Social Victorians/People/Henry Irving

Also Known As

 * Family name: Brodribb, Irving
 * John Henry Brodribb
 * J. H. Irving

Friends

 * Bram Stoker, business manager of the Lyceum
 * Ellen Terry
 * Edward Gordon Craig (Ellen Terry's son Teddy)

Organizations

 * Lyceum Theatre
 * Freemason: Jerusalem Lodge No 197 in London (November 1882) and founding member and treasurer of the Savage Club Lodge No 2190 (1887)

Timeline
1869 July 15, Henry Irving and Florence O'Callaghan married.

1871 2 April, the following people were living at 5 Linden Grove, Kensington, in the 1871 England census: Henry B. Irving (33 years old), Florence F. J. Irving (27), Henry B. Irving (7 months), and two female servants, Edith Mandrell (21) and Eleanor Chapman (38).

1871 November 25, opening night of a play he was performing in, The Bells, Henry Irving left Florence after a disagreement and never saw her again.

1880, Florence Fanny Brodribb petitioned for divorce from John H. Brodribb, but apparently never actually divorced him.

1895, Henry Irving was knighted, the first actor to be so honored.

1896 July 20, Henry Brodribb Irving and Dorothea Forster Baird married.

1897 June 28, Monday evening, Henry Irving hosted a reception at the Lyceum after the performance of Sardou's Madame Sans-Gêne for the Colonial Premiers, who were in London for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

1897 July 2, Friday, Henry Irving attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

1903 2nd quarter, Laurence Sydney B. Irving and Mabel Lucy Hackney married.

1905 October 13, Irving died of a stroke during a performance. He was cremated and then buried in Westminster Abbey.

1911 April 2, the following people were living at 10 Gilston Road, Kensington, in the 1911 England census: Florence F. Irving (57 years old), Laurence Irving (29), and three female servants, Ellen A. Siggers (43), Elizabeth M. Ovenden (23), and Maria P. Goodchild (24).

1914 29 May, Laurence Sidney Brodribb Irving and Mabel Lucy Irving died in the RMS Empress of Ireland disaster.

Costume at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball
Henry Irving (at 414) attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball dressed as Cardinal Wolsey. According to the Pall Mall Gazette, "Sir Henry Irving looked in as Cardinal Wolsey." The Westminster Gazette says, "There were ecclesiastics galore, but Sir Henry lrving's Wolsey and Lord Burton's Cardinal Dubois threw all the others into the shade."

W. & D. Downey's portrait of "Sir Henry Irving as Cardinal Wolsey" in costume is photogravure #222 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Sir Henry Irving as Cardinal Wolsey."

Thomas Wolsey (1473–1530) was a Catholic Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor, falling out of favor because he could not arrange the annulment of King Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The portrait of Cardinal Wolsey (right) is one of several portraits of him in red vestments and a similar hat, all in England and, presumably, available for Henry Irving to see. This one was painted c. 1600 by an unknown artist and is now part of the National Trust of the U.K., housed at the Sackville Estate.

Demographics

 * Nationality: English

Family

 * Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905)
 * Florence Fanny O'Callaghan (c. 1844 – 12 January 1935 )
 * 1) Harry (Henry Brodribb) Irving (5 August 1870 – 17 October 1919)
 * 2) Laurence Sidney Brodribb Irving (21 December 1871 – 29 May 1914 )

Relations

 * W. H. Davies, cousin
 * Laurence Irving, grandson