Jessie Bateman
Encyclopedia
Jessie Eliza Bateman was an English stage actress. Bateman began her career as a child actor. After early success on tour in Shakespearean roles, she built her career both in London and foreign tours. She had her greatest success in the early years of the 20th century, and her career spanned over half a century.
in a series of ballets. In 1889, she had her first dramatic role at the Globe Theatre
as "Cobweb" in A Midsummer Night's Dream
. In 1890, she appeared at The Prince of Wales Theatre in The Rose and the King and in 1891 in Arthur Sullivan
's grand opera
, Ivanhoe
at The Royal English Opera House.
Bateman spent the next five years with F. R. Benson's Shakespearean touring company, playing increasingly important roles, including Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Celia in As You Like It
. In 1894 she married George Augustus Ashfordby-Trenchard. He began a military career but soon turned to acting. In 1896, she returned to London and played at the Comedy Theatre, appearing in The Guinea Stamp and Mr Martin.
She was then employed by George Edwardes
for a tour of South Africa
. There she played a variety of leading roles in such works as The Little Minister, a comedy by J. M. Barrie
, Secret Service, a serio-drama, and Under the Red Robe, a romantic drama. After a brief return the London in 1898, she toured the United States in the title role of Peggy Stubbs and in H. Reeves-Smith's play, A Brace of Partridges. She returned to London with Reeves-Smith, starring with him at the Royalty Theatre
as Connie in A Little Ray of Sunshine. In 1899, she joined Charles Hawtrey's company at the Avenue Theatre in the role of Minnie Templar in A Message from Mars, then touring in that role in America and playing it again at The Prince of Wales Theatre in London. When the Second Boer War
began in 1899, Bateman's husband resumed his military career but died in South Africa
in 1902.
In 1904, Bateman starred as Fairy Rosebud in W. S. Gilbert
's The Fairy's Dilemma
at the Garrick Theatre
. Around this time, she also starred as Fanny in The Clandestine Marriage, Nell'in Everybody's Secret, Imogen in The Cabinet Minister, and Acacia Dean in Lucky Miss Dean and with Cyril Maude
in Beauty and the Barge. She joined Gerald du Maurier
in 1906 as Gwendoline Conran in Raffles at the Comedy Theatre, which ran for 351 performances, perhaps her greatest success to that date. When the run ended in 1907, she married Wilfred G. Chancellor with whom she had three children.
In 1909 she returned to the stage appearing in The Merry Devil at The Playhouse as Madame de Tessenari. She appeared in a revival of The Whip, by Cecil Raleigh and Henry Hamilton
, at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
in 1910 (in which she rode a horse astride). Playgoer and Society Illustrated wrote, "It would be difficult to find a sweeter Lady Diana Sartorys than Miss Jessie Bateman". She continued her stage career for more than twenty years thereafter and also appeared as Mrs. Wayne in a short film, Account Rendered, in 1932. She made her last major appearance on stage in 1933 at the Queen's Theatre
in Spendlove Hall.
Bateman died in 1940 at the age of 63.
Biography
Bateman made her first professional appearance aged ten at the Alhambra TheatreAlhambra Theatre
The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as The Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two years and reopened as the Alhambra. The building was...
in a series of ballets. In 1889, she had her first dramatic role at the Globe Theatre
Globe Theatre (Newcastle Street)
The Globe was a Victorian theatre built in 1868 and demolished in 1902. It was the third of five London theatres to bear the name. It was also known at various times as the Royal Globe Theatre or Globe Theatre Royal. Its repertoire consisted mainly of comedies and musical shows...
as "Cobweb" in A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
. In 1890, she appeared at The Prince of Wales Theatre in The Rose and the King and in 1891 in Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
's grand opera
Grand Opera
Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterised by large-scale casts and orchestras, and lavish and spectacular design and stage effects, normally with plots based on or around dramatic historic events...
, Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe (opera)
Ivanhoe is a romantic opera in three acts based on the novel by Sir Walter Scott, with music by Sir Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by Julian Sturgis. It premiered at the Royal English Opera House on 31 January 1891 for a consecutive run of 155 performances, unheard of for a grand opera...
at The Royal English Opera House.
Bateman spent the next five years with F. R. Benson's Shakespearean touring company, playing increasingly important roles, including Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Celia in As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
. In 1894 she married George Augustus Ashfordby-Trenchard. He began a military career but soon turned to acting. In 1896, she returned to London and played at the Comedy Theatre, appearing in The Guinea Stamp and Mr Martin.
She was then employed by George Edwardes
George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....
for a tour of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. There she played a variety of leading roles in such works as The Little Minister, a comedy by J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
, Secret Service, a serio-drama, and Under the Red Robe, a romantic drama. After a brief return the London in 1898, she toured the United States in the title role of Peggy Stubbs and in H. Reeves-Smith's play, A Brace of Partridges. She returned to London with Reeves-Smith, starring with him at the Royalty Theatre
Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho and opened on 25 May 1840 as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. The architect was Samuel Beazley, a resident in Soho Square, who also designed St James's Theatre, among...
as Connie in A Little Ray of Sunshine. In 1899, she joined Charles Hawtrey's company at the Avenue Theatre in the role of Minnie Templar in A Message from Mars, then touring in that role in America and playing it again at The Prince of Wales Theatre in London. When the Second Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
began in 1899, Bateman's husband resumed his military career but died in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in 1902.
In 1904, Bateman starred as Fairy Rosebud in W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
's The Fairy's Dilemma
The Fairy's Dilemma
Harlequin and the Fairy's Dilemma, retitled The Fairy's Dilemma shortly after the play opened, is a play in two acts by W. S. Gilbert that parodies the harlequinade that concluded 19th-century pantomimes....
at the Garrick Theatre
Garrick Theatre
The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster. It opened on 24 April 1889 with The Profligate, a play by Arthur Wing Pinero. In its early years, it appears to have specialised in the performance of melodrama, and today the theatre is a...
. Around this time, she also starred as Fanny in The Clandestine Marriage, Nell'in Everybody's Secret, Imogen in The Cabinet Minister, and Acacia Dean in Lucky Miss Dean and with Cyril Maude
Cyril Maude
Cyril Francis Maude was an English actor-manager.-Biography:Maude was born in London and educated at the Charterhouse School. In 1881, he was sent to Adelaide, South Australia, on the clipper ship City of Adelaide to regain his health...
in Beauty and the Barge. She joined Gerald du Maurier
Gerald du Maurier
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of the writer George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1902, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont with whom he had three daughters: Angela du Maurier , Daphne du Maurier and Jeanne...
in 1906 as Gwendoline Conran in Raffles at the Comedy Theatre, which ran for 351 performances, perhaps her greatest success to that date. When the run ended in 1907, she married Wilfred G. Chancellor with whom she had three children.
In 1909 she returned to the stage appearing in The Merry Devil at The Playhouse as Madame de Tessenari. She appeared in a revival of The Whip, by Cecil Raleigh and Henry Hamilton
Henry Hamilton (playwright)
Henry Hamilton was an English playwright, lyricist, and critic. He is best remembered for his musical theatre pieces....
, at Theatre Royal, 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,...
in 1910 (in which she rode a horse astride). Playgoer and Society Illustrated wrote, "It would be difficult to find a sweeter Lady Diana Sartorys than Miss Jessie Bateman". She continued her stage career for more than twenty years thereafter and also appeared as Mrs. Wayne in a short film, Account Rendered, in 1932. She made her last major appearance on stage in 1933 at the Queen's Theatre
Queen's Theatre
The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...
in Spendlove Hall.
Bateman died in 1940 at the age of 63.
