{{short description|Australian actor (circa 1843-1908)}} {{Infobox person | name = Alfred Dampier | image = Alfred Dampier Foster & Martin H9763.jpg | birth_date = {{birth-date|28 February 1843}} | birth_place = Horsham, Sussex, England | death_date = {{death date and age|1908|05|24|1843|}} | death_place = Paddington, New South Wales, Australia | occupation = Dramatist, actor, manager, director, producer. | years_active = 1873–1908 }}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}} {{Use British English|date=August 2016}} '''Alfred Dampier''' (28 February 1843?<ref name=adb/> 1847?<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alfred Dampier 1847 – 1908|url=https://liveperformance.com.au/hof-profile/alfred-dampier-1847-1908/|access-date=2020-10-21|website=Live Performance Australia}}</ref> – 23 May 1908) was an English-born actor-manager and playwright, active in Australia.<ref name=adb>John Rickard, '[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dampier-alfred-3360 Dampier, Alfred (1843–1908)]', ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, p. 13. Retrieved 28 August 2014</ref>
Dampier was born in Horsham, Sussex, England, the son of John Dampier, a builder, and his wife Mary, ''née'' Daly.<ref name=adb/> Dampier had a stage career in Manchester before moving to Melbourne, Australia in 1873,<ref name=adb/> under contract to the Harwood syndicate, consisting of H. R. Harwood, George Coppin, Richard Stewart (father of Nellie Stewart), and John Hennings, managers of Melbourne's Theatre Royal.<ref name=dead>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5143502 |title=Mr Alfred Dampier Dead |newspaper=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |location=South Australia |date=25 May 1908 |access-date=12 March 2020 |page=7 |via=Trove }}</ref>
His first role was as Mephistopheles in his own adaptation of ''Goethe's Faust'', followed by leading roles in Shakespearean dramas. After three years he undertook his own management and toured major towns in Australia and New Zealand, followed by America and England.<ref name=dead/> He appeared in the Australian play ''All for Gold''.
On his return to Australia, Dampier formed his own company, often producing plays with an Australian theme. He staged five plays by F. R. C. Hopkins between 1876 and 1882, and adapted ''For the Term of His Natural Life'' (1886), ''Robbery Under Arms'' (1890),<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|date=1899-10-06|title=The Alfred Dampier Season |pages=5|work=Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 - 1954)|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52561412|access-date=2020-10-20}}</ref> and ''The Miner's Right'' (1891).<ref name=adb/> A good number of actors stayed with Dampier through his changing fortunes — Carrie Bilton, Alfred Harford, Regel Rede, Alfred Rolfe, George Buller, Edmund Holloway, Julia Merton, Helen Nugent, J. B. Atholwood, Walter Baker, Watkin Wynne, Alfred Boothman, Ada Rochfort, May Holt (sister of Bland Holt), Harry Stoneham and Barry Marschall.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article62159027 |title=Actors I Have Known |newspaper=Townsville Daily Bulletin |volume=LIX |issue=239 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=5 October 1937 |accessdate=14 August 2021 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
The two roles with which Dampier was most associated were Jean Valjean in ''Valjean'', an adaptation of ''Les Misérables'', and Captain Starlight in ''Robbery Under Arms''.<ref>Richard Fotheringham, "Introduction", ''Robbery Under Arms'' by Alfred Dampier and Garnet Walch, Currency Press 1985 p14</ref><ref name="robbery">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/wrecking-australian-stores-the-1957-film-version-of-robbery-under-arms/|date=7 March 2025|access-date=7 March 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|title=Wrecking Australian stores: the 1957 film version of Robbery Under Arms|magazine=Filmink}}</ref>
He wrote (as "Adam Pierre")<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145933398 |title=On and Off the Stage |newspaper=Table Talk |issue=765 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=1 March 1900 |accessdate=11 June 2021 |page=18 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> the jingoistic ''Briton and Boer'', which was a "hit" at the Alexandra in 1900.
The Popular Australian Dramatic Company (1889–1890) and Australian Dramatic Company (1890–1897), not to be confused with George Darrell's "Australian Dramatic Company" (1878–1888), were affiliated with the Holloway company.
