Mr Campbell

My editor has handed me the following very interesting and to me most gratifying letter, and which, being addressed to the editor of the 'Sportsman,' is evidently intended for publication:—

"(To the Editor of the 'Sportsman.')

“Sir, — It is usually understood, I believe, that 'dead men tell no tales,' but in this case, as in others, the exception proves the rule, for according to 'Hayseed,' the present writer of this — to quote his own words— 'died in Sydney some years ago.' Yet in spite of being so heavily handicapped by him, I will, with your permission, 'a tale unfold' in answer to articles appearing in your paper of the 10th and 17th , instant. Under the above heading, the 'Sportsman' of the 10th instant says: 'When Barry Sullivan first appeared in Melbourne he was fairly a frost. He was exceedingly needy in appearance, etc.' Now, sir, the truth is that when Barry Sullivan landed from the good ship City of Melbourne—which brought him to Australia— he, with his son, drove straight to Menzies' Hotel, then in La Trobe-street, Melbourne, where he resided for some months, and right up to his departure for Sydney. Here he stopped at the Royal, and Wilton Hall at Tattersall's, where he committed suicide ; and thereby hangs another tale. Even in those days, old man Menzies' was not in the habit of allowing anyone 'of exceedingly needy appearance' anywhere about his premises, and certainly those whose personal expenses 'never exceeded two or three pounds a week' stood not the ghost of a chance at his hotel. Barry Sullivan appeared the first seven nights in 'Hamlet' following it with 'Richelieu,' 'Richard III,' etc. There were £368 in the first night, and he finished previous to his coming here to £211. Is this the 'frost' you allude to ? Mr. W. H. Campbell's statements are all quite strange to me. Nor do I remember anyone of that name, save the young barber's assistant whom my father put into 'business' (together with a partner), the firm being afterwards pretty well known as 'Campbell and Graham.' The supper alluded to by Mr. Campbell, as being given to Jefferson and Barry Sullivan, I very well remember, but he must be dreaming, surely, when he states 'it fell to my lot to propose Mr. Sullivan's health,' and again, 'of those that made merry that night only Mr. Jefferson, Captain Johnson and myself remain to tell the tale.' Indeed, then where do I (with several more I could name) come in ? James Smith was always very bitter—he never quite forgot the long mongrel ballad published about him, which caused amusement at the time, and which he attributed to the 'Royal's manager.' The first verse I remember ran as follows :-

'I'm young man from the country, librarian I be.

Three hundred pounds and fifty more, a year they give to me ;

My place is but a sinecure, for naught have I to do.

But scribble on the theatres, and damn the actors, too.'

"That James Smith knew that he had failed to put down 'the Royal,' which he had worked so hard ' to accomplish, we have only to quote his own words : 'I have always understood that Barry Sullivan returned home with a small fortune. Quite right, Mr. Smith, he certainly did. In the 'Sportsman' of 17th instant you state that 'Miss Vandenhoff died of a broken heart,' etc. Whereas it is well known at home that consumption carried her off, after a long illness; but there is no 'romance' in consumption.

“In alluding to Miss Kyte, among other things you say : 'The lady had sailed for London a couple of days before Barry Sullivan was cheered off from Sandridge Railway Pier.' Yes, but you forgot to add that he travelled slowly, sailing from Brisbane in the s.s. Souchayo, via the Coral Seas, stopping at Java. Singapore, Calcutta, Egypt, etc., and taking altogether, over six months to reach England.— I am, sir, yours, etc., AMORY SULLIVAN.

"(son, and for 25 years Barry Sullivan's manager), late acting-manager and treasurer of Theatres Royal, Melbourne, Sydney, etc."

* * *

I won't make any apology for "killing" Mr. Amory Sullivan, as it has brought forth such an interesting and instructive letter; but I may say that a few months after Mr. Amory Sullivan's connection with the Theatre Royal, Sydney, ceased, I read with much regret, in a Sydney newspaper, of his death somewhere in Queensland. I believe I have the "cutting" still, and will hunt it up. Needless to say I am much gratified that Mr Amory Sullivan is still in the land of the living ; not to tell tales, but to establish facts. Now, I did not say that Mr. Amory Sullivan died in Sydney. If that gentleman will look up the "Sportsman" of August 10 he will find that my words were, "The later, now dead, was in Sydney a few years ago." Again my words are : "He was exceedingly seedy in appearance." Not 'needy,' Mr. Amory. My opening paragraph on the 10th fully explains why I consider Mr. Sullivan's ,early appearance in Melbourne a ''frost." The fact of there being £368 in the old Theatre Royal on Mr. Sullivan's first night, and £211 on his farewell performance proves, I think, that there was a falling off, my friend ! As I pointed out, the Australian stage was languishing for a star after Brooke left. But money taken at the doors does not make the stage representation brilliant and no one knows that better than Mr. Amory Sullivan.

