Proprietor of the Theatre Comique, is a native of England, born in Norwich, February 14th, 1838. His brother was a captain in the English Navy, and he himself had a commission as second-lieutenant. He first became a member of the dramatic profession under Edward Glover, of Theatre Royal, of Glasgow. He made his debut in the winter of 1859, and afterward acted in all the principal places in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. October 6, 1863, he married Miss Ellen Maskell, of Brighton, Sussex, by whom he has one child, Charlotte Ellen. She was also an actress, making her first appearance at the Theatre Royal, at Brighton, in the winter of 1861, playing the role of “Little Rebel” with William Farren, the celebrated English comedian. In the winter of 1868 he was engaged by Henry Jarrett, one of the proprietors of Niblo’s Garden of New York City, he having previously commenced his theatrical career in America at Tammany Hall, under the above management. Since that time he has been engaged in managing theaters in Brooklyn, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and previous to his coming to Kansas City was the business manager for J. H. Haverly, of the Adelphia, of Chicago. His first management in Kansas City was the management of the old Frank Hall, which he named in the Adelphia of Kansas City, the roof of which fell in during the winter of ’78, entirely destroying it. He then leased the theatre on the corner of Fourth and Walnut, now known as the Comique. He is the pioneer variety theater manager of Kansas City.
Source: [Anonymous], The History of Jackson County, Missouri (Kansas City: Union Historical Co., 1881), p. 806.