Grave Expectations and Doyennes of Death: 2013

Friday 26 July 2013

David Devant – Multi-Talented Magician (1868 to 1941)

“[Magic] is an art by means of which a man can exercise, as it were, a spell over others and persuade them into believing that they have seen some natural law disobeyed"

David Devant

David Devant is largely considered the best British stage illusionist and practitioner of magic of his era, although his talents weren’t restricted to conjuring. He was gifted with irrepressible creativity and counted the making and exhibition of films, shadowgraphy, inventing, writing, acting and animation amongst the many strings to his bow. As a magician, he was an engaging and witty showman and possessed exceptional skill which, coupled with superb technique, captivated audiences of all ages.

Early Life

Born David Wighton in north London on 22February 1868, he became enamoured with conjuring when, as a 10-year old boy, he watched a travelling magician called Dr Holden perform. This so inspired him that he rushed out and purchased a selection of tricks that he practised diligently, using his siblings as a test audience. From that point onward David immersed himself all things magical, poring over books such as Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin’s Masterpieces and Modern Magic by Professor Hoffman, and regularly attending shows at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly to watch and learn from performing magicians as they confounded their audiences.

Into Magic

While visiting an art gallery with his father, David was particularly drawn to a painting entitled David Devant Goliath and decided that this would make for a great stage name. And so a soon-to-be legend was born. While managing a tour of the British Isles with the two famous American midgets, General and Mrs Mite, David began performing his magic act and in 1888 met his future wife, who caught his eye after he allegedly saw her reflection in a mirror. Three months later, Marion Melville became not only Mrs David Devant but also a part of one of her husband’s illusions known as Vice Versa. It was this very illusion that Devant invited John Nevil Maskelyne, owner of the Egyptian Hall, to view at the Trocadero after he learned that one of Maskelyne’s illusionists (Charles Morritt) was no longer with the company. After seeing David in action, Maskelyne challenged the bright young magician to create a new illusion specifically for the Egyptian Hall and less than a fortnight later, Devant presented Artist’s Dream to Maskelyne. Artist’s Dream was a rather poignant illusion in which an artist, clearly still mourning his recently deceased wife, painted a full length portrait of her through which she magically came to life. Maskelyne opted to add a script and music and the role of the artist was given to an actor, while Marion played the woman in the painting. David was taken on at the Egyptian Hall as a conjurer in his own right. Finally! He was now employed at the very theatre in which he’d studied and learned from the tricks of other magicians as a younger man.

David’s reputation grew, as did his audiences and in March 1896 he exhibited the first animated photographs at the Egyptian Hall. He got his hands on one of Robert Paul's Theatrograph projectors and, at his own expense, introduced it to the theatre’s performances. Apparently Maskelyne, who’d been initially apprehensive about the introduction of the Theatrograph, soon realised its potential and began to enthusiastically introduce each performance! A review of the first performance read:

“The first moving scene announced by Mr Nevil Maskelyne is a band practise. The music of the march that one may imagine is being played is given on the pianoforte by Mr F. Cramer.”

David certainly didn’t rest on his laurels and industriously continued creating new illusions and tricks to keep his show original and exciting. He delighted audiences with tricks like “The Magic Kettle", from which multiple alcoholic beverages suggested by the audience were poured, as well as the fantastic “Mascot Moth” illusion. This was one of his best, in which a female assistant (wearing a silk dress with beautiful wings attached to her arms) weaved around Devant, who held a lit candle in his hand while trying to entice the beautiful moth-woman toward him. Just as Devant drew the candle to the moth-woman’s wings, she literally disappeared with a flash right in front of the gobsmacked audience.

(“Mascot Moth” was actually inspired by a curious dream that Devant had one night. He recalled the incident:

“My wife saw me get up and light a candle and go through all the actions, which were afterwards performed on the stage, with my eyes wide open, although I was obviously asleep. The next morning I awoke with a clear conception of the illusion, complete with new principle, with the exception of a few mechanical details which were supplied by my friend Bate”.

