Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 53.djvu/150

 his house at Sileby George Fox held great meetings in 1655 and 1677 (Journal, i. 251, ii. 259).

[Balm from Gilead, 1675; Besse's Sufferings, i. 552; Fox's Journal, ii. 81; Cropper's Sufferings of the Quakers in Nottinghamshire, xv; Smith's Cat. Friends' Books, ii. 601–12; Registers at Devonshire House, Bishopsgate Street.]

 SMITH, WILLIAM (d. 1696), actor, was a barrister of Gray's Inn, and joined the Duke of York's company, under Sir William D'Avenant, a year after its formation. He was a man of social position, and acknowledged as such in aristocratic circles and in his profession. At Lincoln's Inn Fields, at Dorset Garden, and ultimately at the Theatre Royal and the new house in Little Lincoln's Inn Fields, he held a position in the first rank, and created many original parts of primary importance. His name appears on 8 Jan. 1663 to the part of the Corrigidor (sic) in Sir Samuel Tuke's ‘Adventures of Five Hours.’ He was on 28 May Lugo in Sir Robert Stapleton's ‘Slighted Maid;’ on 1 Jan. 1664 he was Buckingham in a revival of ‘King Henry VIII,’ and on 13 Aug. the Duke of Burgundy in ‘Henry V,’ by the Earl of Orrery. In Etherege's ‘Comical Revenge, or Love in a Tub,’ he was Colonel Bruce; in ‘The Rivals,’ D'Avenant's alteration of the ‘Two Noble Kinsmen,’ Polynices; and Antonio in a revival of Webster's ‘Duchess of Malfi.’ On 3 April 1665 he was Zanger in Lord Orrery's ‘Mustapha.’ After the cessation of performances on account of the plague, he distinguished himself on 7 March 1667 as Sir William Stanley in Caryl's ‘English Princess, or the Death of Richard the Third.’ On 14 Nov. preceding, Pepys writes: ‘Knipp tells me how Smith of the Duke's house hath killed a man upon a quarrel in play, which makes everybody sorry, he being a good actor, and, they say, a good man, however this happens. The ladies of the court do much bemoan him, she says’ (Diary, ed. Wheatley, vi. 62).

In ‘Sir Martin Marrall, or Feigned Innocence,’ by Dryden and the Duke of Newcastle, 16 Aug. (second time), Smith was Sir John Swallow. On 6 Feb. 1668 in ‘She would if she could,’ by Etherege, he was Courtall, and on 5 May Stanford in Shadwell's ‘Sullen Lovers.’ The piece had, says Downes, a wonderful success, and was played before the court at Dover. In Caryl's ‘Sir Solomon, or the Cautious Coxcomb,’ played in 1669, he was Young Single. Betterton's ‘Amorous Widow’ followed in 1670, showing Smith as Cunningham. Foscaris in Edward Howard's ‘Women's Conquest’ was seen in 1671, as was Sharnofsky in Crowne's ‘Juliana, or the Princess of Poland.’

The new theatre in Dorset Garden was opened by the Duke's company, under Lady D'Avenant, with ‘Sir Martin Marrall,’ on 9 Nov., when Smith presumably played his original part. He was here Prince of Salerne in Crowne's ‘Charles VIII, or the Invasion of Naples.’ At Dorset Garden Smith remained until the junction of the two companies in 1682. He was in 1672 Woodly in Shadwell's ‘Epsom Wells;’ Pisauro in Arrowsmith's ‘Reformation;’ Banquo, one of his great parts, in ‘Macbeth,’ converted into an opera; Don Antonio in Nevil Payne's ‘Fatal Jealousy;’ Philander in Mrs. Behn's ‘Forced Marriage.’ The year 1673 saw him as Ruffle in Nevil Payne's ‘Morning Ramble,’ Careless in Ravenscroft's ‘Careless Lovers,’ Muley Hamet in Settle's ‘Empress of Morocco,’ Horatio in a revival of ‘Hamlet;’ 1674 as Quitazo in Settle's ‘Conquest of China by the Tartars,’ and Tyridates in ‘Herod and Mariamne;’ and 1675 as Clotair in Settle's ‘Love and Revenge.’ In Settle's ‘Ibrahim the Illustrious Bassa,’ 1676, he was Ibrahim; in Etherege's ‘Man of the Mode, or Sir Fopling Flutter,’ Sir Fopling; in Otway's ‘Don Carlos, Prince of Spain,’ Don Carlos; in D'Urfey's ‘Fond Husband,’ Rashley; in Ravenscroft's Wrangling Lovers,’ Don Diego; in D'Urfey's ‘Madame Fickle,’ Manley; and in Settle's ‘Pastor Fido, or the Faithful Shepherd,’ Mirtillo, the faithful shepherd. Antiochus in Otway's ‘Titus and Berenice’ was apparently the first novelty in 1677, in which year Smith was also the first Cæsar in Sedley's ‘Antony and Cleopatra;’ Willmore the rover in Mrs. Behn's ‘Rover;’ Perdicas in Pordage's ‘Siege of Babylon;’ Philip in Mrs. Behn's ‘Abdelazer, or the Moore's Revenge.’ Ulysses in Banks's ‘Destruction of Troy’ belong to 1678, as do Lodwick Knowell in Mrs. Behn's ‘Sir Patient Fancy;’ Malagene in Otway's ‘Friendship in Fashion,’ Henry Raymond in D'Urfey's ‘Squire Oldsapp,’ Peralta in Leanerd's ‘Counterfeits,’ and Alcibiades in Shadwell's ‘Timon of Athens, or the Man-Hater.’ Genest, with some reason, supposes that he was Woodall in Dryden's ‘Limberham,’ the cast of which has not survived. To 1679 belong Adrastus in Dryden and Lee's ‘Œdipus;’ Hector in ‘Troilus and Cressida, or Truth found too late,’ altered by Dryden from Shakespeare; and Sir Harry Fillamour in Mrs. Behn's ‘Feigned Courtezans.’ In 1680 he was Machiavel in Lee's ‘Cæsar Borgia,’ Chamont in ‘The Orphan,’ Marius Junior in