Mr John Thomas Smith

Charles Lamb, in an essay on some old actors, remarks that the casual sight of on old playbill which he had picked up brought back such a flood of memories that he was constrained to 'write them up.' Lamb says : 'These old remembrances makes us feel how we once used to read a play-bill, not as now, peradventure, singling out a favorite performer, and casting, a negligent eye over the rest, but spelling out every name, to the very mutes and servants of the scene.' This was written over 80 years ago, and the words are applicable to-day. There is no greater delight to an old playgoer than in turning over a sheaf of old play-bills and living in the past, and with these dead and gone actors recalling happy days that are no more.

Next, perhaps, to the delight of recalling the actors and actresses of our boyhood days is the present delight of running through old books and papers, musty with age; when in search perhaps of one object you light upon another and are equally a gainer of pleasure. One day recently, to get rid of some cobwebs which had gathered about the brain, I strolled among some of my old familiar friends, the second-hand booksellers of Sydney, and in the shop of Mr. J. Murphy, 22 Castlereagh-street, I came across what was to me an almost priceless treasure, a copy of the play-bill of the opening night of the old Queen's Theatre, Melbourne, now nearly 60 years ago. Mr. Murphy very kindly presented me with the relic, and as it brings back to earth, in memory, some of our ancient favorites, I may be excused for quoting it in extenso.

QUEEN'S THEATRE ROYAL,

QUEEN-STREET, MELBOURNE.

OPENING NIGHT.

THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 1, 1845.

The proprietor having completed his arrangements for the opening of the New Theatre Royal, Queen-street, on the above-named evening, has the honor of announcing to the patrons of the drama —the public of Melbourne and its vicinity—that he had secured all the available talent in the province, and is in communication with neighbouring colonies for the purpose of adding strength to his company.

Previous to the rising of the curtain an opening address will be delivered by Mr. Nesbitt.

ON THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 1, the performances will commence with Tobin's celebrated Comedy (in five acts),

THE HONEYMOON.

Duke Aranga ……………… Mr. Nesbitt

Balthazar ………………….. Mr. Capper

Count Montalban …………. Mr. Boyd

Rolando ………………….... Mr. Cameron

Jacques …………………….. Mr. Lee

Lampedo ………………...… Mr. Cochrane

Campillo …………………... Mr. C. Boyd

Lopez ……………………… Mr. Miller

Servant …………………….. Mr. Jacobs

Juliana ……………………... Mrs. Cameron

Zamora …………………….. Mrs. Knowles

Volanto …………………….. Mrs. Boyd

Hostess …………………….. Mrs. Avins

Villagers …………………… Messrs. Jones and Smith

In Act 4 a rustic dance incidental to the Comedy.

End of the Comedy, an Admired Song by Mrs. Knowles; a Comic Song by Mr. Miller.

To conclude with the laughable Farce of the

UNFINISHED GENTLEMEN ;

or

BELLES, BEAUX, CANTABS AND TIGERS.

Lord Totterley (an

Adonis of 60) ………………. Mr. Capper

Hon. Frisk Flammer ………... Mr. Boyd

Jem Miller (an Incipient tiger

or gentleman's gentleman)….. Mr. Miller

Charles Danvers ……………. Mr. C. Boyd

Bill Downey (an unfinished

gentleman, a polished philoso-

pher) ………………………… Mr. Lee

Bailiffs ………………………. Messrs. Cochrane and Jones

Louisa (with songs) ………..... Mrs. Knowles

Chintz ……………………..… Mrs. Cameron

Doors open at half-past 6. Performance to commence at 7 precisely.

Dress circle 5s, half-price 3s ; upper Circle 4s, half-price 2s ; pit 2s 6d, half price 1s 6d ; gallery 1s 6d, no half price.

Proprietor, Mr. Smith ; stage manager, Mr. Nesbitt; mechanist, Mr. Capper.

Vivat Regina.

* * *

Mrs. Avins was the last of the thespians who opened the "old Queen's" to "Pass over." She died in the Actors' Homes, built by Mr. George Coppin some years ago. Mrs. Avis had been a subscriber to the Dramatic and Musical Fund founded by Mr. Coppin, which gave her a claim on the Homes, of which she availed herself.