Even Nevil Maskelyne was bamboozled by this illusion and described it as “the trickiest trick” he’d ever witnessed)

Another of David's most popular tricks was called The Egg Trick, although he didn't invent it. A young volunteer was invited up onto the stage to assist David as he rapidly produced a seemingly never-ending quantity of eggs from an empty top hat. The charm of the trick was the almost slapstick humour that came from it: the boy or girl couldn't possibly hold as many eggs as were materialising from the hat, resulting in eggs being smashed all over the stage as the hapless young volunteer battled to retain all of them.

The Magic Circle

The Magic Circle was formed in 1905 after 23 magicians met at Pinoli's Restaurant on Wardour Street with the aim of creating a society that would further and preserve the interests of magic. The initial meeting was chaired by Servais Le Roy, a Belgian magician, and The Green Man pub in Soho played host to their first official meeting. The meetings were later moved to St George’s Hall on Langham Place which was, fittingly, the venue that Maskelyne and Devant moved the company to after performing at the Egyptian Hall so many years previously. By this point, Devant wasn’t just working for Maskelyne but alongside him as a partner, with their company now known as Maskelyne and Devant’s Mysteries.

(Image used with the kind permission of Mr Matthew Lloyd at www.arthurlloyd.co.uk)

The following year, The Magic Circle published a magazine called The Magic Circular, first edited by Maskelyne with a monthly edition distributed to its members. It was Maskelyne who proposed the society’s motto “Indocilis Privata Loqui". This is Latin for "not apt to disclose secrets" and is pretty much the organisation’s Golden Rule. This rule of preserving the secrecy of the mechanics behind tricks and illusions was (and still is) vitally important and was supported in the Society’s set of rules, first drawn up by Neil Weaver (the son of an amateur magician and one of the founding members of the organisation). I imagine that this Golden Rule was akin to the 1905 conjurers’ version of the film Fight Club: “The first rule of The Magic Circle is: You do not talk about the mechanics behind your magic”. Any member caught intentionally revealing magical secrets to anyone other than fellow magicians or students of magic would suffer the indignity of an enforced resignation from the society (or were they ‘ex-spelled’?).

Scandal Part I

Bearing in mind The Magic Circle’s motto, I’m sure you can imagine the furore when a member of the society committed the cardinal sin of showing the layman how to perform tricks. Worse, the guilty party was none other than David Devant himself, one of the organisations founding members and its first President! Devant had contributed to a series of articles called Tricks for Everyone, published in The Royal Magazine from 1908 to 1909. As the title suggests, the articles made magic more accessible to the reader but David’s contribution to the publication was construed as being a a flagrant breach of The Magic Circle's secrecy rule (this was despite David trying, but failing, to stop the production of the magazine). It was an incident that split the magic community in two and Devant resigned on 05 April 1910. He was reinstated two years later.

Devant’s contribution to these articles wasn’t motivated by spite or the desire to expose his fellow magicians - he’d contributed them because he truly believed that the articles would benefit the art of magic, an opinion that his friend, former stage partner and current President of the society, Nevil Maskelyne, supported (it appears that both Devant and Maskelyne believed that technological advancements could be used not only to benefit their performances but also to expose frauds and potential faults – see Additional Notes on Nevil Maskelyne).

Translucidation

In 1909, David and his sister Dora utterly baffled audiences with a mind reading trick called Transludication. Six audience members were each passed a blank visiting card and were invited to write a message on the card without anybody else seeing it. Each card was placed into an envelope and sealed, and all sealed envelopes were collected in a black bag, which was to be brought to the front of the stage where Dora (who was completely blindfolded) sat near the footlights, surrounded by a semi-circle of volunteers behind her. However, something completely unexpected happened that even Devant himself couldn’t have anticipated. As the person collecting the envelopes approached the seat of Sir Oliver Lodge, the eminent physicist, Sir Oliver stood up and insisted that his own card, written at home before the performance, be added to the bag and challenged Dora to 'read' it.