Dampier died at his residence in Paddington, Sydney on 23 May 1908.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Obituary - Alfred Dampier - Obituaries Australia|url=http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/dampier-alfred-3360|access-date=2020-10-21|website=oa.anu.edu.au}}</ref><ref name="dead" />
==Family== In 1866 Dampier married the actress Katherine Alice Russell (c. 1848 – 8 March 1915), who continued using that name professionally. She was author of a play, ''The Phantom Ship''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article147283769 |title=Alexandra Theatre |newspaper=Table Talk |issue=289 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=2 January 1891 |accessdate=23 June 2021 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> She died from a stroke in Reading, Pennsylvania while touring America with her daughter Rose and son Fred.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45346095 |title=Mrs Alfred Dampier Dead |newspaper=The Barrier Miner |location=Broken Hill, NSW |date=16 May 1915 |accessdate=5 January 2013 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15599318 |title=Death of Mrs Dampier |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |location=NSW |date=6 May 1915 |accessdate=5 January 2013 |page=10 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> They had two daughters and one son.<ref name=adb/> *Katherine Annabel Lily Dampier, known as Lily Dampier (died February 1915) was a noted actor in her own right. She was briefly married to actor William Watkins, known as Watkin Wynn. She subsequently married actor and director Alfred Rolfe, who adapted several of Dampier's plays to the screen. *Rose Dampier died while on tour in Nebraska in May 1919.<ref> {{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28098573 |title=Death of Rose Dampier |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |location=NSW |date=22 May 1919 |accessdate=28 August 2014 |page=8 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> *Alfred Julian "Fred" Dampier was also an actor, but never as successful as his father, sisters or brother in law. Fred had a secret marriage to one Vera (born c. 1885), also an actor, in 1905. They never lived together and she was granted a divorce in 1914.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88849745 |title=A Secret Marriage and Its Sequel |newspaper=The Chronicle |location=Adelaide |date=7 November 1914 |accessdate=5 January 2013 |page=24 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
==Select writing credits== *''Valjean'' (1869) – adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' *''Faust and Marguerite'' (1873) – adapted from the legends *''Saint or Sinner'' (1876) *''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1879) - adapted from ''the novel'' *''The Nihilists'' (1880) *''Under the Southern Cross'' (1885) *''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1886) – with John F Sheridan, adapted from the novel *''Our Emily'' (1886) *''An English Lass'' (1886) *''Jess'' (1886) *''For the Term of His Natural Life'' (1886) – with Thomas Somers, adapted from the novel – later filmed as ''The Life of Rufus Dawes'' (1911) *''Marvellous Melbourne'' (1886) – with J H Wrangham and Thomas Somers *''Shamus O'Brien (play)'' (1889) *''East Lynn'' (1889) *''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (1890) – with Garnet Walch, adapted from the novel *''Robbery Under Arms'' (1890)<ref name=":0" /> – with Garnet Walch, adapted from the novel the novel – filmed as ''Captain Starlight, or Gentleman of the Road'' in 1911 *''For Love and Life'' (1890) *''The Miner's Right'' (1891) *''The Scout'' (1891) - later revised as ''The Trapper'' *''This Great City'' (1891) *''Wilful Murder (play)'' (1892) *''Help One Another'' (1892) *''Slaves of Sydney'' *''Thou Shalt Not Steal'' (1896) *''To the West (play)'' (1896) *''The Bush King'' (1901) – rewrite of 1893 play – filmed in 1911 *''Fortune's Fool''
==Other plays presented== *''The Life and Death of Captain Cook'' *''The Duchess of Coolgardie''
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[https://liveperformance.com.au/hof-profile/alfred-dampier-1847-1908/ Alfred Dampier 1847-1908] at liveperformance.com.au – Hall of Fame *{{Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Alfred|Last=Dampier|shortlink=0-dict-biogD.html#dampier1|accessdate=2010-04-24}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dampier, Alfred}} Category:1840s births Category:1908 deaths Category:Australian male stage actors Category:English male stage actors Category:Actor-managers Category:People from Horsham Category:English emigrants to colonial Australia Category:19th-century British theatre managers Category:20th-century theatre managers Category:Male actors from London Category:People from Paddington Category:Actors from the City of Westminster Category:Actors from Horsham District