be countenanced and, after four years of exemplary service, he was sacked.

     

    FOR SALE (2)

    Watercolour on ivoryThis charming miniature of Irving is offered privately for sale by Michael J Salts of Cumbria. OIRO £380 + £5 P&P.

    The portrait appears to be hand-painted in watercolour on ivory. It is mounted in a superb one-piece ivory frame, 5.5 inches high and 4.5 inches wide. Included in the price is a small stand (visible in the photo). There is no evident signature and the date is estimated at c1890. Irving’s cravat is dark blue in colour and his coat and waistcoat are brown. On the reverse is a small hole at the top for hanging on a picture nail.

    There are also two wax seals, one impress ed with a cockerel and the other with what appear to be the figures of Adam and Eve. Offers to mike@coniston.org.uk

     

    FOR SALE (3)

    sket ches by Albert Henry WarrenA small group of original sketches by Albert Henry Warren (designs for menus, etc) relating to dinners held at the Savage Club in the late 19th century in honour of Sir Henry Irving. Price £150. Further details
    from Nigel Jackson on: jacksonn@fsmail.net

     

    EDITOR’S NOTE

    Although I am no longer Ho n Sec of the Society I remain, with the consent of the Committee, Editor of The Irvingite and First Knight. Any queries or suggestions concerning these publications should therefore be sent to me, Michael Kilgarriff, at:
    10 Kings Avenue, London W5 2SH
    tel: 020 8566 8301
    email: m.kilgarriff@btinternet.com