Sir Oliver's card was dropped into the bag with the others and the bag then bought to the stage and placed into Dora’s lap by her brother. David stepped away from his sister and explained to the audience that what they were about to do involved no trickery or fraud and could be done by anyone in the auditorium. The anticipation in the room was palpable as Dora reached into the bag and, one by one, drew each sealed envelope up to her forehead and ‘read’ the message within while still blindfolded. The unopened cards were then returned to their owners, each of whom confirmed that Dora had just relayed the messages on each card absolutely correctly, including Sir Lodge’s. Sir Lodge stood up in his seat, appealed for silence from the stunned audience and then said, “I do not understand by what means this marvel has been accomplished. I know nothing in science that could account for it, and although the lady herself may be unaware of the supernatural powers she is exercising, I believe that the intervention of such power alone could offer a solution.”

David Devant himself said afterwards of the incident, “I saw him after the performance and tried to assure him it was trickery but he frankly said that he did not believe it”.

The Royal Command Performance

David was invited to appear at the very first Royal Command Performance, in July of 1912, for King George V and Queen Mary, an enormous honour given that it was the monarchs who decided who would perform and who wouldn’t. This glittering event was held at the London Palace Theatre and was a terribly extravagant affair, with the entire theatre and all the boxes being decked out with three million roses. David performed alongside not only vaudeville star Wilkie Bard (who, coincidentally, is also interred at Highgate Cemetery East) but other entertainment heavyweights such as Harry Lauder, Clarice Mayne, George Robey and Fanny Fields but to name a few.

(Incidentally, this was the same Royal Command Performance to which the music hall legend Marie Lloyd was scandalously not invited, due to her act being considered far too salacious at a time when music hall was supposedly regaining a respectable reputation. Marie was positively adored by the public but was considered too common to perform in front of royalty because, scandalously, she’d had the temerity to marry three times. Oh how times have changed… Elizabeth Taylor, who famously married eight times, was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999)

A promotional poster for David's The Little Chocolate Soldier illusion

Ill Health

By 1919 at the age of 52, David’s health was failing. He’d noticed that his hands had begun to shake while performing and he was diagnosed with ‘paralysis agitans’, or what we now know as Parkinson’s disease. The main symptoms of this debilitating condition are stiffness and rigidity of the limbs, shaking and loss of agility. In some cases, the disease can cause speech and communication problems and can also adversely affect the memory. For someone who’d based his entire life’s work on sleight of hand, mental dexterity and constant interaction with audiences, this diagnosis must have been absolutely devastating to David. By 1928 Marion Devant passed away from alcoholism and, by this point, David was unable to walk or control his hand movements. Although he was confined to a wheelchair, David continued to write books and teach magic.

Scandal II

In 1931, David wrote an autobiography called My Magic Life, which was followed up with Secrets of My Magic four years later. An excerpt from the latter entitled “Illusion and Disillusion” was published in the Windsor Magazine in December 1935 and once again, David found himself in hot water with The Magic Circle for contravention of Rule No. 13. He was forced to resign in 1936 and said of his expulsion:

“The tricks I had exposed were my own, so I did not think I had broken any rule. I owe it to posterity to give to the world my secrets before I die. I don’t think I shall live much longer. Exposing tricks or illusions—providing they are not someone else’s new invention—is good for the profession. It stimulates public interest in magic and forces magicians to seek new tricks rather than to stagnate with some that are centuries old. The Magic Circle seems to think that it is the mechanics of a trick that are the secrets of its success. In my view, it is only the artistry of the performer that can make it magic.” 

Death & Burial

By 1937, David had been placed in the care of the Royal Home for Incurables in south west London, and was presented an Honorary Life Membership by The Magic Circle the same year. Every year following his admittance to the hospital, a group of magicians from The Magic Circle performed for David at his bedside, a tradition that has continued long after his death 1941. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery in the Dissenters’ section of the West cemetery. The grave is not accessible by guided tour because it’s in a rather tricky spot to locate but is cared for by The Magic Circle.

