Jessie Eliza Bateman (2 August 1877 – 14 November 1940) was an English stage actress. Bateman began her career as a child actress. After early success on tour in Shakespearean roles, she built her career both in London and foreign tours. She had her greatest success in the early years of the 20th century, and her career spanned over half a century.

Biography

Bateman made her first professional appearance aged ten at the

Alhambra Theatre The Alhambra Theatre was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts, opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two yea ...

in a series of ballets. In 1889, she had her first dramatic role at the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a Theater (structure), theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 at Southwark, close to the south bank of the Thames, by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was ...

as "Cobweb" in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

''.Gillan, Don
"Jessie Bateman"
, at the Stage Beauty website In 1890, she appeared at

The Prince of Wales Theatre The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre ...

in ''The Rose and the King'' and in 1891 in

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design and stage effects with plots normally based on o ...

, ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'' at The Royal English Opera House. Bateman spent the next five years with F. R. Benson's Shakespearean touring company, playing increasingly important roles, including Titania in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' and Celia in ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

''. In 1894 she married George Augustus Ashfordby-Trenchard. He began a military career but soon turned to acting. In 1896, she returned to London and played at the

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

, appearing in ''The Guinea Stamp'' and ''Mr Martin''. She was then employed by

George Edwardes George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond. Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...

for a tour of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. There she played a variety of leading roles in such works as ''The Little Minister'', a comedy by

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

, ''Secret Service'', a serio-drama, and ''Under the Red Robe'', a romantic drama. After a brief return the London in 1898, she toured the United States in the title role of ''Peggy Stubbs'' and in H. Reeves-Smith's play, ''A Brace of Partridges''. She returned to London with Reeves-Smith, starring with him at the

Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.

as Connie in ''A Little Ray of Sunshine''. In 1899, she joined Charles Hawtrey's company at the Avenue Theatre in the role of Minnie Templar in ''A Message from Mars'', then touring in that role in America and playing it again at

in London. When the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

began in 1899, Bateman's husband resumed his military career but died in

in 1902. In 1904, Bateman starred as Fairy Rosebud in

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...

's '' The Fairy's Dilemma'' at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play, ...

. Around this time, she also starred as Fanny in ''The Clandestine Marriage'', Nell'in ''Everybody's Secret'', Imogen in ''The Cabinet Minister'', and Acacia Dean in ''Lucky Miss Dean'' and with Cyril Maude in ''Beauty and the Barge''. She joined

Gerald du Maurier Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier (26 March 1873 – 11 April 1934) was an English actor and Actor-manager, manager. He was the son of author George du Maurier and his wife, Emma Wightwick, and the brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies ...

in 1906 as Gwendoline Conran in ''Raffles'' at the Comedy Theatre, which ran for 351 performances, perhaps her greatest success to that date. When the run ended in 1907, she married Wilfred G. Chancellor with whom she had three children. In 1909 she returned to the stage appearing in ''The Merry Devil'' at the

Playhouse Theatre The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in ...

as Madame de Tessenari. She appeared in a revival of ''The Whip'', by Cecil Raleigh and Henry Hamilton, at

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

in 1910 (in which she rode a horse astride). ''Playgoer and Society Illustrated'' wrote, "It would be difficult to find a sweeter Lady Diana Sartorys than Miss Jessie Bateman".''Playgoer and Society Illustrated'', Vol II, No. 7, April 1910 She continued her stage career for more than twenty years thereafter and also appeared as Mrs. Wayne in a short film, ''Account Rendered'', in 1932. She made her last major appearance on stage in 1933 at the Queen's Theatre in ''Spendlove Hall''. Bateman died in 1940 at the age of 63.

Notes

External links

Photos of Bateman
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Photo of Bateman and DuMaurier in ''Raffles''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bateman, Jessie 1877 births 1940 deaths English Shakespearean actresses English child actresses 19th-century English actresses English stage actresses 20th-century English actresses