Robert William Elliston (7 April 1774 – 7 July 1831) was an English actor and theatre manager.

Life

He was born in London, the son of a watchmaker. He was educated at St Paul's School, but ran away from home and made his first appearance on the stage as Tressel in ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' at the Old Orchard Street Theatre in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in 1791. There he was later seen as

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lord Montague, Lord Montague and his wife, Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lady Montague, Lady Montague, he ...

, and in other leading parts, both comic and tragic, and he repeated his successes in London from 1796. In the same year he married Elizabeth, the sister of Mary Ann Rundall, and they would in time have ten children. He acted at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

from 1804 to 1809, and again from 1812. From 1819 he was the lessee of the house, presenting Edmund Kean, Mme Vestris, and Macready. He bought the Olympic Theatre in 1813 and also had an interest in a patent theatre, the Theatre Royal, Birmingham. Ill-health and misfortune culminated in his

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

in 1826, when he made his last appearance at Drury Lane as Falstaff. As the lessee of the Surrey Theatre, he acted almost up to his death in 1831, which was hastened by

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

. At the Surrey, where he was the lessee first from 1806–14 and then again beginning in 1827, to avoid the patent restrictions on drama outside the West End, he presented

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and other plays accompanied by ballet music.

Leigh Hunt James Henry Leigh Hunt (19 October 178428 August 1859), best known as Leigh Hunt, was an English critic, essayist and poet. Hunt co-founded '' The Examiner'', a leading intellectual journal expounding radical principles. He was the centre ...

compared him favorably as an actor with

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 ...

;

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

thought him inimitable in high comedy; and Macready praised his versatility. Elliston was the author of '' The Venetian Outlaw'' (1805), and, with Francis Godolphin Waldron, of ''No Prelude'' (1803), in both of which plays he appeared. His son was Henry Twiselton Elliston.Christopher Murray, 'Elliston, Robert William (1774–1831)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
retrieved 6 Dec 2014
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Selected roles

* Young Melville in '' The Land We Live In'' by Francis Ludlow Holt (1804) * Edmond Rigid in '' Guilty or Not Guilty'' by Thomas Dibdin (1804) * Vivaldi in '' The Venetian Outlaw'' by Robert William Elliston (1805) * Henry Mortimer in '' A Prior Claim'' by Henry James Pye (1805) * Lord Belmour in '' The School for Friends'' by Marianne Chambers (1805) * Anson in '' The Vindictive Man'' by Thomas Holcroft (1806) * Lothair in '' Adelgitha'' by Matthew Lewis (1807) * Faulkener in '' Faulkener'' by

William Godwin William Godwin (3 March 1756 – 7 April 1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism and the first modern proponent of anarchism. Godwin is most famous fo ...

(1807) * Fitzharding in '' The Curfew'' John Tobin (1807) * Count Egmont in '' The Siege of St Quintin'' by Theodore Hook (1808) * Don Alvar in ''

Remorse Remorse is a distressing emotion experienced by an individual who regrets actions which they have done in the past which they deem to be shameful, hurtful, or wrong. Remorse is closely allied to guilt and self-directed resentment. When a perso ...

'' by

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

(1813) * Harcourt in '' First Impressions'' by Horatio Smith (1813)

References

Chest of Books
*

External links

Theater Arts Manuscripts:
An Inventory of the Collection at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliston, Robert William 1774 births 1831 deaths English male stage actors 19th-century English male actors People educated at St Paul's School, London