The grave number is 16167, in square 23, and the Right of Burial granted 11 August 1868 to Matilda Wighton, 8 Grosvenor Road, Holloway for the sum of £3.3.0. The plot itself is 2’6 by 6’6 and is unconsecrated. The Wighton family members in the plot are:

David Wighton (died 1868)

Matilda E Wighton (died 18 November 1887)

James E Wighton (died 21 January 1901)

Mary Wighton (died 08 July 1918)

Jessie Wighton (died 01 November 1934)

David Devant (died 11 Oct 1941)

Ownership of the grave was transferred more than once and by 25 July 1902, the registered owner was Mary Wighton of Camden Road.

Legacy

Every year since 1999, The Magic Circle presents an award to, “those who have made a significant contribution in advancing the art of magic or who have given outstanding service to magic internationally”. The award is known as (you guessed it!) the Devant Award and past recipients have included:

2012 Jim Steinmeyer

2011 David Berglas

2009 Ali Bongo

2008 Siegfried & Roy

2007 Paul Daniels

2006 John Fisher

2005 John Calvert

2004 Marvyn Roy

2003 Mark Wilson and Nani

2002 Dr. Eddie Dawes

2001 John Gaughan

2000 Channing Pollock

1999 Jay Marshall

David has a room at the Centre for the Magic Arts named in his honour and even has a band named after him (indie group David Devant & His Spirit Wife). He appears in a book by children’s called The Story of the Amulet by E. Nesbit and his contribution to the performing arts was finally recognised by English Heritage in 2003, when a blue plaque was erected outside his home on Ornan Road, Belsize Park. His magic can be seen on Youtube via the Vintage Magic Archive's wonderful collection:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmZ7-xc3gp0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUYXYDl2_hY

In short, David Devant is still a huge inspiration to magicians today, both old and new, and when asked how his magic was done, David simply answered: “All done by kindness".

David’s Accomplishments –a Summary:

Illusions:

1893: Vice Versa

1893: Artist's Dream

1893: Colour Change

1893 (±): The Vest Servante

1895: Birth of Flora

1905: Mascot Moth

1906: The New Page

1913: The Vanishing Motorcycle

Shadowgraphy:

1911: Window of a Haunted House

Books:

1901: Hand Shadows

1903: Woes of a Wizard

1911: Our Magic, co-authored with J. Nevil Maskelyne

1913: Tricks for Everyone

1921: Magic Made Easy

1922: Lessons in Conjuring

1931: My Magic Life

1931: The Best Tricks and How to Do Them

1936: Secrets of My Magic

Cinematographer (documentaries):

1898: Collision

1898: Eastbourne Memorial

1898: Greasy Pole

1898: Worcester Street

Acting Roles:

In 1920, Devant played the part of The Master Magician in a film called The Great London Mystery, alongside Robert Clifton and Lady Doris Stapleton. The film was directed by Charles Raymond and was a silent crime/mystery/horror movie in which a magician foils a Chinese crime lord.

Short films featuring Himself:

1903: David Devant's Laughable Hand Shadows

1903: David Devant, Conjurer

1896: Devant's Exhibition of Paper Folding

1896: Devant's Hand Shadows

1896: The Egg-Laying Man

1896: The Mysterious Rabbit

Documentary:

David featured in a television documentary in 2000 called Heroes of Magic

Additional Notes about Nevil Maskelyne:

It appears that Nevil Maskelyne is regarded in some circles as being the world’s first hacker (or troll, depending on how you look at it!). In essence, he was a self-taught devotee of wireless technology and used it in in parts of his magic act. However, he found his efforts within the field were constantly hampered by Marconi’s broad use of patents and so, rather mischievously, Maskelyne decided to have the last laugh in 1902 by hacking into Marconi’s wireless telegraph display at the Royal Institution's lecture theatre. He interrupted the public demonstration of the transmission by sending insults in Morse code that claimed Marconi was a fraud and was "diddling the public." Marconi was bamboozled (and not to mention incredibly humiliated) by the hoaxer and his colleague, physicist John Ambrose Fleming, fired off a strongly worded letter to the Times of London, demanding that the paper’s readers assist in unmasking the perpetrator accused of "scientific hooliganism". Four days later, the paper received a response from Maskelyne, in which he claimed that his exposure of the security flaws were completely justified as it demonstrated that Marconi’s previous claim that the system’s security was top notch to be false. Maskelyne is buried in Brompton Cemetery and is also credited with creating the first pay toilet.

