Jean Margaret Davenport
Encyclopedia
Jean Margaret Davenport (May 3, 1829, Wolverhampton, England – August 3, 1903, Washington, D.C.
) was an English
actress.
Her father was a lawyer, but he left the Bar
for the Stage
, and became the manager of the Richmond Theatre
, where Jean made her first professional appearance, in 1837, as Little Pickle in The Manager's Daughter — a piece that is also known as The Spoiled Child, and, in Dion Boucicault
's version, as The Young Actress.
She also played in King Richard the Third, being the first representative of that play seen in Richmond Theatre since the death of the great actor Edmund Kean
. She played in other cities prior to coming to America in 1838.
Her first appearance in America occurred at the National Theatre, New York
, under the management of James William Wallack
, the Elder. Afterward she played star engagements in other cities. In 1842 she returned to Europe
and traveled in Italy
and France
. Her education, at that time, was conducted by private tutors.
In Paris
, she studied Music
under the tuition of García
, but decided to pursue a career in Drama
. In 1846 she went to the Netherlands
, taking an English company, with which she acted at Amsterdam
, Rotterdam
, and The Hague
, and, in Germany
, at Hamburg
and Hanover
, receiving adulation, acclamation and adoration. That tour occupied two years and was remunerative. In England
in 1848 she made her appearance as a public reader, being one of the first females to give readings from Shakespeare
since Mrs. Siddons
, who died in 1831.
Her second visit to America was made in 1849, and she determined to make it her home. Her father died at Cincinnati, Ohio
on July 5, 1851, and, in the following year, she went once more to England, there to settle the affairs of her parent's estate and to study for the next dramatic season.
In 1853, she returned to her adopted country, then made her first visit to California
in 1855 and again traveled to England a few times (1856–1859). She then afterwards, in San Francisco, became the wife of transcontinental explorer and civil engineer Frederick W. Lander
on October 12, 1860. Her married life was happy, but brief; her husband, by then a brigadier general
during the Civil War
, died of a brain disease possibly caused by injuries on March 3, 1862. For two years, Jean Lander subsequently served as a supervisor in charge of the nurses working in the Union Army
hospitals at Beaufort, South Carolina
.
On February 5, 1865, Jean Davenport Lander reappeared, acting at Niblo's Garden Theatre
, New York, in a drama called Mésalliance. The arrival of Adelaide Ristori
to America brought a new set of characters into vogue — Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary Stuart, Queen Marie Antoinette, etc. — and Mrs. Lander availed herself of that new predilection of popular taste. Her performance of Queen Elizabeth was first seen at the National Theatre, Washington, in April 1867.
She was the original representative, in America, of Marguerite Gauthier, a part which she named
Camille, — acting it in a play that she had adapted from La Dame aux Camélias
, by Alexandre Dumas, fils
; her adaptation was "edited" by John Wilkin, an English journalist, and it was first presented to her in Philadelphia.
She was the original representative in America of Legouvé's
Medée, in English, and of Colombe; she also acted in Robert Browning
's Colombe's Birthday; Peg Woffington;
in Charles Reade
's Masks and Faces, and as Hester Prynne
, in Nathaniel Hawthorne
's The Scarlet Letter
.
Her last appearance was made at the Boston Theatre, January 1, 1877, in The Scarlet Letter
.
The later years of her life were passed in retirement, at Washington, where she died, August 3, 1903, aged 74.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
) 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...
actress.
Her father was a lawyer, but he left the Bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
for the Stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
, and became the manager of the Richmond Theatre
Richmond Theatre
The present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of As You Like It, and is one of the finest surviving examples of the work of theatre...
, where Jean made her first professional appearance, in 1837, as Little Pickle in The Manager's Daughter — a piece that is also known as The Spoiled Child, and, in Dion Boucicault
Dion Boucicault
Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot , commonly known as Dion Boucicault, was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the...
's version, as The Young Actress.
She also played in King Richard the Third, being the first representative of that play seen in Richmond Theatre since the death of the great actor Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever.-Early life:Kean was born in London. His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect’s clerk, and his mother was an actress, Anne Carey, daughter of the 18th century composer and playwright Henry Carey...
. She played in other cities prior to coming to America in 1838.
Her first appearance in America occurred at the National Theatre, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, under the management of James William Wallack
James William Wallack
James William Wallack was an Anglo-American actor and manager, born in London, and brother of Henry John Wallack.Wallack's parents were comedians, who performed at the London minor playhouses and in the British provinces. His first appearance on the stage was as a child at the Surrey Theatre in...
, the Elder. Afterward she played star engagements in other cities. In 1842 she returned to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and traveled in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Her education, at that time, was conducted by private tutors.
In Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, she studied Music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
under the tuition of García
Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García
Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García , was a Spanish singer, music educator, and vocal pedagogue.-Biography:García was born on 17 March 1805 in the town of Zafra in Badajoz Province, Spain. His father was singer and teacher Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García...
, but decided to pursue a career in Drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
. In 1846 she went to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, taking an English company, with which she acted at Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
, and The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, and, in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, at Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, receiving adulation, acclamation and adoration. That tour occupied two years and was remunerative. In England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1848 she made her appearance as a public reader, being one of the first females to give readings from Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
since Mrs. Siddons
Sarah Siddons
Sarah Siddons was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. She was the elder sister of John Philip Kemble, Charles Kemble, Stephen Kemble, Ann Hatton and Elizabeth Whitlock, and the aunt of Fanny Kemble. She was most famous for her portrayal of the Shakespearean character,...
, who died in 1831.
Her second visit to America was made in 1849, and she determined to make it her home. Her father died at Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
on July 5, 1851, and, in the following year, she went once more to England, there to settle the affairs of her parent's estate and to study for the next dramatic season.
In 1853, she returned to her adopted country, then made her first visit to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1855 and again traveled to England a few times (1856–1859). She then afterwards, in San Francisco, became the wife of transcontinental explorer and civil engineer Frederick W. Lander
Frederick W. Lander
Frederick West Lander was a transcontinental United States explorer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and a prolific poet.-Birth and early years:...
on October 12, 1860. Her married life was happy, but brief; her husband, by then a brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, died of a brain disease possibly caused by injuries on March 3, 1862. For two years, Jean Lander subsequently served as a supervisor in charge of the nurses working in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
hospitals at Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort is a city in and the county seat of Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1711, it is the second-oldest city in South Carolina, behind Charleston. The city's population was 12,361 in the 2010 census. It is located in the Hilton Head Island-Beaufort Micropolitan...
.
On February 5, 1865, Jean Davenport Lander reappeared, acting at Niblo's Garden Theatre
Niblo's Garden
Niblo's Garden was a New York theatre on Broadway, near Prince Street. It was established in 1823 as "Columbia Garden" which in 1828 gained the name of the Sans Souci and was later the property of the coffeehouse proprietor and caterer William Niblo. The large theatre that evolved in several...
, New York, in a drama called Mésalliance. The arrival of Adelaide Ristori
Adelaide Ristori
Adelaide Ristori was a distinguished Italian tragedienne, who was often referred to as the Marquise.-Biography:...
to America brought a new set of characters into vogue — Queen Elizabeth, Queen Mary Stuart, Queen Marie Antoinette, etc. — and Mrs. Lander availed herself of that new predilection of popular taste. Her performance of Queen Elizabeth was first seen at the National Theatre, Washington, in April 1867.
She was the original representative, in America, of Marguerite Gauthier, a part which she named
Camille, — acting it in a play that she had adapted from La Dame aux Camélias
The Lady of the Camellias
The Lady of the Camellias is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils, first published in 1848, and subsequently adapted for the stage. The Lady of the Camellias premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, France on February 2, 1852. The play was an instant success, and Giuseppe Verdi immediately set...
, by Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils was a French author and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, also a writer and playwright.-Biography:...
; her adaptation was "edited" by John Wilkin, an English journalist, and it was first presented to her in Philadelphia.
She was the original representative in America of Legouvé's
Ernest Legouvé
Gabriel Jean Baptiste Ernest Wilfrid Legouvé was a French dramatist.-Biography:Son of the poet Gabriel-Marie Legouvé , he was born in Paris. His mother died in 1810, and almost immediately afterwards his father was removed to a lunatic asylum. The child, however, inherited a considerable fortune,...
Medée, in English, and of Colombe; she also acted in Robert Browning
Robert Browning
Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
's Colombe's Birthday; Peg Woffington;
in Charles Reade
Charles Reade
Charles Reade was an English novelist and dramatist, best known for The Cloister and the Hearth.-Life:Charles Reade was born at Ipsden, Oxfordshire to John Reade and Anne Marie Scott-Waring; William Winwood Reade the influential historian , was his nephew. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford,...
's Masks and Faces, and as Hester Prynne
Hester Prynne
Hester Prynne, the young protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, is a woman condemned by her Puritan neighbors. The character has been called "among the first and most important female protagonists in American literature."...
, in Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
's The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an...
.
Her last appearance was made at the Boston Theatre, January 1, 1877, in The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an...
.
The later years of her life were passed in retirement, at Washington, where she died, August 3, 1903, aged 74.