Aussie theatrical star who came from Horsham

It may seem strange that someone who proved so successful on the other side of the world is an unknown figure in his own home town.

However, that is what has happened to Alfred Dampier who was born in Horsham, West Sussex, in around 1847 but found fame in Australia.

Dampier was born this weekend around 179 years ago (the actual year is under debate), the son of a builder.

After an education at Charterhouse, in Surrey, he started off as a barrister’s clerk but he had a keen interest in amateur theatricals.

This passion took him to Manchester and a place in actor-manager Henry Irving’s professional company. In 1886 he married pianist Katherine Russell and they moved to London along with Irving, Alfred taking on leading roles at this stage.

In a bold move for the time, he was invited to take up a three-year engagement at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne, Australia, and made his debut as Mephistopheles in his own adaptation of the romantic drama Faust and Marguerite.

Several other performances and productions followed, with Dampier gaining an ever-increasing reputation and establishing his own theatre company.

In 1878 he and his family went on tour in the United States and followed this up with a couple of trips back to the UK, appearing on stage in London. He didn’t find these audiences quite as enthusiastic as those in his new home, though.

He was far happier in Australia and made his home there, continuing to chalk up success after success, with often dramatic stage designs that surprised and enthralled audiences.

The 1890s saw him struggle after the Depression and a rare unsuccessful tour, in New Zealand, which left him bankrupt.

However, he was soon back on stage thanks to the many good friends and colleagues he had gained.

An accident on stage during which he fell through a trap-door left him in poor health. He also discovered that audiences were moving away from the stage to see the new moving pictures.

So he retired in 1905 and died from a brain haemorrhage, aged 64, in Sydney in 1908

An impressive monument marks his grave at Waverley Cemetery in Sydney with the inscription ‘An accomplished actor. A cultured playwright.’

Tributes during his career included ‘Mr Dampier has proved himself an actor of the highest merit’ and that he was ‘unquestionably an actor of rare qualities’.