Bancroft, Squire

ACTOR (GREAT BRITAIN)
BORN 14 May 1841, London: Rotherhithe - DIED 19 Apr 1926, London
GRAVE LOCATION London: Brompton Cemetery, Old Brompton Road, West Brompton (E1)

Bancroft first appeared on the stage in 1861 in Birming. After touring the country for several years he debuted in London in 1865 in "A Winning Hazzard" at the Prince of Wales's Theatre. It was managed by Effie Martie Wilton and he married her in 1868. Subsequently they managed the theatre together.

Bancroft and his wife appeared in the successful comedies by Thomas William Robertson. In 1879 they went to the Haymarket Theatre, both as managers and performars. They had made themselves a fortune and in 1885 they were able to retire from management. In 1889 Bancroft appeared next to Henry Irving and in 1897 he was knighted. From 1917 until his death he lived at the Albany in Picadilly.

Family
• Wife: Bancroft, Marie (1867-1921)

Events
1/6/1887Henry Irving stages a benefit performance of Byron's "Werner". It was to the benefit of Westland Marston, author of "The Patrician's Daughter". Irving was the manager of the Lyceum Theatre where the performance took place. In the audience were Lord Randolph Churchill, Robert Browning and Squire Bancroft. [Byron, George Noel Gordon ]
27/9/1889Wilkie Collins is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery. According to his wishes he was buried in a simple grave. Among those present were his niece Jane Ward, Holman-Hunt, Pigott, George Redford, Edmund Yates, Charles Dickens the Younger, Frank Beard, Caroline Graves, Ada Cavendish, Arthur Pinero, Squire Bancroft, Sebastian Schlesinger, Andrew Chatto, A.P. Watt, Hall Caine and Edmund Gosse. In 1895 Caroline Graves was buried in the same grave. [Cavendish, Ada][Collins, Wilkie][Dickens, Charles Culliford Boz][Graves, Caroline Elizabeth][Hunt, William Holman][Schlesinger, Sebastian]

Images

The grave of Squire Bancroft and Marie Bancroft at Brompton Cemetery, London.
Picture by Androom (27 May 2004)

 

Sources
• Culbertson, Judi & Tom Randall, Permanent Londoners, Robson Books, London, 1991
• Howell, Margaret J., Byron tonight, A Poet's Plays on the 19th Century Stage, Springwood Books, Windlesham, 1982
• Peters, Catherine, The King of Inventors, A Life of Wilkie Collins, Seeker & Warburg, London, 1991
Squire Bancroft - Wikipedia


Bandel, Ernst von

Published: 14 Dec 2008
Last update: 20 May 2023