Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 43.djvu/10

 ineffective.’ The ‘Monthly Mirror,’ which he subsequently edited, described him as ‘a wholesale dealer in Mr. Liston's quality,’ and predicted that the public would not get used to Mr. Oxberry's face, for, ‘though he displayed some knowledge of the art of a player, it was not sufficient’ to render him ‘a desirable acquisition to the London boards’ (new ser., ii. 360). On 14 Nov. he played Lord Duberly, alias Daniel Dowlas, in the ‘Heir at Law,’ a part he substituted for that of Zekiel Homespun. After this he disappears from the bills. At the close of the season he was released from his engagement, and went to Glasgow, where he made a success as Sir David Daw in the ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ His benefit brought him 70l. 0s. 1d., and the name of Sir David clung to him in Scotland. In Aberdeen he accepted, with some reluctance, the character of Michael Ducas in ‘Adalgitha,’ with the result that he was accepted as a tragedian, and played Glenalvon, Macbeth, Shylock, and Richard. After returning to Glasgow he accepted from Raymond an engagement in London at the Lyceum, then confined to operatic performances, and known as the English Opera House, and appeared in a piece by Henry Siddons, called ‘The Russian Impostor,’ in which he made a success. He was then engaged for the Lyceum by Arnold, at a salary rising from 7l. to 9l. An engagement at Drury Lane followed, and he played for the first time with the burnt-out company at the Lyceum, 25 Sept. 1809, as the Lay Brother in the ‘Duenna.’ He was, 20 Nov., the original Cuffee, a black servant, in ‘Not at Home,’ by R. C. Dallas; and played, 24 Feb. 1810, John Lump in the ‘Review.’ The following season he was the original Laglast in Allingham's ‘Transformation, or Love and Law;’ Daniel, a country fellow, in Masters's ‘Lost and Found;’ Fabian in Dimond's ‘Peasant Boy;’ Zedekiah in Arnold's ‘Americans;’ and Timothy Scamp in Leigh's ‘Where to find a Friend;’ and in 1811–12, Sir Charles Canvas in Moore's ‘M.P., or the Blue-Stocking;’ Dick in ‘Right or Wrong;’ Gregory in Kenney's ‘Turn out!’; Abrahamides in ‘Quadruped,’ an alteration of the ‘Tailors;’ and Petro in Arnold's ‘Devil's Bridge.’ After the opening of the new Drury Lane theatre his name is not traceable until the close of the season, when he played, for Miss Kelly's benefit, Lord Listless in ‘Rich and Poor,’ and Gregory in an act of ‘Killing no Murder.’ At Drury Lane he remained until the close of the season of 1819–20, playing parts such as John Grouse in the ‘School for Prejudice;’ Graccho in Massinger's ‘Duke of Milan;’ Master Stephen in Jonson's ‘Every Man in his Humour;’ Moses in the ‘School for Scandal;’ Don Ferolo in the ‘Critic;’ Slender in the ‘Merry Wives of Windsor;’ Dominique in ‘Deaf and Dumb;’ Simon Pure in ‘A Bold Stroke for a Wife;’ Bullock in the ‘Recruiting Officer;’ and Job Thornberry in ‘John Bull.’ He ‘created’ many original parts in plays, dramatic or musical, by Arnold, Dibdin, Kenney, Soane, and others. Among the most noteworthy were Sapling in ‘First Impressions,’ by Horace Smith; Isaac in the ‘Maid and the Magpie;’ Friar Francis in ‘Flodden Field,’ an adaptation of Scott's ‘Marmion;’ Humphrey Gull in Soane's ‘Dwarf of Naples;’ Jonathan Curry in Moncrieff's ‘Wanted a Wife;’ Dominie Samson in ‘Guy Mannering;’ and Friar Tuck in the ‘Hebrew,’ Soane's adaptation of the ‘Talisman.’ Upon Elliston reducing the salaries at Drury Lane, he refused an offer of 12l. a week, and ‘starred’ at the minor theatres, the Surrey, the East London, and Sadler's Wells.

Oxberry was for a long time manager of the Olympic, but the experiment collapsed. In December 1821 he took the Craven's Head chophouse at Drury Lane, a house of literary and theatrical resort. Oxberry told his guests, ‘We vocalise on a Friday, conversationise on a Sunday, and chopise every day.’ Here he died 9 June 1824, of an apoplectic fit, due in part to free living; according to another account, of delirium tremens. His remains are in a vault in St. Clement Danes Church, Strand.

Oxberry was a useful comic actor, second only to John Emery [q. v.] in Tyke, John Lump, Robin Roughhead, &c. His Slender, Sir David Daw, and Petro are held to have been unsurpassed. His brogue was not very effective, and in many parts he failed to rise above mediocrity.

Oxberry was author of: 1. ‘The Theatrical Banquet, or the Actor's Budget,’ 1809, 2 vols. 18mo. 2. ‘The Encyclopædia of Anecdote,’ 1812, 18mo. 3. ‘The History of Pugilism, and Memoirs of Persons who have distinguished themselves in that Science,’ 1814, 12mo. 4. ‘The Flowers of Literature,’ 2nd edit., London, 1824, 4 vols., 12mo. 5. ‘Oxberry's Anecdotes of the Stage,’ London, 1827, 12mo. He also edited ‘The New English Drama,’ consisting of 113 plays, with prefatory remarks, &c., 22 vols. 1818–24; and wrote ‘The Actress of All Work,’ played in Bath on 8 May 1819, in which Mrs. Elizabeth Rebecca Edwin [q.v.] assumed half a dozen different characters; converted ‘He would be a Soldier’ of Pilon into ‘The High Road to Success,’ and produced it at the Olympic, pre-