Mr. Capper died between the ages of 80 and 90 years. I had the pleasure of meeting the ancient on more than one occasion, long after he had retired from the stage. He was particularly fond of reminiscing both in the newspapers and on the platform and was as full of old lore as the hungriest antiquarian could desire. Mr. Capper wrote a book, about which more at another time.

Six weeks later, the success of Mr. John Thomas Smith's theatre having precipitated matters, Mr. George Coppin, with a company, crossed over from Launceston, under the following agreement ; —

''Theatre, Launceston,

“May 30, 1845.

“We, the undersigned, hereby agree to proceed to Melbourne by the brig Swan, and to perform there under the management of George Coppin, Esq., for a season, and to return to Launceston when required, he paying passages both ways; and we also bind ourselves under a penalty of £25— to be paid to the said George Coppin— that we will not perform at the Melbourne Theatre, or any other place of amusement, unless it is under the management of the said George Coppin, or by his free will and consent.

'”Signed) Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Young, Mrs. and Miss Thompson, Messrs. F. B. Watson, E. A. Opie, J. Hambleton, J. Wilks, B. Rae, J. Megson, W. Howson, A. Howson, and A. M'Donald.”

Mr . Opie, or one of the same name, was a scene painter, and Mr. J. Megson was leader of the orchestra.

On arrival Mr, Coppin found that he could not come to terms with Mr. J. T. Smith, who, by the way, was also the proprietor of the St. John's Tavern, next door, and sooner then be "stuck," or allow the monopolist to dictate his own terms, Mr. Coppin engaged the large room at the Royal Hotel, in Collins-street, where afterwards stood the well-known and much-frequented, and where now stands the Union Bank of Australia, with a firm determination to oppose the theatre. John Thomas Smith appears to have taken fright at the energy of the man from Launceston, and came to terms. What these terms were, Mr. Smith announced in his playbill:-

QUEEN'S THEATRE ROYAL,

Queen-street, Melbourne.

The proprietor is happy to announce to his friends and the public generally that he has entered into an agreement with Mr. Coppin and the entire of his Corps Dramatique, to perform alternate nights with the present company for one month only. Trusting the greatest combination of talent ever witnessed in any of the colonies will receive the patronage and support it will ever be his study to deserve.

On Saturday evening, June 21, 1845, the entertainments will commence with Sir E. Lytton Bulwer's celebrated play (In five acts), entitled the

LADY OF LYONS.

Claude Melnotte ………… Mr, Charles Young

Colonel Damas ………….. Mr. Rogers

Beauseant ……………….. Mr. Thompson

Glavis …………………… Mr. Coppin

Mons. Deschappelles Mr. Watson

Pauline ………………….. Mrs. Coppin

Madame Deschappelles … Mrs. Watson

Previous to the play, and during the

evening, the band will play : — Overture, 'Italiana in Algero' (Rossini); overture, 'Fra DiaVolo' (Auber); .quadrille, 'Royal Irish' (Julien).

Wreath dance ……………. Mrs. Chas. Young

Song—

'Should He Upbraid 'Me …. Mrs. Rogers

Comic song ……………… Mrs Hambleton

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Young will dance the 'Tarantella,' in the costume of the country.

To be followed by an entirely new interlude (never acted here), called

THE FOUR SISTERS.

An entirely new comic double, Irish Jig by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Young.

The whole to conclude with the very laughable farce of the

TURNPIKE GATE.

Crack the Cobbler …………. Mr. Coppin

Joe Standfast ………………. Mr. Rogers

Nights of performances during the present month Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

On Monday night will be produced Howard Payne's celebrated tragedy of

BRUTUS,

By the members of the Melbourne Company.

On Tuesday evening will be produced the celebrated comedy of

THE SOLDIER'S DAUGHTER,

And a variety of entertainments by the Launceston Company.

The prices of admission and the time of opening were as on the first night of the theatre.

