The Haymarket Massacre was an Anarchist riot in Chicago, USA. The troubles originated in labour troubles which culminated in an open-air meeting in Haymarket Square, Chicago on May the 4th, 1886. Violent speeches were made by the Anarchists Spies, Parsons and Fielden. A bomb was thrown among the police, causing great loss of life. Spies, Parsons, Fischer, Engel, Schwab, Lingg and Neebe were arrested and tried. The first four were hanged on November 11, 1887. Fielden and Schwab were imprisoned for life. Lingg committed suicide. Governor Altgeld, of Illinois, pardoned Fielden and Schwab in 1893. Research Haymarket Massacre
Trilby was a novel written by George Du Maurier and originally published serially in Harper's Magazine in 1894. The story is based around the heroine, Trilby O'Ferall, an artist's model in love with a man whom she considers above her station, and hence she breaks off the romance and disappears only to reappear later as a singer under the hypnotic control of a Jewish adventurer called Svengali. In 1895 a dramatised version of the novel was performed at the Haymarket in London. Research Trilby
Charles Mathews was an English comedian. He was born in 1776 at London and died in 1835. He appeared at the Haymarket, London in 1803 and thereafter constantly performed in London and elsewhere. In 1808 he began his ' At Homes' act which included recitals, songs, imitations and ventriloquism which proved popular in England and America. Research Charles Mathews
George Colman was an English dramatist. He was born in 1732 at Florence and died in 1794. His education was directed, after his father's death, by his uncle, William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, who sent him to Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn, but an intimacy with Garrick led him to write for the stage. He was very successful with the Jealous Wife, a comedy, produced at Drury Lane in 1761. The Clandestine Marriage, written in collaboration with Garrick, followed in 1766, and he afterwards wrote or adapted many other plays. He purchased Covent Garden Theatre in 1767, and ran it until 1774. He acquired the Haymarket Theatre in 1776, and managed it for thirteen years. He translated Terence, and Horace's Ars Poetica, and published miscellaneous essays.
George Colman was an English dramatist. He was born 1762 at London and died in 1836. Educated at Westminster School, Christ Church, Oxford, and King's College, Aberdeen, he was intended for the bar, but soon turned to literature and the theatre. He succeeded his father - George Colman - as manager of the Haymarket Theatre in 1789, and on his death became its patentee. Of his many dramas the most successful were: The Heir-at-Law (1797), Poor Gentleman (1802), John Bull (1803), Love Laughs at Locksmiths (1803). From 1824 until his death in 1836 he was examiner of plays. He lived an extravagant life, and was often engaged in literary feuds. Research George Colman
Henry Fielding was an English writer. He was born in 1707 at Sharpham Park near Glastonbury and died in 1754. He was educated at Eton, whence he moved to Leyden; but the straitened circumstances of his father shortened his academical studies, and the same cause, added to a dissipated disposition, turned his attention to the stage. His first dramatic piece was entitled Love in Several Masks, was produced at Drury Lane in 1728, and met with a favourable reception. The Temple Beau, The Author's Farce, The Modern Husband, Don Quixote in England, and many others quickly followed, a number of them being little more than free translations from the French. He himself became a stage-manager, and for some time conducted the Haymarket Theatre.
About 1736 or 1737 he married a Miss Craddock, a lady of some fortune, and at the same time, by the death of his mother, became possessed of a small estate in Dorsets. He immediately commenced on the life of country gentleman on a scale which, in three years, reduced him to greater poverty than ever, with a young family to support. He then, for the first time, dedicated himself to the bar as a profession, and for immediate revenue wrote on various miscellaneous subjects. The Champion, a periodical paper on the model of the Spectator, but written in a freer style, and An Essay on the Knowledge and Characters of Men, were among his writings.
In 1740 he was called to the bar, and went on circuit, but with so little success that he was compelled to return to literature. In 1712 the first of his great novels, Joseph Andrews, appeared, which he had at first conceived as a burlesque of Richardson's Pamela. It was a great sucess, and was followed by A Journey from this World to the Next, and the History of Jonathan Wild.
In 1749 he was appointed a Middlesex justice, a not very reputable office, but which Fielding's honesty and earnest discharge of his duties did something to render more respectable. In the same year his masterpiece, the satirical comedy, The History of Tom Jones, appeared, and was followed two years afterwards by Amelia. At length, however, his constitution, exhausted both by hard work and good living, gave way, and in the June of 1754 he had to seek the milder climate of Lisbon, where he died on the 8th of October of the same year. The chief merits of Henry Fielding as a novelist are wit, humour, correct delineation of character, and knowledge of the humanheart. He drew from a very varied experience of life, which he reproduced with an artistic realism entitling him to be considered, far more than Richardson, as the creator of the English novel. Research Henry Fielding
John Peter Altgeld was an American politician. He was born in 1847 and died in 1902. He was a Democratic governor of Illinois from 1893 until 1897. He is famous for his pardon in 1893 of the three men convicted of complicity in the Haymarket riot in Chicago of 1886. Research John P. Altgeld
Sir John Vanbrugh was an English dramatist and architect. He was born in 1664 in London and died in 1726. He studied architecture in France, became a captain in the army, and was arrested as a spy in France and imprisoned in the Bastille. He wrote ten comedies, as grossly indecent as other dramatic productions of the period, but undeniably witty and realistic. He was one of the dramatists attacked by Jeremy Collier. His best known play and first comedy, 'The Relapse', opened in 1696. He also produced The Provok'd Wife, 1697; and The Confederacy, 1705, which, contrary to the prevailing practice, introduced humble characters on the stage. In his later years John Vanbrugh rose to fame as an architect. His finest work is Castle Howard, and his largest and most grandiose mansion is Blenheim Palace. He designed the Haymarket Theatre, 1705, and was its first lessee and manager. He was knighted by George I in 1714, and held the appointment of controller of the royal works. Research John Vanbrugh
Barry Sullivan was an Irish tragedy actor. He was born in 1821 at Birmingham and died in 1891. He made his debut at Cork in 1837 and in 1852 made his London debut playing Hamlet at the Haymarket, London. Research Barry Sullivan
Benjamin Nottingham Webster was an English actor and play write. He was born in 1797 at Bath and died in 1882. He was essentially a character actor, playing grim and serious parts. For many years he was the manager of the Adelphi theatre in London and later of the Haymarket. Research Benjamin Webster
Edward Askew Sothern was an English actor and play producer. He was born in 1826 at Liverpool and died in 1881. He remained fairly unknown until he appeared in Tom Taylor's 'Our American Cousin' at Laura Keene's Theatre, New York in 1858 playing the role of 'Lord Dundreary'. He later produced the play at the Haymarket, London in 1861 when it ran for 496 consecutive nights. Research Edward Sotherm
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