At this time the Bancrofts' old and well loved comrade, John Hare, was acting and managing in friendly rivalry with them at the original Court Theatre in Sloane Square. In 1876, the Kendals, having concluded a most prosperous season with him, left to fulfil an engagement in Tottenham Street, and he secured the services of Ellen Terry, whose husband, Charles Kelly, was already serving under his banner.
Before he went to fulfil his first engagement in America, John Hare entrusted me with the task of writing his biography, and, apart from my own observations of them, I became very well acquainted with the history of the series of plays in which Ellen Terry appeared in the dainty Chelsea playhouse.
Her first venture in her new home was as Kate Hungerford, in an original comedy by Charles Coghlan, entitled "Brothers," of which great things were expected. The cast included John Hare, Charles Kelly, H. B. Conway (one of the handsomest young actors of his day), G. W. Anson (a born comedian), Miss Bessie Hollingshead (the pretty and gifted daughter of the valiant and erudite John Hollingshead), and the always delightful Mrs. Gaston Murray. It was a cleverly written play, and the acting had the ensemble that John Hare had striven so hard and so successfully to impart, but it did not "draw the town," and it was very speedily succeeded by a revival of Tom Taylor and A. W. Dubourg's charming comedy, "New Men and Old Acres," in which Ellen Terry played the part created by Mrs. Kendal on the original production of the piece at the Haymarket Theatre, and Hare followed Chippendale as Vavasour. By all concerned this was so beautifully performed, and by the indefatigable actor-manager so perfectly stage-managed, that solid and lasting success was assured. The good work that was being done was generously as well as generally recognised, and the critical Athenæum spoke for the public when it said:—
"Without going to the best Parisian theatres, it is not easy to rival the performance now given, and there even the majority of the impersonations would call for notice. The result is highly gratifying to the public, unused to spectacles such as are now presented to it, and is most honourable to the management.... We may congratulate accordingly Mr. Hare and his company upon a performance that lifts off a portion of the reproach under which we have lain, and that is the more noteworthy inasmuch as of the dozen actors concerned in the performance, there is no one that does not deserve praise."
The character of Lilian Vavasour had been so inseparably associated with the name of Mrs. Kendal, who when she first appeared in it was still using her maiden name (well loved by the public) of Madge Robertson, that it must have been difficult for Ellen Terry to take it up, as it were, at second-hand. That she succeeded in it to admiration, and once more secured a long run for the pretty comedy, speaks volumes for her talent and personal charm. I suppose nowadays "New Men and Old Acres" would be called "old-fashioned." Many of us would like to see it again as played by those dozen actors who all "deserved praise."
Early in 1877 it was apparent that Henry Compton, the veteran Haymarket comedian, whose name will ever rank with the greatest of his art, would be unable to return to the active work of the stage. By his professional brothers and sisters he was both loved and respected, and they resolved to give evidence to their sympathy by organising a history-making benefit performance.
This was given at Drury Lane Theatre on March 1. The substantial item on the bill of fare was Lord Lytton's "Money," with a cast that included the well-known names of Henry Neville, John Hare, W. H. Kendal, Benjamin Webster (he emerged from his retirement to play his original character of Graves, and it was his last appearance on the stage), David James, and Squire Bancroft. Mrs. Bancroft played Lady Franklin; Mrs. Kendal, Clara Douglas; and Ellen Terry, Georgina Vesey.
All concerned in this undertaking were anxious to do honour to the name of Henry Compton, and the happy thought was conceived of inviting his son, Edward Compton, then a young fellow "serving his time" with the provincial stock companies, to play the central part of Alfred Evelyn. It was a nervous first appearance in London for so youthful and inexperienced an actor, but he performed his task bravely, and delighted his worthy father as well as his audience. He has often told me of the kindly encouragement he received from the great artists by whom he so unexpectedly found himself surrounded. Since then, as the founder and indefatigable manager of the Compton Comedy Company, he has helped many excellent actors and actresses to reach the coveted London boards.
As a motto to "Money," the following cynical lines are often used—