Henry Thomas Augustus Spry (bapt. 2 July 1834 – 17 February 1904) was an English playwright and

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

performer who co-wrote and appeared in nearly 50 productions with George Conquest at the

Surrey Theatre The Surrey Theatre, London began life in 1782 as the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, one of the many circuses that provided entertainment of both horsemanship and drama ( hippodrama). It stood in Blackfriars Road, near the j ...

and elsewhere.

Early life

Henry Spry was born in 1834 in

Bloomsbury, London Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

to Charles and Sarah Maria Spry.

Family

Spry married Eliza Sarah Hassan in 1859. Their daughter Alice was an actress.

Career

Spry was a playwright and pantomime performer who co-wrote and appeared in nearly 50 productions with George Conquest at the Surrey Theatre and elsewhere."Conquest family" in He died in 1904 in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

, aged 69.

Works with George Conquest

*''Spitz-Spitz the Spider Crab; or The Pirate of Spitsbergen''. Grecian Theatre, 1875. *'' The Grim Goblin; or, Harlequin Octopus, the Devil Fish, and the Fairies of the Flowery Dell''. Grecian Theatre, 1876. *''Jack and the Beanstalk, which grew to the moon; or, the Giant, Jack Frost and the Ha-Ha Balloon''. Surrey Theatre, 1886. Starring

Dan Leno George Wild Galvin (20 December 1860 – 31 October 1904), better known by the stage name Dan Leno, was a leading English music hall comedian and musical theatre actor during the late Victorian era. He was best known, aside from his music hall a ...

and wife. *''Sinbad and the Little Old Man of the Sea; or, The Tinker, the Tailor, the Soldier, the Sailor, Apothecary, Ploughboy, Gentleman Thief''. Surrey Theatre, 1887. Starring Dan Leno and wife.

References

Pantomime English dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English male actors 1834 births 1904 deaths English male stage actors {{England-bio-stub