Buried in St Lawrence Church, Brentford is Henry Giffard, a theatre proprietor in 18th century London, who gave David Garrick his successful début as Richard III in 1741, at the Goodman's Fields Theatre.
Henry Giffard, was an actor and proprietor of Goodman's Fields Theatre in Whitechapel and lived with his wife, in Windmill Lane, Brentford from late 1748 until their deaths. He would have known John Horne Tooke, who was still the curate of St Lawrence Church in 1799 and may have conducted Giffard's funeral. Henry Giffard is buried in St Lawrence Church, together with his actress wife Anna Marcella Giffard. On their tomb is the following inscription:
"Beneath this stone lie the remains of Henry Giffard, Esq. late of this parish, who died October 20, 1772, aged 78 years: also here lieth the body of Anna Marcella Giffard, wife of the above mentioned Henry Giffard, Esq. who departed this life January 21, 1777, aged 70 years."
We have Henry Giffard to thank for giving David Garrick, the renowned actor-manager, his first opportunity to show his sublime acting talents on a London stage.
This poster is for the performance of King Richard III, in 1741 with David Garrick playing lead, Henry Giffard playing King Henry and Lady Anne played by Mrs Giffard.
David Garrick is regarded as one of Britain's greatest actors, and the founding father of the 'realist' school of acting. David Garrick was a great influence in the theatre, he became very famous and acquired his Garrick's Villa in Hampton Court Road in 1754 as his country retreat. Sadly the Grade I listed building was ravaged by fire in 2008 and is currently being renovated.
See the David Garrick's Villa at Hampton articles - Part 1 and Part 2.
Garrick came to London in 1737 and opened a wine business with his brother, which was not a success. He was an amateur actor and Henry Giffard first came in contact with Garrick in 1740 when helping him win the custom for his wine business of the Bedford Coffee-house, Covent Garden, which was patronised by many theatrical and literary people and a location Garrick frequented.
Within a year Garrick was appearing professionally, playing small parts at the Goodman's Fields Theatre under the management of Henry Giffard.
The area around Goodmans Fields in Whitechapel had, by the early 18th century, gained a reputation for wild behaviour. The Goodman's Fields Theatre was opened with a new manager Henry Giffard on 31st October 1729, and the opening play was George Farquar's restoration comedy, 'The Recruiting Officer'.
In 1733, Henry Giffard became sole proprietor of the theatre. In 1736, the political satire, 'A Vision of the Golden Rump' was performed, often attributed to Henry Fielding. It was the performance of this play, heavily criticising Prime Minister Robert Walpole and the Whig government that led to the Licensing Act 1737.
This Act of Parliament was a landmark event in the censorship of public performance and led to the ban on any play that criticised the government or the Crown.
While Henry Giffard was being attacked by the Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole, through the use of the Theatre Licensing Act, another Brentfordian, George Bickham, the caricaturist engraver, was producing some biting graphic satire of Walpole, such as the above engraving, in 1740, which shows a man kissing the backside of a giant figure of Sir Robert Walpole. See our George Bickham article.
The famous 18th century actor and theatre impresario David Garrick worked at the Theatre from 1740–1742, and once more made the theatre a fashionable place to visit.
Unfortunately, the success of Goodman's Fields Theatre led to its downfall, and Henry Giffard was threatened with prosecution under the Licensing Act. It was the death of the Theatre and it closed down in 1742 with a performance of the Beggars Opera, and was finally pulled down in 1746.
In 1744, Henry Giffard was engaged at Drury-Lane, where Garrick and he played the principal characters in tragedy and genteel comedy. Mrs. Giffard, (nee Anna Marcella (Nancy) Lyddal) who was sister to his first wife, and daughter of Mr. Lydal, an actor in Dublin, was born in the year 1717: she supported the characters of the fine lady in comedy, and the heroine in tragedy, with considerable applause. In the year 1744 she played Belvidera and Isabella to Garrick's Pierre and Biron. Both Mr. and Mrs. Giffard retired to Brentford, where they lived for over twenty years.
We could do with Henry Giffard being around today, to set up Brentford's own serious theatre, which could provide historical and original new plays. A kind of combination of the best of the Orange Tree Theatre of Richmond plus The Bush Theatre of Shepherds Bush. What a mouth watering thought, and all we would have to do is stroll through the town to get there. In our Brentford in Literature article, can be seen the fine connection to drama the town has had.
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