Copyright © Sam Perrin July 2013

Thanks:

Terry Wright, David Hibberd and Darren Tossell, The Magic Circle (http://themagiccircle.co.uk/)

Paul Kieve (http://www.stageillusion.com/)
Matthew Lloyd (www.arthurlloyd.co.uk)
The Vintage Magic Archive channel on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/VintageMagicArchives)

Justin Bickersteth (Registrar) and Eddie Daley (Trustee), Highgate Cemetery (http://highgatecemetery.org/)

Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0222212/bio#trivia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmZ7-xc3gp0

http://magicgizmo.com/home/Magic-History/famous-tricks-of-famous-conjurers-by-david-devant.html

http://www.olympicmagic.com/site/content/view/80/31/lang,el/

http://www.creatorofmysteriousstories.com/

http://www.magicnook.com/forum/SECRETSOFMyMAGICDevanteCD03.htm

http://www.magicnook.com/forum/bioCDE.htm

http://www.eabf.org.uk/royal-variety-performance/archive/1910s/1912

http://www.stageillusion.com/news/articles-by-paul-kieve/my-favourite-londoner-david-devant

http://www.users.waitrose.com/~2themorgans/cast/cast.html

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228440.700-dotdashdiss-the-gentleman-hackers-1903-lulz.html?full=true

http://www.socialphy.com/posts/computers-technology/7967/Nevil-Maskelyne_-a-hacker-109-years-ago.html

http://www.illusionrepository.com/repository/?listing=artists-dream

http://quick-change-artistry.com/shadowgraphy.html

http://www.victorian-cinema.net/devant

http://filmsdefrance.com/FDF_gmelies.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/07/books/now-you-see-it.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

http://sleighted.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/david-devants-mascot-moth-illusion.html

http://www.magicmagazine.com/2012/may/contents.html

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/discover/blue-plaques/search/devant-david-1868-1941

http://publicdomainreview.org/2013/04/17/magic-stage-illusions-and-scientific-diversions-including-trick-photography-1897/#

http://www.kylesummers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/file/The%20Magic%20Circle.pdf

http://cabinetmagazine.org/issues/26/dawes.php

http://cabinetmagazine.org/issues/24/allen.php

http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/mpcimg/17000/B16763_87.htm

http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/29/2667801/marconi-maskelyne-rivalry-1903-hacking-morse-transmission

Hiding the Elephant: How Magicians Invented the Impossible and Learned to Disappear by Jim Steinmeyer

The Sounds of the Silents in Britain, edited by Julie Brown and Annette Davison

Magic: A Picture History by Milbourne Christopher

Take it for a Fact: a Record of my Seventy-Five Years on the Stage by Ada Reeve

When the World Was Young: Lost Empires by Graham Nown

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

The Dream That Kicks: The Prehistory and Early Years of Cinema in Britain by Professor Michael Chanan

Meta-Morphing: Visual Transformation and the Culture of Quick-Change, edited by Vivian Carol Sobchack

The Thought Reader Craze: Victorian Science at the Enchanted Boundary by Barry H. Wileya

Modern Enchantments: The Cultural Power of Secular Magic by Simon DURING

Theosophist Magazine January 1932-April 1932, edited by Annie Wood Besant

The Straits Times, 14 November 1936, Page 18 (“Devant Tells His ‘Secrets’ of Magic”)

Popular Mechanics, Dec 1958

Our Magic: The Art in Magic, the Theory of Magic, the Practice of Magic by John Nevil Maskelyne, David Devant

Circle Without End the Magic Circle 1905 by Edwin A Dawes and Michael Bailey

Cheating and Deception by John Bowyer Bell and Barton Whaley

Encyclopedia of Early Cinema edited by Richard Abel

The Thought Reader Craze: Victorian Science at the Enchanted Boundary by Barry H. Wiley

