Alfred Dampier was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

-born actor-manager

Actor-manager

An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the company's business and financial arrangements, sometimes taking over the management of a theatre, to perform plays of their own choice and in which they will usually star...

and playwright, active in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Dampier was born in Horsham

Horsham

Horsham is a market town with a population of 55,657 on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex, in the historic County of Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester...

, Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

, England, the son of John Dampier, builder, and his wife Mary, née Daly.. Dampier had a stage career in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 before moving to Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia in 1873. Dampier soon formed his own company and often produced plays with an Australian theme. Dampier staged five plays by Francis Rawdon Chesney Hopkins from 1876-82. Dampier adapted For the Term of His Natural Life

For the Term of his Natural Life

For the Term of His Natural Life, written by Marcus Clarke, was published in the Australian Journal between 1870 and 1872 , appearing as a novel in 1874. It is the best known novelisation of life as a convict in early Australian history...

(1886), Robbery Under Arms

Robbery Under Arms

Robbery Under Arms is a classic Australian novel by Rolf Boldrewood . It was first published in serialised form by The Sydney Mail between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes in London in 1888...

(1890) and The Miner's Right (1891).

Dampier died in Paddington, Sydney on 23 May 1908; he was survived by his wife, one son and two daughters. His daughter Lily Dampier

Lily Dampier

Lily Dampier was an Australian actor of stage and screen. She was the daughter of Alfred Dampier and married to Alfred Rolfe. An earlier marriage had ended in divorce.-Select Filmography:*Captain Midnight, the Bush King...

 was a noted actor in her own right, and married actor and director Alfred Rolfe

Alfred Rolfe (director)

Alfred Rolfe was an Australian film director and actor. He was the son-in-law of Alfred Dampier and husband to Lily Dampier...

, who adapted several of Dmapier's plays to the screen.

External links

• Alfred Dampier 1847-1908 at liveperformance.com.au - Hall of Fame