Gustavus Vaughan Brooke was an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 stage actor who enjoyed success in Ireland, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Early life

Brooke was born in Dublin, Ireland, the eldest son of Gustavus Brooke (died 1827), a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

, and his wife Frances, daughter of Matthew Bathurst. He was educated at a school at Edgeworthstown

Edgeworthstown

Edgeworthstown or Mostrim is a town in County Longford, Ireland. The Edgeworthstown name is derived from the Edgeworth Family who have a long association with the town as the family estate of Henry Essex Edgeworth de Firmont was nearby, while Mostrim is an anglicisation of the town's pre-conquest...

 under Lovell Edgeworth, a brother of the novelist Maria Edgeworth

Maria Edgeworth

Maria Edgeworth was a prolific Anglo-Irish writer of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the novel in Europe...

, and afterwards at Dublin at a school run by the Rev. William Jones. There he showed talent in a school play; when he was allowed to see William Charles Macready

William Charles Macready

-Life:He was born in London, and educated at Rugby.It was his intention to go up to Oxford, but in 1809 the embarrassed affairs of his father, the lessee of several provincial theatres, called him to share the responsibilities of theatrical management. On 7 June 1810 he made a successful first...

 perform in Dublin in March 1832 he was determined to go on the stage. He interviewed Calcraft, the manager of the Dublin Theatre, and early in 1833 on account of the failure of Edmund Kean

Edmund Kean

Edmund Kean was an English actor, regarded in his time as the greatest ever.-Early life:Kean was born in London. His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect’s clerk, and his mother was an actress, Anne Carey, daughter of the 18th century composer and playwright Henry Carey...

 to fulfil his engagement at Dublin, Brooke was given an opportunity to appear in the part of William Tell

William Tell

William Tell is a folk hero of Switzerland. His legend is recorded in a late 15th century Swiss chronicle....

. He was billed as "a young gentleman under 14 years of age" (he was really almost 15) and played with some success. Other appearances followed as Virginius and Young Norval. He appeared at the Royal Victoria Theatre, London, in October 1834 as Virginius with little success.

Acting career develops

Brooke toured the English provincial theatres for three years, and then played a season at Dublin in October 1837. He had a qualified success, which was followed by a more successful season at Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 in January 1838. He continued to play in the provinces and in Ireland, and in 1841 accepted an engagement with Macready's company in London, but finding himself cast for a small part declined the role. He returned to the provinces and refused several offers of parts in London. He had successful seasons at Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 and other large towns, among his characters being Richard III

Richard III (play)

Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...

, Romeo

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...

, Macbeth

Macbeth

The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...

, Virginius, Hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

, Othello

Othello

The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...

, Iago and Brutus. He played Othello to Macready's Iago at Manchester. Later on he was with Edwin Forrest

Edwin Forrest

Edwin Forrest was an American actor.-Early life:Forrest was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, of Scottish and German descent. His father died and he was brought up by his mother, a German woman of humble origins. He was educated at the common schools in Philadelphia, and early evinced a taste...

, and in October 1846 took the part of Romeo at Dublin to Helena Faucit

Helena Faucit

Helena Saville Faucit, Lady Martin was an English actress.-Early life:Born in London, she was the daughter of actors John Saville Faucit and Harriet Elizabeth Savill. Her parents divorced when she was a girl, and her mother married William Farren in 1825...

's Juliet. Other roles opposite Faucit included Claude Melnotte, Orlando, Hamlet, Macbeth, Richard III, Sir Giles Overreach, Leontes and Faulconbridge.

On 3 January 1848 Brooke was a success as Othello at the Olympic Theatre

Olympic Theatre

The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street, and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout much of its existence...

, London. In the same season his rendering of Sir Giles Overreach was pronounced by one critic as not falling far short of Edmund Kean's, and more than one writer called him the greatest tragedian of the day. Brooke, however, did not have the temperament to make the best use of his success. He was not a good businessman and drank too much. After playing for some time in the country his magnificent voice began to fail, and in 1850 he was obtaining advice from a London specialist who would not allow him to appear more than once or twice a week. However, in November of that year he was playing with Helena Faucit

Helena Faucit

Helena Saville Faucit, Lady Martin was an English actress.-Early life:Born in London, she was the daughter of actors John Saville Faucit and Harriet Elizabeth Savill. Her parents divorced when she was a girl, and her mother married William Farren in 1825...

 again and drawing large crowds. In October 1851 he was married to Marianne Bray. In December 1851 he went to America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, and during the next 18 months had much success.

On his return to England, Brooke played several of his old parts at Drury Lane

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...

, and for the first time, Macbeth, with such success that he not only re-established his own reputation but saved the fortunes of the theatre. In 1854 he met George Coppin

George Selth Coppin

George Selth Coppin was a comic actor, entrepreneur and politician, active in Australia.-Early life:Coppin was born at Steyning, Sussex, England, son of George Selth Coppin and Elizabeth Jane, née Jackson. His grandfather had been a well-known clergyman at Norwich...

 and agreed to go to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 to give two hundred performances in the major towns there and in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. He left England on 25 November 1854, played a week at Cape Town Garrison Theatre and arrived at Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 on 23 February 1855. The Australian tour opened three days later at the Queen's Theatre, Melbourne; Brooke stayed in Australia for more than six years. When he arrived he had a repertoire of some 40 characters, and before he left he had almost doubled the number. His voice had regained its beauty, his art had matured. He did some of his best work while in Australia. The critics were unanimous in placing him as one of the great actors of all time, although occasional failures were admitted, Romeo being one of his less successful characters. He excelled particularly in tragedy, but also played comedy and Irish parts with success. Brooke's last Melbourne appearance was on 28 May 1861.

Financial difficulties

In early life Brooke was financially careless, but in Australia for a time lived comparatively carefully, and while in partnership with Coppin at one time thought himself to be a rich man. But his ventures were not always successful. He eventually lost everything, and unfortunately began drinking again. On his return to England about the middle of 1861 he played a season at Drury Lane, beginning in October with so little success that at its conclusion he found himself in financial difficulties. In February he married Avonia Stanhope Jones (12 July, 1839-4 October 1867), a young actress of considerable ability whom he had met in Australia. Unfortunately his drinking habits continued and he was often in great difficulties. His wife, who had been away playing an engagement in America, contacted George Coppin, then on a visit to England, who offered Brooke an engagement for two years in Australia. Brooke pulled himself together to play a farewell season at Belfast, and his last performance as Richard III on 23 December 1865 was enthusiastically received.

He left Plymouth for Australia on 1 January 1866 in the S.S. London

SS London (1864)

The SS London was a British steamship which sank in the Bay of Biscay on 11 January 1866. The ship was travelling from Gravesend in England to Melbourne, Australia when she began taking in water on 10 January...

 which went down in a storm ten days later. Brooke toiled bravely at the pumps of the sinking vessel, and when all hope was gone was seen standing composedly by the companion way. As the last overcrowded lifeboat pulled away he called "Give my last farewell to the people of Melbourne". He was 47 years old. His widow died from consumption in the following October.

Summary

An excellent description of his powers both as a tragedian and a comedian will be found in an article by James Smith

James Smith (journalist)

James Smith was an English-born Australian journalist and encyclopedist.-Early life:Smith was born at Loose near Maidstone, Kent, England, son of James Smith, supervisor of inland revenue, and his wife Mary...

in The Cyclopedia of Victoria, vol. III, p. 26.