Anson, John William |
| ACTOR, THEATRE MANAGER (ENGLAND) |
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BORN 31 Jul 1817, London - DIED 6 Feb 1881, London GRAVE LOCATION Brookwood, Surrey: Brookwood Cemetery (Plot 118 (Actors' Acre), family plot opposite his memorial) |
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John Anson was a member of the Garrick Amateur club in Cambridge before he started his professional acting career in Bath in 1843 in "The Wonder" by Susanna Centlivre at the Theatre Royal. His next stations were Dundee, Montrose and Belfast, where he worked for four years and married the actress Barbara Johnson in 1846. With his own company he performed in Dundee, Montrose and Inverness. In 1853 the he moved to London, where he was active for the Adelphi theatre, acting as its treasurer from 1859 to 1871 and from 1873 to 1874. In 1855 he founded the Dramatic, Equestrian and Musical Sick Fund Association in help of actors who were to ill to perform. In 1857 he bought a plot now known as the Actors' Acre at Brookwood Cemetery for deceased actors. He also helped to found the Royal Dramatic College, a home for retired actors. After his death in 1881 he was buried in the Actors' Acre himself. Family • Wife: Anson, Barbara Rust (1846-1857, Belfast) |
| Images | |
 The grave of John William Anson and Barbara Anson at Brookwood Cemetery, Woking. Picture by Androom (25 Jun 2009) |
 The grave of John William Anson and Barbara Anson at Brookwood Cemetery, Woking. Picture by Androom (25 Jun 2009) |
Sources • Clarke, John M., London's Necropolis, A Guide to Brookwood Cemetery, Sutton Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 2004 • John W. Anson - Wikipedia (EN) |