*************

Sixty years ago the playgoers of Melbourne got enough for their money. Those who recollect Charlie Young as a comedian will try to imagine him as Claude Melnotte, and then the Tarantella and double Irish jig! and the afterwards classic Mrs. Charles Young-Herman Vezin dancing a double Irish jig. I won der what London Haymarket audiences would have thought of it. However, it would appear as if, in the long ago, all thespians engaged for general utility and general usefulness. You won't require the fingers of one hand to count those of these double bills who new remain on earth.

After a time the amalgamation of the companies took place under the sole management of Mr. Coppin, Mr. J. T. Smith (the proprietor) taking a share of the profits for his rent. I have obtained an insight into the methods and cost of working an early-day theatre. Leading actors in 1845 received from 30s to 40s a week, and were satisfied. Ten years afterwards the same class of actor got from £7 to £12 per week. The entire working of the Queen's Theatre in 1845, with the combined companies, in expenses, was under £60 a week. What profits the manager and lessee must have divided !

What accounts we read of the same old Queen's in the golden roaring 'fifties, when red-shirted, sun-browned diggers, 'lucky diggers' lounged in the dress circle, smoked their pipes, called out to their acquaintances in other parts of the house, pelted their favorites on the stage with golden nuggets, and drank champagne at fabulous prices, ate and drank, sang and danced, as if the good times were never to end. And while the theatres crowded nightly with prices quadrupled, the St. John's Tavern adjoining did a roaring trade. John Thomas Smith, a Magistrate and a member of the City Council, raked the shekels into the till in bucketfuls. The daily and nightly saturnalia beggared description. The time and place are apropos for an incident, which occurred in the early days of the Queen's Theatre and St. John's Tavern.

In July 1846, the neighborhood of the theatre was the scene of an alarming riot, which kept Melbourne in some excitement for more than a week, and threatened at one period to end in a

general fight between Orangemen and Roman Catholics. The Orangemen decided to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne by a banquet in the Pastoral Hotel, which stood on the north-east corner of Queen and Little Bourke streets. The building was

decorated for the occasion, and Orange flags were displayed on polls from the windows facing Queen-street. This display aroused the passions of the R.C's., who assembled in hundreds round the Pastoral Hotel, many on both sides being armed. The Mayor, James Frederick Palmer, hurried to the spot. He ordered the door of the hotel to be opened, and entered, for the purpose of putting a stop to the riot ; but the R.C's., now finding the door opened, rushed through the hallway to the staircase, where they

were met by the Orangeman, and a regular battle ensued.

J. F. Palmer was a medical man, who, on arrival in Melbourne, found that the manufacture of gingerbeer and cordials would pay better than would the vending of Epsom salts and jalap. Palmer in after life became Speaker of the mixed Legislative Council, and President of the Legislative Council under Responsible Government. The doctor was squat, fat man, with a pair of calves that would have been the envy of Dr. Dill Macky to-day.

The crowd in front fired into the hotel, and 'Yellow-bellies' quickly responded. At this moment Father Geoghegan arrived and attempted to restrain his parishioners. As the good old padre (he was the first priest in Melbourne, and became Bishop of Adelaide); was in some danger of getting an ounce of lead, John O'Shannassy and a Mr. Hurley went over to his rescue, when Hurley got a bullet in the shoulder. Another man, drinking a glass of ale in the bar of the St. John's Tavern was badly wounded in the cheek, the shot having crashed through the bar window. The riot now was at its height; the doors, windows, and the furniture of the Pastoral Hotel were demolished ; the one party attacking the building and endeavoring to force an entrance, the other , defending every inch of ground. Fortunately some soldiers appeared upon the scene, and temporary peace was secured.

