Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 48.djvu/427

 range of parts including Hamlet, Charles Surface, Young Marlow, John Peerybingle in the ‘Cricket on the Hearth,’ Dr. Pangloss, Monsieur Jacques, and Jeremy Diddler. On the breaking up in 1848 of the Lincoln circuit, Robertson came to London and essayed many experiments, but turned to acting at the less-known theatres for a living. After teaching himself French, he was for a few months usher in a school at Utrecht, where he was ill paid and half starved. In 1851 William Farren, then manager of the Olympic Theatre, produced his first piece, ‘A Night's Adventures,’ which ran for four nights. He made at this time the acquaintance of Henry James Byron [q. v.], with whom he acted in provincial companies, and with whom also, it is said, he made an unprosperous attempt to give an entertainment at the Gallery of Illustration. In 1854 he sold for 3l. to the managers of the City Theatre, Johnson and Nelson Lee, a play called ‘Castles in the Air,’ produced at that house on 29 April. Robertson next became, at a somewhat precarious salary of 3l. per week, prompter at the Olympic, under the management of Charles Mathews. Among very many pieces he wrote at this period were ‘Photographs and Ices,’ ‘My Wife's Diary,’ ‘A Row in the House,’ subsequently produced at Toole's Theatre on 30 Aug. 1883, all of which, with countless adaptations, he was compelled to sell to Lacy, the theatrical bookseller. Subsistence was eked out by writing in unimportant papers; and once Robertson sought to enlist in the army, but was rejected. After playing at the Marylebone, of which his father was at the time joint manager, he went in 1855 with a company, headed by Mr. and Mrs. Wallack, to play Macbeth at the Théâtre des Italiens, Paris. The result was a fiasco.

On 27 Aug. 1856 he married at Christ Church, Marylebone, Miss Elizabeth Burton (whose real name was Taylor), an actress then playing at the Queen's Theatre in Tottenham Street, and went with her to Dublin, where she was engaged as leading lady and he as eccentric comedian and assistant stage-manager. The pair visited with scanty success Belfast, Dundalk, and many smaller towns in Ireland. Returning to England, they acted at the Surrey, the Marylebone, in Plymouth, Woolwich, Rochester, Windsor, and elsewhere, Mrs. Robertson's performances being interrupted by the birth of successive children. After the death of a daughter Robertson retired from the stage, occupying himself with magazine sketches and translating French plays for the publisher Lacy. His farce of ‘The Cantab,’ produced at the Strand on 14 Feb. 1861, introduced him to a Bohemian literary set, and led to his becoming a member of the Savage and Arundel Clubs, where he enlarged his observation of human nature, and whence he drew some curious types. He wrote for the ‘Welcome Guest’ and the ‘Illustrated Times,’ in which he was the ‘Theatrical Lounger.’ Some contributions he signed ‘Hugo Vamp.’ His success was indifferent. His wife was ailing, and the question was more than once raised of his quitting journalism and becoming a tobacconist. A novel, called ‘David Garrick,’ founded on Mélesville's three-act comedy ‘Sullivan,’ was one of Robertson's potboilers. This he adapted into the play known as ‘David Garrick,’ offering it vainly to one management after another, and ultimately pledging it with Lacy for 10l. It was at length accepted by Sothern, who, after forwarding Robertson the money to redeem it, advanced the author 50l. on account. It was produced with indifferent success in April 1864 at the Prince of Wales's Theatre, Birmingham. But when given at the Haymarket by Sothern soon afterwards it was received with high favour, and it has since been frequently revived. Emboldened by its reception, Robertson wrote for the Haymarket ‘Society,’ a sketch of Bohemian manners, first produced in Liverpool, and transferred on 11 Nov. 1865 to the Prince of Wales's Theatre in Tottenham Street, then under the Bancroft management, where it ran for twenty-six weeks, establishing the fortunes of the theatre, as well as those of the author, and incidentally of one or two actors. The triumph was marred by the death of his wife on 14 Aug. 1865. Like ‘Society,’ ‘Ours’ was first produced at Liverpool, the date being 23 Aug. 1866. On 16 Sept. it was transferred to the Prince of Wales's, London, where its reception was enthusiastic.

Robertson's reputation was now fully established, and managers competed for his plays. His highest triumphs were confined to the Prince of Wales's Theatre, the pieces produced at other houses meeting with unequal success, and being in some cases failures. ‘Caste,’ given at the Prince of Wales's on 6 April 1867, shows Robertson's high-water mark, and, besides being his highest achievement, remains an acting play. Robertson married, on 17 Oct., at the English Consulate, Frankfort-on-the-Maine, his second wife, Miss Rosetta Feist, a lady of German extraction. His next piece at the Prince of Wales's ‘Play,’ produced on 15 Feb. 1868, showed a distinct falling off, but his position was retrieved by ‘School,’ the next in order, on