The Haunted Gallery: Painting, Photography, and Film C. 1900 by Lynda Nead

Friday 14 June 2013

George Honey - Vocalist, Comedian and Actor (1822 to 1880)

“One of the most genuine and unexaggerated examples of pure humour the modern stage has witnessed”

“Highly finished from first to last”

“… delivered his words with a quaintness that quite took the audience by surprise. Such a success as he achieved last night is enough to make an epoch in an actor's career”

“An English comedian of great repute”

The reviews above are the sort that most theatrical performers would give their eyeteeth to receive and the recipient in this case was George Honey, an actor and singer buried in Highgate Cemetery East. George was gifted with not only a beautiful singing voice but great comedic timing and was one of the most popular comedic stage actors of the latter part of the 19^th Century.

Born on 22 May 1822, George found a job as a call-boy at the Adelphi Theatre in 1843, aged 21, and was soon given the part of the singing mouse as part of a comedy duet in Harlequin Blue Beard. Five years later he debuted as Pan in Midas at the Princess’s Theatre and a review of his later performance in G.A. MacFarren’s Robin Hood noted that George had “rendered valuable assistance both by his comic acting and excellent singing”.

George’s career went from strength to strength and between 1850 and 1851, he performed in a number of comedy operas at the Adelphi:

Character	Production	Run
Widgeon	Disowned	24 Mar 1851 - 2 Apr 1851
Gil	Giralda	27 May 1851 - 31 May 1851
Signor Pantalon	Good Night, Signor Pantalon	29 May 1851 - 23 Aug 1851
Muster Grinnidge	Green Bushes	24 Jul 1851 - 22 Sep 1851
Jukes	Jessie Gray	18 Nov 1850 - 24 Jan 1851
Sharp	Married Bachelor	15 Oct 1850 - 22 Mar 1851
Bob	Night of Horrors	12 Jun 1851 - 5 Jul 1851
Jack the Linnet	O'Flannigan and the Fairies	21 Apr 1851 - 24 May 1851
Jacob	Road to Ruin	16 Jul 1851
Puggs	Shocking Events	7 Jul 1851 - 11 Jul 1851
Mazourki	Taming a Tartar	25 Aug 1851 - 17 Sep 1851
Sanquineo	La Tarantula	26 Dec 1850 - 26 Feb 1851

Incidentally, a number of the abovementioned operas that George performed in were under the direction of Louisa Pyne and William Harrison of the Pyne & Harrison English Opera Company, which was the most successful English travelling opera troupe in the United States in the 1850s. The company later returned to London and Louisa Pyne appears to have been instrumental in the formation of the Royal English Opera Company. She was also the second woman to ever win the Royal Philharmonic Society's Beethoven Gold Medal for her contribution towards opera and was hugely respected and admired both in the UK and across the pond.

Louisa Pyne

As for the Adelphi Theatre, it was noted by the London Times as being "the most popular theatre of the metropolis" with the "best company in London for its purpose” in the summer of 1851. It’s also said that The Adelphi had the honour of being one of the first, if not the first, theatres to stage adaptations of the works of Charles Dickens. So not only was George rubbing shoulders with some of the most well respected directors and performers within the industry, he was also performing in one of the most popular theatres in London at the time!

The Old Adelphi Theatre

Success in the UK

Quite a number of later characters that George took to portraying were drunken, eccentric and slightly damaged, including a less-than-honest lawyer in Miriam’s Crime (1863), Turco the Terrible in William’s Brough’s Prince Amabel (1865) and Annibal Locust, a boozy sergeant, in Huguenot Captain (1866).

George as Biles in Miriam's Crime

His acting was described by Peter Fitzgerald as being “of the old broad, boisterous, exaggerated style” and Tom Robertson was initially reluctant to cast George as Eccles in Caste (1867) because he felt that George’s over-the-top style would clash with the subtler performances he’d established at the Prince of Wales theatre. As it turned out, George’s overstated ‘old school’ style was just the tonic required to bring Eccles to life, and George’s very funny portrayal was a thunderous success that ensured the character was only ever associated with his name thereafter.