I am not prepared to fall in with the opinion that the hotel of Archibald Menzies, in Latrobe-street, Melbourne, stood in the front rank. It was in a third-rate neighbourhood, stood a good distance off the street, and was hemmed in by stone buildings which were flush with the alignment line, and had a somewhat dingy appearance. But I will admit that it was a much better stamp of house than the Hope tavern, a dingy two-storied pub which stood on the corner of York-street and Barrack-lane (S.W.), or the Star Hotel, George-street North, Sydney, both of which Mr. Menzies kept before he went to Melbourne. Mr. Menzies left Latrobe-street in the mid-sixties, and built the present Menzies' Hotel at the corner of Bourke and William streets, a house deservedly holding a world-wide reputation.

If Mr Amory Sullivan will look up W. J. Lawrence's biography of his father, published 1893 by W. and G. Baird, 62 Ludgate Hill, E. C., London, he will see a long quotation from a letter of Mr. W. H. Campbell. And let me here interpolate something about Mr. Amory Sullivan's somewhat ungenerous allusion to the ''young barber's assistant of that name whom my father put into business;'' etc, The young barber's assistant" was Mr. John Campbell, who, when Barry Sullivan arrived in Melbourne, was managing the large business carried on by Mr. Bennett next door to the Theatre Royal, Bourke-street East. Mr. Bennett certainly did hairdress and shave, but his main business was that of a theatrical wigmaker and costumier, and Mr. John Campbell and his subsquent partner, Graham, were wigmakers, and I have no doubt, made many wigs for Mr. Barry Sullivan. The two —Campbell and Graham— left Bennett's service and opened for themselves in Swanston-street, and Mr. Barry Sullivan patronised them there, but that he set them up in business I very much doubt. John Campbell, to my certain knowledge, had private property, and I don't think Mr. Graham was without means. Anyhow, from poor Bennett's weakness for strong drinks, and his general neglect of business, the clientele followed Campbell and Graham. After a while Mr. Campbell sold out to his partner, and travelled, like Artemus Ward, with "wax figgurs," Mr. Campbell being himself the maker of the figures. While managing Mr. Bennett's business Mr. Campbell did all the artistic work in Madame Sohier's waxworks exhibition— not bad for a "young barber's assistant.'' Mr. Campbell travelled Tasmania with his 'wax figgurs,' and on reaching Sydney opened his show in Pitt-street in one of Uther's old buildings, where now stands the Imperial Arcade. William Caffyn, cricketer and hairdresser, then in business in George-street, near Elvy's (1871), wanted to go to England, and John Campbell bought him out. Campbell then sold the waxworks show to Johnny Gourlay, the Scotch comedian, and therein hangs another tale. Mr. John Campbell remained some years in George-street, and made money , enough to retire in dignified ease to the suburb of Burwood, Sydney, or at least he lived there— and may still—until he lost his energetic little wife some months ago. Mr. Amory Sullivan will have no difficulty, I think, in interviewing, the "young assistant barber, "John Campbell, any day in the reading room of the School of Arts, or at, I believe, his house in Burwood.

And here it may not be out of place to mention, re W. H. Campbell, that, though the supper was given to Messrs. Sullivan and Jefferson, and while these no doubt great actors have played together and met on and off the stage, I don't think Jefferson in his autobiography makes any mention of Barry Sullivan ! Mr. James Smith is still alive, and well able to take his own part in any controversy re theatricals in Melbourne in the early sixties. I prefer to make no further allusion to the ladies mentioned further than this : Miss Kyte's departure was a "nine days wonder," why she went being best known to herself and her family. Her mother (is it a coincidence?) died last week in Melbourne at a great age. Miss Vandenhoff's illness, perhaps, had nothing to do with the allegation that Mr. Barry Sullivan had neglected her, and that his name was tabooed in the Vandenhoff family. Notwithstanding her "consumption," she might have had a broken heart. Anyhow, Mr. Barry Sullivan's name is not mentioned in George Vandenhoff's book. Again allow me to express my gratification that the curtain has not yet been rung down on Mr. Amory Sullivan.