In 1845, Mr. Polk having been elected President, Mr. Bancroft entered his Cabinet as Secretary of the Navy, and also served for a month as Acting Secretary of War. In 1846 he was sent as Minister to Great Britain, where he successfully urged upon the British Government the adoption of more liberal navigation laws, and was especially earnest in vindicating the rights of persons naturalized as citizens of the United States. During this residence in Europe he made use of every opportunity to perfect his collections of documents relating to American history. He returned to the United States in 1849, took up his residence in New York, and set about the preparation of the remainder of his history. The fourth and fifth volumes were published in 1852; the sixth appeared in 1854; the seventh in 1858; the eighth in 1860; the ninth in 1866; and the tenth late in 1874. This brings the narrative to the close of the Revolutionary War and completes the body of the work. He is still, however, engaged upon supplementary volumes, two of which were issued in 1882 under the title of "History of the Foundation of the Constitution of the United States." After his return from England he for many years devoted himself wholly to literary labour. In Feb. 1866, he delivered before Congress an address in memory of Abraham Lincoln. In May, 1867, he was appointed Minister to Prussia; in 1868 he was accredited to the North German Confederation; and in 1871 to the German Empire. He was recalled from this mission at his own request, in 1874. During his mission to Germany several important treaties were concluded with the various German States, relating especially to the naturalization of Germans in America. He ia a member of numerous learned societies at home and abroad. In 1855 he published a volume of "Miscellanies," comprising a portion of the articles which he had contributed to the North American Review. He now resides at Washington, D.C., passing his summers at Newport, Rhode Island.
BANCROFT, Mrs., née Marie Effie Wilton, the popular actress, is a native of Doncaster. After acting from early childhood in the Provinces, she first appeared in London in Sept. 1856, at the Lyceum Theatre, as the boy in Belphegor and Perdita the Royal Milkmaid. Subsequently she fulfilled various engagements at London houses, becoming manager of the Prince of Wales's Theatre, London, at Easter, 1865. Shortly afterwards Miss Wilton gave up burlesque acting, and devoted her entire attention to the production of English comedies, chiefly written by the late T. W. Robertson. She was married to Mr. S. B. Bancroft in Dec. 1867. Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft continued their successful career at the Prince of Wales's Theatre until January, 1880, when they migrated to the Haymarket, of which theatre they had become the lessees. They rebuilt the theatre internally at a large outlay, and it is perhaps, now, the handsomest house of its size in Europe. The characters with which Mrs. Bancroft's name is best associated are Polly Eccles, Naomi Tighe, Mary Netley, Peg Woffington, Jenny Northcott, Lady Franklin, and Lady Teazle.
BANCROFT, Squire Bancroft, actor and theatrical manager, born in London, May 14, 1841, made his first public appearance on the stage at the Theatre Royal, Birmingham, in Jan. 1861. Then he accepted engagements in Dublin and Liverpool, playing almost every line of character, including various Shaksperian parts. He made his début in London on the occasion of the opening of the Prince of Wales's Theatre, under the management of Mr. Byron and Miss Marie Wilton,
