Page:Dictionary of National Biography. Sup. Vol III (1901).djvu/351

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Sedgwick
337
Sedgwick

at the Haymarket, where on the 13th she played Constance in the 'Love Chase.' On 7 Nov. she was the first Hester Grazebrook in Taylor's 'Unequal Match,' a part with which she was ever after associated. Beatrice in 'Much Ado about Nothing' followed in February 1858, Julia in the 'Hunchback' on 1 March, and on 30 June Lady Teazle. Subsequently she was seen as Juliana in the 'Honeymoon,' was on 12 March 1859 the original Kate Robertson in Palgrave Simpson's 'The World and the Stage,' and played Rosalind, Peg Woffington, Miss Dorillon in 'Wives as they were and Maids as they are,' Mrs. Haller in the 'Stranger,' and Marie de Fontanges in 'Plot and Passion.' On 9 May 1860 she was the first Una in Falconer's 'Family Secret,' on 23 June Miss Vandeleur in 'Does he love me?' by the same writer, and Lady Blanche in Taylor's 'Babes in the Wood' on 10 Nov. In 1861 she was at the Olympic, where she was the first Mrs. Bloomly in H. Wigan's 'Charming Woman' on 20 June. At the Princess's she was on 19 Feb. 1863 the first Orelia in Lewis Filmore's 'Winning Suit.'

She was also the first Phoebe Topper in 'One Good Turn deserves another,' and Aurora Ffloyd in Mr. Cheltnam's adaptation so named. In 1866 she managed the Haymarket during a summer season, and on 2 Oct. at Drury Lane played Lady Macbeth to the Macbeth of Sullivan, and afterwards to that of H. Talbot. At the Haymarket she was on 8 July 1867 the first Blanche de Raincourt in Mead's adaptation, the 'Coquette.' On 10 Oct. 1868, as directress under H. B. Lacy, she opened the Marylebone, renamed the Alfred, with 'Pindee Singh' by C. H. Stephenson, in which she was Pindee Singh. The experiment was a failure. In Miss Le Thiere's 'All for Money,' Haymarket, 12 July 1869, she was the first Ida Fitzhubert. Her last appearance in London was at the Havmarket as Constance in the 'Love Chase' (May 1877). She instructed pupils and gave dramatic recitals, reading more than once before Queen Victoria. Miss Sedgwick married in 1858 Dr. W. B. Parkes, who died in 1863. She was subsequently known (1876) as Mrs. Pemberton. She then married Mr. Goostry. Her portrait as Constance was presented to the corporation of Brighton, where she lived for some years. Subsequently she removed to Hayward's Heath, where she died on 7 Nov. 1897, and was buried on the 11th. She was a capable actress, though she failed to reach the first rank.

[Personal knowledge; The Players, 1860; Scott and Howard's Blanchard; Daily Telegraph, 9 Nov. 1897; Era, 13 Nov. 1897; Athenæum, 13 Nov. 1897; Era Almanack, various years; Sunday Times, various years; Pascoe's Dramatic List.]

SEDGWICK, ROBERT (d. 1656), governor of Jamaica, was the son of William Sedgwick of London (Thurloe Papers, v. 155; Foster, Alumni Oxon. i. 1382), and brother of William Sedgwick (1610?–1669?) [q. v.]. He has been identified with the Sedgwick who came over to New England in 1635, in the ship Truelove, aged 24, although in the record of the custom house his name is written 'Jo.' instead of 'Ro.' Sedgwick. He was made a freeman of Massachusetts on 9 March 1637 (Savage, Genealogical Dict. of the First Settlers in New England, iv. 48). Sedgwick, who had some military training, and is said by Edward Johnson to have been 'nurst up in London's Artillery garden,' was chosen captain of the Charlestown trained band, and was, in 1638, one of the founders of 'The Military Company of Massachusetts.' His name is the third in the foundation charter (ib.; Raikes, Hist. of the Honourable Artillery Company, i. 326). He was commander of the Castle in Boston Harbour in 1641, and was major-general of the Massachusetts forces in 1652. In 1653 Sedgwick was in England, and Cromwell selected him to command an expedition intended to drive the Dutch from the New Netherlands, giving him the rank of major in the army. He raised, in spite of various obstructions, a few hundred men in the New England colonies, and was about to set out against the Dutch (June 1654), when news of the peace with Holland put a stop to his proceedings (Thurloe Papers, ii. 418). On this Sedgwick turned his forces against the French in Acadia, captured their forts of St. John's and Port Royal, and a settlement at Penobscot, and added Acadia to the British dominions (ib. ii. 426, 584 ; Cal. State Papers, Colonial, 1574-1674, Addenda, p. 89).

In the summer of 1655, after the conquest of Jamaica, the Protector appointed Sedgwick one of the civil commissioners for the government of his new acquisition. The instructions describe him still merely as 'Major Sedgwick,' but it is evident that Cromwell relied much on his experience of colonial life and his influence in New England (Thurloe, iv. G34; Cal. State Papers, Colonial, 1574-1660, p. 429). In October 1655, when Sedgwick arrived at Jamaica, he found the troops dying fast, everything in disorder, and necessaries of every kind wanting. 'You must in a manner begin the work over again 'was his message to Cromwell; but, though in-