1830.] 



Biographical Memoirs of Eminent Persons. 



487 



these, his genteel appearance, and some- 

 what pompous address which he always 

 retained were considerably in his favour. 

 His entree on the stage was made in the 

 .west of England; but no unusual case 

 so slight were his emoluments, that they 

 scarcely afforded him the means of subsis- 

 tence. At length, he was seen at Brighton, 

 by the late George Colman. There, con- 

 .trasted with his brother actors, he appeared 

 to the modern Terence possessed of powers 

 that might be useful in London, and he 

 was accordingly engaged by him for the 

 Haymarket Theatre. Mr. Colman, how- 

 ever, who, strange as it may seem, had 

 selected our hero for his vocal powers, soon 

 repented his bargain ; and Barrymore was 

 dismissed with a pecuniary compensation 

 in lieu of performance. Fortunately for 

 the adventurer, Mr. Du Bellamy about this 

 time retired from the London stage; and, 

 in the hour of distress, the proprietor of 

 Drury-lane Theatre engaged him as his 

 successor, or rather substitute, until a per- 

 former of higher merit could be found. 

 He made his debut as Young Meadows, 

 in Love in a Village; but his reception 

 was not of the most flattering nature. For 

 several years he remained upon an insig- 

 nificant salary, appearing occasionally in 

 tragedy, comedy, opera, farce, &c. until a 

 favourable opening occurred by the removal 

 of Mr. Farren, who went to Coven t-garden 

 Theatre. Mr. Barrymore was immediately 

 invested with most of his parts, which were 

 not inconsiderable. By his spirited per- 

 formance of Carlos, in Isabella, he first 

 made a favourable impression on the public. 

 Soon after this, Mr. Bannister, jun., alias 

 " Jack Bannister" now, as we have re- 

 cently heard him called, " old Mr. Ban- 

 nister," happening to be indisposed at a 

 time when he should have personated 

 Charles Oakley, in The Jealous Wife, 

 Barrymore offered to read that part, at a 

 very short notice. He accordingly com- 

 menced, with the book in his hand ; but, 

 putting it into his pocket, in the second 

 act, and proceeding with great spirit, he 

 was rewarded with the most flattering ap- 

 plause, and soon afterwards, he obtained a 

 considerable increase of salary. The death 



of Mr. Brereton, and the desertion of Mr. 

 Palmer old John Palmer, who went to 

 ruin himself and others at the Royalty 

 Theatre concurred still further to his ad- 

 vancement ; and, at length he succeeded in 

 establishing himself in public favour. For 

 many seasons he was a leading actor at the 

 Haymarket. The most effective part, how- 

 ever, that we recollect having seen him 

 perform, was that of Osmond, in Monk 

 Lewis's melo-dramatic play of The Castle 

 Spectre. 



Barrymore's figure and face were unex- 

 ceptionable ; his voice was clear and strong; 

 but his action and deportment were con- 

 strained ; and, in his conception of charac- 

 ter, there was little of intellectual discrimi- 

 nation in his performance, little of the 

 electric fire of genius. 



Mr. Barrymore had several years retired 

 from the stage. His son is considered 

 skilful in the arrangement of pantomime 

 and spectacle ; and has, we believe, been 

 engaged in the management of many of the 

 minor theatres. 



EDWARD FERRERS, ESQ. 



In August, at his seat, Baddesley Clin- 

 ton, Warwickshire, died Edward Ferrers, 

 Esq. This gentleman entered, in 1809, into 

 the Warwickshire Militia, in which, at the 

 period of his decease, he held the rank of 

 major. He contracted, in 1813, a matri- 

 monial alliance with the Lady Henrietta- 

 Anne, second daughter of the Marquess 

 Townshend. In a man of Mr. Ferrers's 

 good sense, adventitious circumstances, the 

 gifts of fortune, and a genealogy exhibit- 

 ing a long line of illustrious ancestry, pro- 

 duced only the most salutary influence ; for, 

 while he traced, as emblazoned on the win- 

 dows of his ancient hall, a direct descent 

 from the heroes of the Norman conquest, 

 and intermarriages with not a few of the 

 highest families of England, these acces- 

 sories served not to foster a sickly vanity, 

 but to kindle in his breast an ambition of 

 embodying in their representative, so far as 

 might be, an unimpaired,, yet perfectly 

 unostentatious pattern, of the vera nobi- 

 litas. 



