Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 43.djvu/8

Owens  in society.' The net amount realised from the legacy was 96,654l. 11s. 6d. Accordingly Owens College was founded, and was opened in 1851. The first premises, which were in Quay Street, Deansgate, had formerly been the residence of Richard Cobden. They were at first let to the college by George Faulkner, the first chairman of the trustees, and were in 1854 presented by him to the institution. In 1871 the Owens College was incorporated by act of parliament, and in 1873 the college was installed in the fine buildings in Oxford Street, which were erected by public subscription from the designs of Mr. Alfred Waterhouse, R.A. Owens's generous bequest has been largely increased by later endowments.

[Thompson's Owens College, Manchester, 1886; personal information.]

 OWENS, JOHN LENNERGAN (fl.1780), actor, was born in Ireland, to which country his performances seem to have been confined. He succeeded Henry Mossop [q. v.] at Smock Alley theatre, and was held as Zanga in the 'Revenge' to have approached more nearly than any other actor of the time to his original. All that survives concerning him is a reputation for persistent inebriety. Coming on the stage as Polydore in the 'Orphan,' he was hissed for obvious intoxication. Advancing to the front of the stage, he delivered with a scowl the following words in his soliloquy, 'Here I'm alone and fit for mischief,' and put himself in a fighting attitude. This Hibernian form of apology served the desired end, and Owens was allowed to finish his performance. His failing gradually drove him from the stage. On seeing John Kemble announced for Zanga, he begged some money of a stranger, who asked him his name. To this inquiry he answered with tragic solemnity, 'Have six years' cruel absence extinguished majesty so far that nought shines here to tell you I'm the real Zanga? Yes, sir, John Lennergan Owens, successor to Henry Mossop.' The dates of his birth and death are unknown.

[Thespian Dictionary; Doran's Annals of the Stage, ed. Lowe.]

 OWENS, OWEN (d. 1593), divine. [See under 1580–1651, bishop of St. Asaph.]  OWENSON, ROBERT (1744–1812), actor, was born in the barony of Tyrawley, co. Mayo, in 1744. His parents were poor people named MacOwen, which their son afterwards englished into Owenson. He was primarily educated at a hedge-school, and acted for a short time as steward to a neighbouring landowner. Having acquired a taste for theatricals, he communicated to Oliver Goldsmith his desire to go on the stage, and the latter introduced him to Garrick about 1771. He had a handsome and commanding figure and sang well, having received tuition from Worgan and Arne, and was quite successful when he appeared in the provincial theatres. Of his many parts the best was Teague in the 'Committee' and Major O'Flaherty in the 'West Indian,' and he was already popular when he made his London debut at Covent Garden in 1774. He was admitted a member of the famous 'Literary Club' on Goldsmith's recommendation, and in 1774 married Jane Mill, the daughter of a tradesman of Shrewsbury, and a distant relative of the Mills of Hawkesley in Shropshire. The first child of the marriage was Sydney, the afterwards celebrated Lady Morgan [see ]. Owenson appeared on the Dublin stage in October 1776, and remained there some years, becoming part-proprietor of Crow Street Theatre. In 1785, after a quarrel with his manager, he opened the Fishamble Street Theatre, but returned in less than a year. Subsequent attempts to carry on theatres at Kilkenny, Londonderry, and Sligo were failures, and in 1798 he retired from the stage. He died in Dublin at the house of his son-in-law, Sir Arthur Clarke, at the end of May 1812, and was buried at Irishtown, outside the city. He has been placed only a little lower than John Henry Johnstone [q. v.] as an Irish comedian, and he was also a capable composer, the well-known airs of 'Rory O'More' and 'My Love's the Fairest Creature' being attributed to him. His kindness of heart is illustrated by the generosity he extended to Thomas Dermody [q. v.] His only literary productions are a song preserved in T. C. Croker's 'Popular Songs of Ireland' and 'Theatrical Fears' (12mo, Dublin, 1804), a long poem, after the manner of the 'Rosciad,' published under the signature of 'R. N. O.'

[Brit. Mus. Cat.; Thespian Dictionary; Fitzpatrick's Lady Morgan, 1860; Barrington's Personal Sketches, ii. 207; O'Keeffe's Recollections, i. 354; Life of Dermody, 1806.]  OWENSON, SYDNEY (1783?–1859), novelist and traveller. [See .]

 OWTRAM, WILLIAM, D.D. (1626–1679), divine, son of Robert Owtram, was born at Barlow, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on 17 March 1625–6 (Notes and Queries, 7th ser. xi. 205). On 13 May 1642 he was admitted a sizar of Trinity College, Cambridge,