The R.C/s were induced to disperse by the promise of Dr. Palmer, and his brother magistrates that the Orange dinner should not total place. Three or four persons were badly wounded in the riots. Several of the Orange party were taken into custody and bound over to keep the peace. Mr. William Hinds, a grocer of Queen-street, was charged with firing the shot which wounded Mr. Hurley, and was committed for trial. The town was alarmed the whole of the night by skirmishes between detachments of both factions. On the following day the rival

greens and yellows assembled in different parts of the town. The whole of the hotels were closed by order of the authorities. Many of the shops were shut, and a dense fog, perhaps opportunely settled down upon the town. The police and military were called out, and having formed in Market-street, proceeded to an hotel in Flinders-street, where fifty Orangemen were assembled, but who quickly dispersed when the military and police appeared. They next proceeded to the top of Flinders-street, where afterwards stood the Stork Hotel, where some eighty Roman Catholics were assembled. After some hesitation these were persuaded to go to their several homes. The town was put under martial law for the night, and the soldiers bivouacked in Collins-street, opposite the Royal Exchange Hotel, which stood where the Bank of New South Wales stood thirty years ago. This riot gave birth to the Party Processions Act, prohibiting any party flag from being explayed under any circumstances in the colony of New South Wales, an Act more honored in the breech than in the observance.

The old Princess' Theatre, in Spring street, was built in 1854 by Mr. G. B. W. Lewis, who married Rose Edouin. It was of corrugated iron, and called Astley's Amphitheatre; and therein, with a good stud of trained horses, gave the uproarious diggers the delight of a circus. In 1857 John Black, who built the Theatre Royal in Bourke-street, bought the place, and, by adding a stage, etc., converted it into the Princess' Theatre, wherein Joseph Jefferson made

his first appearance. Of the great American actor-manager more hereafter. While George Coppin was building the Olympic — or 'iron pot'— John Black was building the Theatre Royal. That was in 1855. Mr. Black, in three years, made a huge fortune— or 'pile,' as the diggers named it— as a carrier between Melbourne and the diggings. His long line of drags and wagons were the means of supplying thousands of diggers with the necessaries of life, as much as £100 a ton being paid as freight to Bendigo, 100 miles from Melbourne. Mr. Black's great ambition was to own a theatre, and a fine building he erected. It was the first building lighted with gas in the city. The streets were then lighted with oil lamps, though a company had been formed, and was building its works on the Yarra. Mr. Black, however, built his own retorts, and made his own gas. Black thought that he could manage a theatre as well as he did his horse and bullock teams, but he found to his cost that the two enterprises took a totally different stamp of man to control. After a year of small successes and some heavy failures he leased the theatre to George Coppin, who immediately transferred G. V. Brooke and his company from the 'iron pot' to the Bourke-street establishment. The Theatre Royal was opened with 'The School for Scandal,' Mr. G. H. Rogers being the Sir Peter Teazle. The old Royal had many ups and downs from the first day that John Black opened it, and numerous owners, mortgagees, lessees and managers tried their luck in it. Few, outside the actual covenanting parties, knew who really did own the Royal. Fred. Bayne, the solicitor, had some big interest in it in the late fifties, as he claimed and got the free use of a stage box. The dress circle entrance was on a different leasehold, and at one time complications were threatened. In the late fifties Brooke and Coppin were lessees. The pair dissolving partnership, Brooke retained the Royal, Coppin taking the old Olympic and the Cremorne Gardens. Brooke at this time should have been worth £50,000. Henry Edwards and George Faucett Rowe became managers after Bob Heir had resigned. Brooke went travelling, and things got messed up generally. Then Ambrose Kyte, with a rent roll of about £10,000 a year, came in, lending the management money and getting the lease as security. He put Barry Sullivan in, and for some years the Royal was the best-conducted theatre in the Southern Hemisphere.

(To be continued.)

A correspondent, with the not uncommon name of Jones, writes to say that Nesbitt M'Cron's first application for employment to Mr. Joseph Simmons was unsuccessful on 'account 'of his brogue,' and that Nesbitt never did duty as a policeman; that friends interviewed Mr. Simmons, and induced him to give the new man a "show." I am quite aware that Henniker Beaton, in his "Dramatic Stars," mentions the failure of Mr. Nesbitt in his first interview with Mr. Simmons; but I have indisputable evidence that Mr. Simmons, on hearing Nesbitt recite, engaged him on first application. That Nesbitt did police street duty for half a night is also beyond a doubt.