George as Eccles

George’s later portrayal of Major Buncombe in Andrew Halliday's For Love or Money (1870) at the Globe also won him great acclaim and he went on to receive even more praise and recognition playing Cheviot Hill in W. S. Gilbert's Engaged (1877) at the Haymarket.

(Incidentally, George’s professional reputation had soared by the 1870s and as a result, his financial situation had improved dramatically: when he first played Eccles back in 1867, he was receiving £18 per week. Four years later, when Caste was revived, he was earning £60 a week. According to the VictorianWeb currency convertor, this amounts to £3,900 a week - A WEEK - in today’s currency!)

Success in the US

George travelled to New York in 1875, where his portrayal of Eccles at Wallack’s Theatre was “admired and praised on all hands”. In fact, George’s obituary in the New York Times described his portrayal of Eccles as “inimitable” and noted that George had produced “a remarkable and lasting effect”. The Era (14 May 1876 edition) reported that his tour of the US had been a “brilliant success” and, in playing Major Buncombe in "For Love or Money" (the first time the play had ever been seen in the United States), the Cambridge Chronicle (11 September edition) reported that he remained at the Boston Globe for a “series of star performances” for the rest of his stay in America.

Wallack's Theatre

George’s naturally quick wit occasionally presented itself in unscripted moments on stage, much to the delight of the audience. The following recollection comes from Lady Marie Bancroft (nee Wilton) in which she recalled one such incident during a performance of Orpheus. A horse race had taken place earlier on in the day, with the winning horse called Black Deer:

“In the evening, George Honey, who was playing Black King Pluto introduced an unexpected joke in my scene with him: “Saucy boy! You’ve been to the races, it is clear.” I was taken by surprise but soon recovered, and replied, “Yes, and was a winner, too, you Black Dear.” The audience at once recognised the introduction, and received it with much laughter and applause. Mr Honey, seeing that I had the best of it, added, “Oh, so I thought: well, long may you reign, dear.” This, being done on the spur of the moment, was more successful than if it had been pre-arranged.”

Lady Marie Bancroft

Personal Life

I attempted to locate George’s birth certificate and any other associated documentation that pertained to his parents and/or family, but was unable to source anything due to the fact that birth registrations in the UK only became necessary in 1837 (unfortunately for me, George was born in 1822 so 15 years too early to be registered).

However, I did come across an intriguing clue about George’s early life on the biography of another Victorian actress called Laura Agnes Stevenson. Her mother was the celebrated actress and singer Laura Honey (one of many aliases that daughter Laura used) although neither appear to have been related to George. However, Laura Honey (daughter) and George performed together in a number of plays at the Adelphi (The Married Bachelor, Jessie Gray, The Disowned, Giralda and Good Night, Signor Pantalon).

This same biography claimed that George was actually born George Alfred Dryland and on the Adelphi Theatre’s calendar for 1850/1851, George’s name is shown as being George A. Honey. Also, in the Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries (Volume 38), George is referred to as George Alfred Honey. So I followed this up and, courtesy of Ancestry.com, found one George Alfred Dryland who was baptised in Lambeth on 17 September 1823. If this is indeed the very same George, it would’ve made him 16-months old at the time of the baptism.

Intriguingly, I came across an excerpt from a book called Avowals by George Moore (described by Google Books as being “a volume of conversational memoirs by Moore, who was a significant member of the Irish Literary Revival in the early 1900s”). On page 50, Moore reminisces about seeing Money at the Prince of Wales Theatre (1869):

“Another great event of my youth, and of yours too, Gosse, I'm sure, was Money, at the Old Prince of Wales' Theatre, when the Bancrofts owned it. Do you remember Coghlan and Miss Foote in the act in which the will is read, as good an act of comedy as ever was written if it resembles my memory of it. If you have forgotten it I never have, nor a certain short front scene, played by George Honey and his wife.”

