Joseph Vernon (c. 1738–1782) was an English actor and singer. From his days as a boy soprano, he had a successful career on the London stage, interrupted only by the aftermath of an underage wedding to a colleague.

Early life

Born at

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

around 1738, Vernon was illegitimate. He studied in London under

William Savage William Savage (1720 – 27 July 1789) was an English composer, organist, and singer of the 18th century. He sang as a boy treble and alto, a countertenor, and as a bass. He is best remembered for his association with the composer George Frid ...

in the choir of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

. As a boy he had a fine soprano voice, and on 23 February 1751 he sang at

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

Thomas Arne Thomas Augustine Arne (; 12 March 17105 March 1778) was an English composer. He is best known for his patriotic song " Rule, Britannia!" and the song " A-Hunting We Will Go", the latter composed for a 1777 production of '' The Beggar's Opera'', w ...

's ''

Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

''. On 22 May he took part in ''Queen Mab'', the pantomime by Henry Woodward; on 20 September in the funeral procession in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

''; and on 19 November in ''The Shepherd's Lottery'', an opera by William Boyce. In the early part of 1754 he sang tenor parts and acted comedy at Drury Lane.

Scandal and exile in Dublin

In 1755 Vernon married

Jane Poitier Jane Poitier (8 June 1736 - after 1786) was a British singer and dancer. She started out as a dancer but became a singer of main parts. She was known for appearing saucily dressed. She was an innocent party in a marriage where the clergy involved ...

, a singer at Drury Lane at the

Savoy Chapel The King's Chapel of St John the Baptist in the Precinct of the Savoy, also known as the King's Chapel of the Savoy (called The Queen's Chapel during much of modern history in the reigns of Victoria and Elizabeth II), is a church in the City of ...

. John Wilkinson, the incumbent of the Savoy Chapel, thought that the terms of the

Marriage Act 1753 The Clandestine Marriages Act 1753 ( 26 Geo. 2. c. 33), also called the Marriage Act 1753, long title "An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage", popularly known as Lord Hardwicke's Marriage Act, was the first statutory legisla ...

, aimed at clandestine marriages, did not apply to his extra-parochial church, and continued to issue licenses and to solemnise marriages. Among these technically irregular weddings, Vernon's happened to be the test case taken to court by the authorities. According to

Tate Wilkinson Tate Wilkinson (27 October 173916 November 1803) was an English actor and manager. Life He was the son of a clergyman and was sent to Harrow. His first attempts at acting were badly received, and it was to his wonderful gift of mimicry that h ...

Joseph and Jane, who had been acting as "Mrs. Vernon", were happy enough to be parted. On the other hand, the fallout of the prosecution case against the clergy of the Chapel was serious. Wilkinson was sentenced in 1756 to 14 years transportation to

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

, and died in 1757 on the way. The curate John Grierson, who had carried out the marriage, received the same sentence: Vernon had testified at the trial, and was then hissed on stage. The unpopular Vernon moved to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, where he had further success as an actor.

Return to Drury Lane

Back at Drury Lane in 1762, Vernon was given parts by

David Garrick David Garrick (19 February 1716 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, Actor-manager, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil a ...

. He combined polished singing and a natural style of acting in Shakespeare. He was also assigned some characters in comedy and farce: Colonel Bully in '' The Provoked Wife''; Master Stephen in ''

Every Man in his Humour ''Every Man in His Humour'' is a 1598 play by the English playwright Ben Jonson. The play belongs to the subgenre of "humours comedy", in which each major character is dominated by an over-riding humour or obsession. First performance All th ...

''; Sir John Loverule in ''The Devil to Pay'', a

ballad opera The ballad opera is a genre of England, English ''comic opera'' stage play that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier ''comédie en vaudeville'' and the later ''Sings ...

Charles Coffey Charles Coffey (late 17th century – 13 May 1745) was an Irish playwright, opera librettist and arranger of music from County Westmeath. Following the initial failure of his ballad opera ''The Beggar’s Wedding'' (Dublin, Smock Alley Theatre, ...

, and Sharp in ''The Lying Valet'' by Garrick. According to

James Boaden James Boaden (23 May 1762 – 16 February 1839) was an English biographer, dramatist, and journalist. Biographer He was the son of William Boaden, a merchant in the Russia trade. He was born at Whitehaven, Cumberland, on 23 May 1762, and at an ...

, Vernon's voice in maturity was of poor quality. Nonetheless, he continued to take singing parts in

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

and interludes.He sang Macheath in ''

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sati ...

'', and Principal Witch in ''The Witches''. He had parts in ''Pharnaces'' by William Bates (1765); Thomas Arne's ''Cymon'', 1767; and in ''The Padlock'', ''Love in a Village'', ''Ode to Shakespeare'', ''The Jubilee'', 1769; ''Lionel and Clarissa'', and ''King Arthur'', 1770; ''Christmas Tale'', 1773; ''The Deserter'', 1774; ''Black-a-moor washed White'' (with

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known Tragedy, tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder siste ...

), ''Rival Candidates'', 1776; and many others. The song in Act III of ''

The School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling S ...

'' was written by Thomas Linley for him. He took the title role in ''Selima and Azor'', Linley's first opera.

Last years

Vernon's last performances were Artabanes in ''

Artaxerxes Artaxerxes may refer to: The throne name of several Achaemenid rulers of the 1st Persian Empire: * Artaxerxes I of Persia (died 425 BC), Artaxerxes I Longimanus, ''r.'' 466–425 BC, son and successor of Xerxes I * Artaxerxes II of Persia (436 BC ...

'', First Bacchanal in ''

Comus In Greek mythology, Comus (; , ''Kōmos'') is the god of festivity, revels and nocturnal dalliances. Cup-bearer of the god Dionysus, he was represented as a winged youth or a child-like satyr. His mythology occurs only in later antiquity. Duri ...

'', and Truemore in ''The Lord of the Manor'' by

Jackson of Exeter William Jackson (29 May 1730 – 5 July 1803), referred to as Jackson of Exeter, was an English organist and composer. Life Jackson was born and died in Exeter, England, the son of an Exeter grocer, who later became master of the city workhouse. ...

, 1780. Until 6 October 1781 he appeared in these and his older parts. He died on 19 March 1782 at

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, and the administration of his effects was granted to Margaret Vernon, his widow.

Works

Vernon compiled around 1782 ''The New London and Country Songster, or a Banquet of Vocal Music''. He composed songs and ballads, including ''New Songs in the Pantomime of the Witches'', the epilogue in ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

'', and a song in the ''

Two Gentlemen of Verona ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as showing his first ten ...

''.

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Vernon, Joseph 1730s births 1782 deaths Year of birth uncertain 18th-century English male actors English singers Male actors from Coventry English male stage actors