Mr. John Thomas Smith ("Sportsman," 15/6/'04), who (built the first theatre of any size in Melbourne, the Queen's, was a Sydney native, and therefore entitled to some notice in these annals. He was born in 1816, and educated by the historic pedagogue, Mr. Cape. He began life as a cadet or junior clerk in the Bank of Australasia on the foundation of that institution. From the bank he went to the Colonial Stores Department. This clerical work he found unsuitable, and he obtained an appointment as assistant teacher at the Aboriginal Station, then existing on the banks of the Yarra Yarra, where now are the Botanical Gardens. He voyaged to Melbourne at the end of the year 1837 in the steamer James Watt. He did not remain long at the Mission Station, on leaving which, on the advice of Captain Lonsdale, then commandant at the settlement, known as Beargrass, Mr. Smith turned his attention to commercial pursuits, and became manager for John Hodgson (afterwards well known in municipal and Political life). He soon, however, struck out for himself, and before many years had laid the foundations of business that afterwards brought him in a competence.

About the year 1845 he built the Queen's Theatre, amongst its early lessees and managers being George Coppin, Morton King and Charles Young. In 1842 Melbourne was incorporated, and Mr. Smith was elected to a seat in the Council, which I think he held until his death in 1879. Alongside the theatre, and on the corner of Queen-street and Little Bourke-street, was the St. John's Tavern, which Mr. Smith built and occupied while the theatre was in full swing. In 1853 Mr. Smith, then Mayor for the second time, gave a grand fancy dress ball in the theatre, the first of its kind in Victoria. The theatre had to be enlarged for the purpose, and to do so 40,000 English bricks at £21 per 1000 were used. During his third year as Mayor (1854-55) he gave another fancy dress ball in the old Exhibition Building, which stood on the site of the Mint. Of Mr. Smith's good qualities as a citizen it is not necessary here to speak. He gained high honours in the social and political life of his adopted colony. His sister was the mother of the three Gregorys, David, Edward and Charles, well known in cricketing circles in the sixties and seventies, and grandmother of the cricketing Gregorys of today.

To that old Queen's Theatre went Nesbitt M'Cron for a season, but his purse suffered much by his excesses whenever anything in business annoyed him, or he had been led into convivial company. From the Queen's he accepted a star engagement at Adelaide. He was bound under a peculiar arrangement. It was laid down in the bond that he was to receive £100 per week! — For four weeks. There were but twelve performances in the four weeks, and the last night of the twelve was to be for his benefit on terms. No money was to he paid him until the end of the engagement, and if he failed to make his appearance but once, the engagement was broken, and what he had earned declared forfeit. For eleven nights everything went well. The programme was frequently changed, and the house was crowded nightly. The piece selected for his benefit was "The Mountaineers," in which his Octavian was a masterly performance. After rehearsal he was invited to dine with some friends of the management, who professed great regard for the actor. He went to the dinner, drank wine, and became insensible! Word was sent to the theatre, and an actor named Thompson undertook the part. No mention of Mr. Nesbitt's "illness" was made, and no apology offered. The theatre was crammed to the roof, but Nesbitt never received one penny for his eleven nights' work, nor the proceeds of the benefit taken in his name.

Writing on this incident some years ago Mr. S. H. Banks said: "It was, of course, quite an accident that he became drunk, but the circumstances suggest something outside of accident on the part of some one, of which, it is to be hoped, the management was perfectly innocent.'" I shall have something more to say about Mr. Nesbitt later on.

