Campden House
Campden House in Kensington, London, was home to fashionable amateur theatricals in the mid-nineteenth century. Within its grounds was a purpose-built private theatre.
Campden House was built around 1612. In the early nineteenth century it has been a school for women. In 1847 William Frederick Wolley rented the property, after his recent marriage to Jane Coape, and he took out a lease on it in 1854. They carried out a programme of extensive restoration and improvement works, including building a miniature theatre in the house's grounds. Jane's sister, Julia, lived with them and was a constant companion. The Coape family had held theatricals prior to the marriage of Jane to William.
The private theatre was clearly of significant proportions. In reports of the amateur theatricals taking place there it suggests that an audience of around 300 would be in attendance, which included members of royalty and senior members of the British aristocracy, amongst other members of fashionable society.
Next door to Campden House was The Elms, where the painter Augustus Leopold Egg RA (1816-1863) lived. Egg was a part of Charles Dickens's amateur theatre company and it was perhaps he who suggested that Dickens present work at Campden House. On 10 July 1855 Dickens and his amateur company presented Wilkie Collins's The Lighthouse at Campden House. Although this is the best-known amateur theatrical production at Campden House, because of its link to Dickens, there were many others.
Campden House was destroyed by fire on 23 March 1862, which also caused extensive damage to Egg's house next door.
Performances
Known performances at Campden House theatre include:
On 9 November 1849 the plays performed were Box and Cox, The Follies of a Night and Bombastes Furioso. The cast includes Mr and Mrs Wolley, Jane's sister Miss Coape, and Captain Coape.
On 20 December 1849 the plays performed were Loan of a Lover, Where There's a Will There's a Way and Blue Beard, with a similar cast as above.
On 21 February 1850 J. B. Buckstone's The Dream at Sea and J. R. Planche's Who's Your Friend, or The Queensberry Féte were performed, followed by the burlesque Orpheus and Eurydice. These were followed by a ball and supper. The cast includes Miss Ricketts, who was also a regular performer at Percy Florence Shelley's theatricals at Boscombe Manor. The stage manager was Lord William Lennox, who was an amateur theatre enthusiast.
In May 1850 Sheridan's The Critic, Planche's extravaganza Blue Beard and the comic drama Spanish Etiquette were performed. The latter was written by Mr Coape, Jane's brother, and represents one of many plays written specifically for amateur theatrical contexts in this period. Many of the performers were family members, as in previous occasions, and there was supper afterwards. Attendees including other well-known amateurs, including members of the Canterbury Old Stagers.
On 4 July 1853 Thomas Haynes Bayly's petite comedy You Can't Marry Your Grandmother was performed, alongside John Poole's comic drama The Burgomaster of Sardaam and John Oxenford's farce Twice Killed. Wolley was the stage manager and the conductor of the band was Lord Gerald Fitzegerald, who was a prominent member of the Wandering Minstrels - an aristocratic musical society.
On 8 July 1850 No Song, No Supper, a musical interlude, High Life Below Stairs and The Thumping Legacy were performed. As well as having the Wolley and Coape families included in the cast, there was also Thomas Knox Holmes of the Canterbury Old Stagers.
On 10 July 1855 Dickens and his company performed Wilkie Collins's The Lighthouse.
On 27 April 1858 a three-act drama Lucille, or The Story of a Heart was followed by an original farce called An Eventful Eve and a comedietta An Affair of Honour. The Coape and Wolley families do not appear in the casts. The perruquier is William Clarkson and the costumer is Simmons.
On 5 July 1858, Captain Creyke as stage-manager produced The Wreck Ashore and My Husband's Ghost.
On 10 January 1859 the 'Directing Manager' of a group of amateurs, Captain Disney Roebuck, organised amateur theatricals at Campden House accompanied by The Ladies Band. The pieces performed were Morton's two-act comedy Our Wife; or, The Rose of Amiens and the two-act comic drama by Charles Dance, A Wonderful Woman. Although the Wolley and Coape family are not involved, the playbill tells us that these theatricals are going ahead 'by permission of W. F. Wolley, Esq.'. The programme was repeated the following day for the prize fund of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts. Clara St Casse was one of the singers who accompanied the performances.
On 15 March 1860 an event was held in aid of the funds of the Royal Benevolent Society. The stage-manager was the actor-manager W H Swanborough, and the cast included Frederick Ponsonby, one of the founding members of the Canterbury Old Stagers. The pieces were Tom Taylor's domestic drama A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing, the comedietta A Pretty Piece of Business, and the comic drama The Rough Diamond.