Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wyndham, Robert Henry
WYNDHAM, ROBERT HENRY (1814–1894), Scottish actor-manager, was born at Dublin of highly respectable parents on 8 April 1814, and made his first appearance upon the stage at Salisbury in 1836, paying the manager of the local theatre 20l. in order that he might assume the long-studied rôle of Norval in ‘Douglas,’ and, as he afterwards admitted, ‘make a fool of himself.’ Six years later he enacted Romeo at Birmingham to the Juliet of Ellen Tree (Mrs. Charles Kean), and subsequently was seen at the Tuileries before Louis-Philippe as Colonel Freelove in ‘A Day after the Wedding.’ During 1844 he was jeune premier at the Adelphi, Glasgow, and next year he fulfilled his ambition of making a prominent début at Edinburgh. He went thither to fill the place vacated by Leigh Murray upon his migration to London, appearing as Clifford in the ‘Hunchback’ to the Julia of Helen Faucit at the Theatre Royal, Shakespeare Square, and making a favourable impression. Among the parts allotted to him during the ensuing season were Mercutio, Charles Surface, and Rashleigh Osbaldistone in ‘Rob Roy.’ In 1846 he married Rose, daughter of William Saker, a low comedian of London, and sister of Edward Saker [q. v.] She was a clever actress, and developed a special aptitude for training juvenile troupes in ballet and pantomime. In May 1849 Wyndham appeared at the Adelphi Theatre, Edinburgh, as Orlando, and in 1850 he was Brycefield in Marston's ‘Strathmore.’ On 27 Dec. 1851 he opened the Adelphi as actor-manager in succession to William Henry Murray [q. v.], who took his farewell of the Edinburgh stage on 22 Oct. The old management concluded with the ‘Rivals,’ and Wyndham opened with the ‘School for Scandal,’ playing Charles Surface, and following the comedy up with ‘Gulliver,’ arranged as a pantomime, for which Mrs. Wyndham trained the children. The task of succeeding so successful a manager as Murray was an arduous one. Wyndham had to be leading comedian, acting manager, and stage manager in one, while his difficulties were increased by the fact that a transition period was at hand which witnessed the somewhat rapid collapse of the old stock company system, before the increasing demand in Edinburgh for the theatrical ‘stars’ of London, and the increased facilities afforded for touring companies by the railroads.
For the first ten years of Wyndham's management, however, the old system that had prevailed under Murray was but little impaired. On 6 Feb. 1852 Wyndham produced ‘Macbeth’ with scenery that was thought to surpass any yet seen upon the Edinburgh stage; on 31 May he was seen as Claude Melnotte for his wife's benefit; in June he was Robert in ‘Robert the Bruce;’ in August Rashleigh Osbaldistone; and in October, for his benefit, Henry, prince of Wales, in ‘Henry IV.’ The Adelphi was destroyed by fire on 24 May 1853. Fortunately for Wyndham, who was insured, but could not afford a holiday, the ‘Royal’ Theatre was lying vacant. He promptly leased it, and opened on 11 June, in the part of Charles Bromley in ‘Simpson & Co.,’ which he followed up by Captain Absolute in the ‘Rivals.’ The Adelphi, now renamed ‘The Queen's,’ was reconstructed during 1854–5, and Wyndham for a time managed both theatres concurrently, but the Royal remained his headquarters until it was taken down in 1859. Mr. Toole was one of Wyndham's first stars at his new house, appearing at the Royal on 9 July 1853 in ‘Dead Shot.’ (Sir) Henry Irving, fresh from his début at Sunderland, made his first appearance as a member of Wyndham's company on 9 Feb. 1857 as Gaston, duke of Orleans, in ‘Richelieu.’ He remained with the Wyndhams as ‘juvenile lead’ at 30s. a week down to September 1859, playing often in a pantomime and two dramas in the course of a single evening. In November 1856 Wyndham was Rolando in Tobin's ‘Honeymoon;’ in May 1857 he revived ‘Macbeth,’ with Mrs. Wyndham as Lady Macbeth and Irving as Banquo; in December of that year they were highly successful with the pantomime ‘Little Bo Peep,’ with Irving as ‘Scruncher, captain of the Wolves.’ A final performance at the Royal, doomed to destruction in order to make way for a post-office, took place on 25 May 1859, when Wyndham played Sir Charles Pomander in ‘Masks and Faces;’ Mrs. Wyndham played Peg, and Irving played Soaper. Wyndham, who had been paying 1,000l. a year rent for the Royal, now returned to the Queen's (the old Adelphi), some 30,000l. having been paid as indemnity by the government upon absorbing the site of the Royal. He opened his first season at the Queen's under royal letters patent on 25 June 1859, as Felix Featherley in ‘Everybody's Friend.’ This was followed in July by ‘Heart of Midlothian,’ in which Montagu Williams and Mr. F. C. Burnand appeared as ‘distinguished amateurs;’ and then ‘London Assurance,’ with Williams as Charles Courtly, Irving as Dazzle, and Mrs. Wyndham as Lady Gay Spanker. In June 1860 Wyndham was Rory in ‘Rory O'More,’ in June 1861 he played Myles in the ‘Colleen Bawn,’ and in February 1862 Salem Scudder in the ‘Octoroon.’ The Queen's was burnt down on 13 Jan. 1865 during the run of the Christmas pantomime, ‘Little Tom Tucker.’ It was rebuilt and reopened as ‘The Royal’ on 2 Dec. 1865, in time for the next yearly pantomime, ‘Robin Hood.’ A handsome presentation was made by the citizens of Edinburgh to Wyndham for his services to the drama in 1869. In 1871 he revived a number of ‘Waverley’ dramas upon the occasion of the Scott centenary; but the star system was already in the ascendant, and this form of entertainment showed a sadly diminished success. On 6 Feb. 1875, during a run of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ (in which Mr. A. W. Pinero was one of the performers), the ‘Royal’ shared the fate of its predecessors, the Queen's and the ‘Adelphi,’ the theatre upon this site being burned down for the third time under Wyndham's management.
Wyndham made his last appearance upon the Edinburgh stage on the opening night of the new Edinburgh Theatre, Castle Terrace, upon 20 Dec. 1875. As an actor he was versatile, but is said to have excelled in light comedy and in Irish gentlemen. A year later he retired from his long and, upon the whole, highly successful management. Upon his retirement he was, on 23 Feb. 1877, entertained at a banquet at the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh, under the presidency of Sir Alexander Grant, when the lord justice-general (John Inglis, lord Glencorse) proposed ‘Mrs. Wyndham,’ and Professor Blackie ‘The Drama.’ He now left his house in Forth Street, Edinburgh, and settled in Sloane Street, London, where he renewed relations, under altered circumstances, with (Sir) Henry Irving. He became a familiar figure at the Garrick Club, and is described as one of the youngest-looking men of his age. Wyndham died at his house in Sloane Street, aged 80, on 16 Dec. 1894, and was buried in Brompton cemetery on 20 Dec. By his wife—who played Peg Woffington, Mrs. Haller, Helen MacGregor, Lady Macbeth, Queen Katharine in ‘Henry VIII,’ Lady Teazle, and other leading parts under her husband's management—he had issue two daughters and one son, Mr. Frederick Wyndham, now co-lessee of the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh.
[Scotsman, 24 Feb. 1877 and 17 Dec. 1894; Era Almanack, 1896, p. 87; Era, 22 Dec. 1894; Stage, 20 Dec. 1894; Athenæum, 29 Dec. 1894; Dibdin's Annals of the Edinburgh Stage, Edinburgh, 1888, passim; Fitzgerald's Sir Henry Irving, 1895, chap. ii.]
Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.286
N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line
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