Life

He began life as a barber near Drury Lane

Drury Lane

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

. In 1722 he was at Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

, perhaps to establish a textile business. Later he dealt in Irish linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

, and established a business at a large house on Pall Mall

Pall Mall

-Places:* Pall Mall, urban downtown ares of Bendigo, Australia* Pall Mall, London, a street in the City of Westminster, London* Pall Mall, Tennessee, a small unincorporated community in Fentress County, Tennessee...

. Between 1734 and 1746 he made visits to Ireland in order to extend his connections; but the business did not prove profitable. In January 1746 he decided to give it up, and on 11 October 1746 he settled with his family in Dublin as treasurer and deputy-manager to Thomas Sheridan at the theatre in Smock Alley.

The theatre for some years was fairly successful; but about 1753 Sheridan was at variance with a portion of the theatre-going public, and for two years Victor and John Sowdon, a principal actor in the company, took over its management. On 15 July 1755 Sheridan returned to Dublin, and Victor resumed his old position. Eventually the theatre was closed on 20 April 1759, and Victor returned to England.

Shortly after his return to England Victor obtained the post of treasurer of Drury Lane Theatre

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...

, which he retained until his death. Victor died at his lodgings in Charles Street, Covent Garden, London, on 3 December 1778. He was married before 1738; his first wife died late in 1757, and by 1759 he had married again.

Works

In 1722, after he had been introduced to Richard Steele

Richard Steele

Sir Richard Steele was an Irish writer and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine The Spectator....

 by Aaron Hill, he wrote ‘An Epistle to Sir Richard Steele’ (two editions, 1722), in which he defended Steele's play The Conscious Lovers against attacks of John Dennis. In 1728 he was introduced to Barton Booth

Barton Booth

Barton Booth was one of the most famous dramatic actors of the first part of the 18th century.Booth was from Lancashire and was educated at Westminster School, where his success in the Latin play Andria gave him an inclination for the stage...

, and his ‘Memoirs of the Life of Barton Booth, published by an intimate acquaintance,’ 1733, is a source for the actor's career.

After the arrival of Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, in England in December 1728, Victor presented to him, through Lord Malpas

George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley

George Cholmondeley, 3rd Earl of Cholmondeley KB, PC , styled as Viscount Malpas from 1725 to 1733, was a British peer and Whig politician.-Life:...

, a congratulatory poem, and had hopes of obtaining a place in the prince's household; but was disappointed. Next year he composed a satire called ‘The Levée Haunter,’ which met with the approbation of Sir Robert Walpole.

From 1746 Victor wrote the birthday odes for the court of Dublin, and Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset

Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset

Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, PC was an English political leader and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was the son of the 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex and the former Lady Mary Compton, younger daughter of the 3rd Earl of Northampton...

, when resigning the position of lord lieutenant in 1755, obtained permission to put Victor's name, as poet laureate of Ireland, on the viceregal establishment. Several of these odes are in his collections of 1776, and two were printed separately. In 1755 Victor, who seems to have known Sir William Wolseley, 5th Baronet, the fifth baronet, of Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, published an anonymous narrative entitled ‘The Widow of the Wood;’ it was republished at Glasgow in 1769. It was so offensive to members of the Wolseley family that they are said to have destroyed every copy of the book that they could.

In 1761 he published, in two volumes, a ‘History of the Theatres of London and Dublin from 1730, with an Annual Register of all Plays performed at the Theatres Royal in London from 1712,’ and in 1771 he published a third volume, bringing the narrative down to that date. The second volume contains information on the lives of the chief actors from about 1710 to 1745. Walley Chamberlain Oulton

Walley Chamberlain Oulton

Walley Chamberlain Oulton was an Irish playwright, theatre historian and man of letters.-Life:Born in Dublin, he was educated there in a private school. While a schoolboy he achieved some reputation as a writer of farces and musical extravaganzas, and his dramatic essays were performed at the...

 compiled in 1796 a continuation in two volumes, bringing the record down to 1795; and in 1818, in three more volumes, he carried it on to 1817.

Victor published in 1776, with a dedication to David Garrick

David Garrick

David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...

, three volumes of ‘Original Letters, Dramatic Pieces, and Poems.’ The first volume preserved some anecdotes, especially on Sir Richard Steele, and the second volume contained Victor's plays—‘Altamira,’ a tragedy; ‘Fatal Error,’ a tragedy; ‘The Fortunate Peasant,’ a comedy; and ‘The Sacrifice, or Cupid's Vagaries,’ a masque—all of which were unacted. Victor also produced an adaptation of The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1590 or 1591. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and tropes with which he would later deal in more...

, which was given five times at Drury Lane in 1763.