While Nesbitt was absent from the Victoria Theatre, another actor of some note appeared upon the scene. This was Mr. Morton King, who had gained some experience on the English stage. He had come to New South Wales without any intention of acting, his object being to engage in trade. He started as a timber merchant, but the bad times of the early forties brought him down, and perforce he was obliged to return to the stage. He first played at the Victoria for a benefit, the play being "The Fall of Tarquin," Mr. King enacting the role of Brutus. He was then engaged by the management for a round of Shakespearean and other leading characters. In his young days he must have had a good appearance, and was recognized as an actor of merit. When I saw him, years after he had left the stage and was in political life, he had grown stout and florid. As an actor he was rather stilted, "mouthed," and "ranted" a deal, and had a somewhat harsh voice, I saw him act but once, of which more anon. The critics of his time said that he defied all the laws laid down by Hamlet in his instructions to the players. He suffered also by comparison with the recent "star," Nesbitt M'Cron. Mr. King was brought up to the silk trade, which he followed in the old country with success until he became stage struck. When about 30 years of age he came to Sydney, where he met George Coppin, and struck up a life-long friendship. After his appearance at the Victoria Theatre he went to Melbourne and Adelaide, and appeared in both cities, in a round of characters. In 1851 he opened a new theatre at Adelaide, with "The Lady of Lyons," he being the Claude Melnotte. The gold fever threw Mr. King back into business pursuits. Under his proper name, Mark Last King, he joined a Mr. Gibbon in business as auctioneers and estate agents and earned a competence which placed him in easy circumstances, until his death. In 1859 he entered Parliament as member for one of the Bourke County constituencies. The only occasion upon which I saw Mr. King upon the stage was at a performance of "The Merchant of Venice," by members of the Victorian Parliament, in aid of the Shakespeare Scholarship Fund. The performance was given in the Theatre Royal, Mr. King being the Shylock and Mr. George Coppin the Launcelot Gobbo. The other of the early lessees of the old Queen's, in Melbourne, was one well known in Sydney, and who died here, Charles Horace Frisbee Young. By a strange coincidence, one day last week, the same name cropped up in the Sydney Divorce Court. Charles Young, the name he was best known by, was born in Doncaster, in April 1819. His parents followed the dramatic profession, and with them he studied until he made his first appearance in London, the character being Little Pickle in "The Spoiled Child," and Young Norval in Holmes' tragedy of "Douglas." (In this tragedy there is a most extraordinary blunder. The author was a parson, and a man of great learning, yet he speaks of ''Mountains, inaccessible, by shepherds trod.")

Charles Young subsequently appeared as Noah Claypole, in "Oliver Twist." He left the stage for a time and spent four or five years at sea, chiefly in English coasting vessels. In 1843 he arrived, I think, at Hobart Town as second officer of a ship. Anyhow, at whichever port he landed, he met in Hobart Town his sister, the wife of Mr. G. H. Rogers, the well-known comedian. This determined him to again take to the stage and make his home in Australia. He made his first appearance at the Victoria Theatre, Hobart Town, in the character of Michael in "William Tell." He became the lessee of the Queen's Theatre, Melbourne, in 1851, being then in partnership with another old-time low comedian of great merit John P. Hydes.

Charlie Young's first wife was a Miss Thompson, daughter of a Liverpool merchant, her mother being a Miss Cooke, the daughter of James Cooke, who for 30 years was principal bass singer a the Theatre Royal, Drury-lane. Mrs. Young was niece to the late William L. Rede, and cousin to those well-known actresses, Mrs. W. West and Mrs. Waylett. Mr. and Mrs. Thompson came to Australia when the daughter was an infant, settling, I think, in Van Diemen's Land, where her mother, through a reversal of fortune, was again obliged to turn to the stage as a means of living. When but eight years of age, Mrs. Young played juvenile parts with great success. At 15 years of age she married Charles Young, at Launceston, Tasmania, and with Charlie assisted in the management of various theatres in which they had an interest. The couple went to England in 1857, Charlie obtaining an engagement as leading low comedian at the Strand Theatre, while the wife made her first appearance in England at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, under the management of Mr. Samuel Phelps, as Julia an "The Hunchback." She subsequently appeared in a long line of characters at the Haymarket. The English domestic life of the Youngs was not of the happiest. The wife seems to have been of a suspicious jealous character, and Charlie did not appear to have been as circumspect in his conduct as he should have been. The fact that husband and wife were playing at different houses, in totally different lines of business, and in the largest city in the world, "the city of magnificent distances" as far as theatres were concerned, may account for a lot of the trouble Anyhow, Mrs. Charles Young obtained a divorce, and Charlie came South once more. Mrs. Young then married an actor of parts more in her line, Hermann Vezin, from whom, if my memory serves me, she was divorced. On his return to Australia Charlie Young became the most popular low comedian in the colonies and as a burlesque actor had no compeer, which is saying a good deal, considering the dramatic talent which glutted the Australias in the sixties and seventies. We had then Harwood, Richard Stewart, Fred Young, Wigan, Bill Andrews, Harry Jackson, G. H. Rogers, J. C. Lambert, etc. Mr. Charles Young had a sister on the stage, Fanny, a very capable and pleasing actress, wife of a low comedian, who was known as George Washington Daniells. I don't know that Mr. Daniells ever blessed his godfather and godmother; but I do know that much "borak" was pocked at him over his name. He was, however, a good, steady fellow, notwithstanding his cognomen. Mr. Charles Young married secondly a lady who acted as Hebe at William Pitts Garrick's Head Hotel, Bourke street, Melbourne. My last chat with Charley Young was, in company with Sam Banks, at the Museum Hotel, which stood in William-street, Woolloomooloo, alongside the Blind Asylum workshops site (not then built), the exact site being where a large furniture warehouse now stands. The Museum Hotel was a red brick building standing in solitary glory, and a melancholy inn at any time. Charlie was then in bad health, crotchety, disappointed in life and not caring much how the curtain fell. He died there in January 1874.

