Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 35.djvu/283

 clerk of Ayr, who succeeded to Orangefield upon Macrae's death.



MACREADY, WILLIAM CHARLES (1793–1873), actor, the son of William Macready, actor and manager, was born, according to his own statement, on Sunday, 3 March 1793, in Mary Street (now part of Stanhope Street), Euston Road, London. In the reglster of his baptism at St. Pancras Parish Church, 21 Jan. 1796, the date of birth is given as 1792. His father, the son of a Dublin upholsterer, after playing in Irish country towns, was in 1785 a member of the company at Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, whence, on the introduction of [q. v.], he went to Liverpool and to Manchester, where he married, 18 June 1786, Christina Ann Birch, an actress, the daughter of a surgeon in Lincolnshire, and on her mother's side a great-granddaughter of William Frye (d. 17 May 1736), president of the council of Montserrat. The elder Macready appeared at Covent Garden, 18 Sept. 1786, as Flutter in the 'Belle's Stratagem,' and remained there ten years, playing parts such as Gratiano, Paris, Young Marlow, Figaro, Fag, and Tattle in 'Love for Love,' and producing two plays by himself, ' The Irishman in London, or the Happy African,' 8vo, 1793 and 1799, 21 April 1792, a happy adaptation of an obscure farce called 'The Intriguing Footman;' and 'The Bank-note, or a Lesson for Ladies,' 8vo, 1795, 1 May 1795, a not very brilliant alteration of Taverner's 'Artful Husband.' The 'Village Lawyer,' a farce, 12mo, 1795, Haymarket, 28 Aug. 1787, is ascribed to him, probably in error, in a pirated edition.

William Macready managed for a season, unsuccessfully, the Royalty Theatre, Wellclose Square, London. He is best known as manager of the theatres at Birmingham, Sheffield, and country towns; he also attempted but failed in management in Manchester. He died 11 April 1829, aged 74. Mrs. Macready, who played secondary parts, died in Birmingham 31 Dec. 1803, aged 38. William Charles Macready quitted at the age of six a preparatory school in Kensington, and about 1799 was at school in St. Paul's Square, Birmingham, under a master named Edgell. On 3 March 1803 he was entered at Rugby, where he boarded with William Birch, his mother's cousin, one of the masters. He acquired at the time a reputation as a reciter and in amateur theatricals. His father's failure compelled him, at the close of 1808, to abandon the idea of going to the bar and begin as actor. He had a difficult time, striving in Newcastle first, and subsequently in Chester, to manage for his father, who was then in prison for debt, but he contrived to visit London, learn fencing, and see the principal actors. On 7 June 1810, in the Birmingham Theatre, of which his father had resumed the management, Macready made, as Romeo, his first appearance on any stage. A rare portrait by De Wilde shows him in this character as a chubby-faced boy, in a costume including a broad, flowered sash, almost under his armpits, an upstanding ruff, white kid gloves, white silk stockings and dancing-pumps, and a large black hat with white plumes. His success was considerable, and his future fame was predicted in the Birmingham press. Lothair in 'Adelgitha,' by 'Monk' Lewis, Young Norval, Zanga, and George Barnwell were given during the season. For four years he held the principal place in his father's companies, playing a round of leading characters at Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, and various country towns. Early in 1811 he made, at Newcastle, his first essay as Hamlet. In his 'Reminiscences' he makes the reflection, since become commonplace, that 'a total failure in that character is of rare occurrence.' Here, too, he played Beverley in the 'Gamester' to the Mrs. Beverley of Mrs. Siddons, and Norval to her Lady Randolph. She encouraged him and gave him advice, which he followed. 'You are in the right way, but study, study, study, and do not marry till you are thirty.' In 1812 he played at Leicester Don Felix in the 'Wonder' to the Violante of Mrs. Jordan. He next acted with John Philip Kemble, Young, and many other actors of eminence; and played, among innumerable parts, Richard II, Richard III, Othello, Falconbridge, Antony, Benedick, Captain Plume, Doricourt, and Puff. In Glasgow he played Charles II in the 'Royal Oak' to the William Wyndham of [q. v.], and Warwick to his Edward IV in the 'Earl of Warwick.'

No fewer than seventy-four parts were taken in the four years in which he stayed with his father, and he adapted for his own benefit Scott's 'Marmion,' in which he was Marmion, and for his father's benefit 'Rokeby,' in which he appeared as Bertram of Risingham. By his father, who was in fact very proud of him, he was treated with coldness and apparent surliness. His own temper was never too amiable, and quarrels were