Could George have been married? Or could Mr Moore have possibly been referring to George's character's wife, perhaps? I was intrigued by this statement because while researching George, I hadn't come across one solitary suggestion or confirmation about his marital status anywhere at the time of posting. That's not to say that George never married and it's certainly worthy of investigation (I shall post any discoveries made in this regard as/if they present themselves).

Regarding George's interests outside the theatre, I stumbled across the following article in the 17 February 1875 edition of the Worcestershire Chronicle that suggests George might’ve had some involvement with the Freemasons:

[A CARD.]

BROTHER GEORGE HONEY

(COMEDIAN)

Takes this opportunity of THANKING the

FREEMASONS of WORCESTOR for their

PATRONAGE and PRESENCE upon the occasion of

His (RETURN) VISIT to the THEATRE ROYAL, on

FRIDAY LAST, FEB 12th

Acting Manager

C.K. FURTADO

I wanted to confirm this so contacted Diane Clements, the Director of the Library and Museum of Freemasonry. Diane advised that while the Freemasons occasionally sponsored events and performances for their members, this didn’t necessarily mean that the performer was a member of the organisation themselves. I then subsequently came across an article from The Freemasons' Quarterly Magazine and Review (26th February 1870) that appeared to confirm George's involvement within the Masons and commends George and one of his fellow brothers on their excellent singing following their initiation. However, one of Diane's colleagues contacted me a short while later to advise that while George had certainly performed for the organisation, they have absolutely no record confirming him as being a member.

Ill Health and Death

There was something almost Tommy Cooper-esque about the stroke that George suffered during his final entrance of the 1879 revival of Caste at the Prince of Wales.

Marie Bancroft, who played the part of Polly, was present as George collapsed backstage. The scene at the end of Act 1 centred on Eccles’ inebriated return to the stage and Miss Bancroft supported George (literally and figuratively) after his collapse by rattling a door and impersonating Eccles cursing, while physically holding the stricken actor up in the doorway (all while the audience applauded and laughed as the act-drop fell). The good news was that, unlike Tommy Cooper, George didn’t die from this stroke. The bad news was that the incident pretty much ended George’s career and the only theatrical appearances he made thereafter were minor parts for benefits. George died on 28 May 1880 following an aneurism of the heart.

George is buried on the East side of Highgate Cemetery on a small pathway to the right of the main pathway, near Chester Gate (look out for Ann Jewson Crisp's monument featuring her dog Emporer).

The right of burial was granted to Emily Honey of 127 Camden Road on 29 May 1880 at a cost of £6.6.0 and ownership was never transferred. George is the only person buried there and was interred on 01 June 1880. Interestingly, the location of the plot was chosen by Highgate Cemetery on behalf of George's family and the monument is on the right as you walk down the pathway. It's an upright rectangular pinkish stone with a white oval medallion featuring a (very accurate) relief of George’s face. The inscription reads:

IN MEMORY OF GEORGE HONEY

COMEDIAN

DIED MAY 28 1880

AGED 58 YEARS

ERECTED BY HIS FRIENDS

AND FELLOW WORKERS

In just about every one of his obituaries and reviews I’ve come across, George was described as being a very popular and talented performer and his professional career lasted for a very successful 32 years.

Sources:

Justin Bickersteth, Registrar, Highgate Cemetery
Ancestry.com

http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp88534/george-honey

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Honey,_George_(DNB00)

http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=13660&back=

http://content.lib.sfu.ca/cdm/singleitem/collection/ceww/id/318/rec/411

The Cambridge Companion to Victorian and Edwardian Theatre, edited by Kerry Powell

http://imslp.org/wiki/Robin_Hood_(Macfarren,_George_Alexander)

Opera on the Road: Traveling Opera Troupes in the United States, 1825-60 By Katherine K. Preston

http://www.luminous-lint.com/app/vexhibit/_THEME_Portrait_19thc_Opera_01/6/17/705520886123040645792793/

http://www.umass.edu/AdelphiTheatreCalendar/m50d.htm

http://www.victorianoperanorthwest.org/Operas/RobinHood.htm