In 1846-7-8 Mr. Nesbitt was again at the Victoria Theatre, Sydney, erratic occasionally, but still a great favourite with playgoers. Early in 1848, to relieve a strain, Mr. Nesbitt went to Maitland, then a quiet, a very quiet, town. East Maitland, the old Government town, I mean. I don't think West Maitland was then thought of excepting as a camping ground for teamsters. In Maitland in 1848 was an amateur dramatic club of some pretensions. A large building behind the old Fitzroy Arms had been transformed into a very handsome little theatre. Amongst the performing members of the club were Alfred Levien, father, I am told, of Mr. Harry Levien M.L.A., Solomon Cohen, Francis Sandoe John Sheppard, Sam Russell, Samuel Hawker Banks, and many other not half bad actors. The initial performance of the club was "the Rover's Bride" and "The Man With the Carpet Bag," in aid of the hospital funds. When it became known that the great star, Nesbitt, was ruralising in the town, he was waited upon and asked to assist in some of the performances. I think the club played weekly. Mr. Nesbitt made six appearances with the club, first as William Tell, then as Othello, and finally as Master Heywood in Douglas Jerrold's now-forgotten play, "The Rent Day"— the play only is forgotten, the landlord never forgets the rent day. Each of the parts named Mr. Nesbitt played twice, the leading lady being Mrs. Arabin, mentioned in connection with the opening of the Victoria Theatre ten years previously. In Mr. Nesbitt's time the club appears to have played twice a week, the performances in every sense being successful: good houses, consequently plenty of cash, the funds of the hospital benefiting largely, in addition to which the club was enabled to present Mr. Nesbitt with a purse of 50 sovereigns; not quite up to his Adelaide terms, but infinitely better, as he handled the cash.

Soon after his Maitland experience, Mr. Nesbitt, with his wife and family, left Sydney for San Francisco, then bursting upon the world's astonished gaze as a gold producing country of extraordinary wealth. In 1849 crowds of Sydney folk, known on the Pacific Slope as "Sydney Ducks," and not at all beloved, made their way to the fields, so that Nesbitt found many friends amongst the audiences, and he needed them, as events proved. He appeared at the American Theatre, Kearney-street, under the auspices, of Manager Attwater, and under his family name, M'Cron. James Stark and Mrs. Hudson Kirby (who subsequently come to Sydney as Mrs. Stark) were the leading performers. Business was very bad at the time (the end of 1848),

"Forty-nine" had not commenced to roar, but Attwater at once engaged M'Cron to alternate with Stark. The salary for three nights a week was good, and, as if going one better, in bad business it was paid nightly. Stark had been, playing to empty houses. M'Cron filled the theatre, a circumstance which annoyed Mrs. Kirby— who was engaged to be married to Stark— very much. The lady made no disguise of her feelings towards the Sydney actor, though there were others, from Sydney in the company, and left no stone unturned— as the saying is— to get Nesbitt out of the theatre. The outcome of her animosity will be detailed at another time.

(to be continued.)