A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Glover, Julia
GLOVER, JULIA,
The maiden name of this lady was Betterton; she was born in 1780, in the town of Newry, Ireland, where her father was the manager of a small provincial company. Her career as an actress extends over a period of half a century, and presents many interesting facts for the biographer, associated as it is with that of Mrs. Siddons, the Kembles, and all the theatrical notabilities of that histrionic era. At the age of ten. Miss Betterton was considered a kind of infant phenomenon; and at fifteen we find her taking such difficult characters as Miss Hoyde, Lydia Languish, Julia, and Imogen, with signal success. In 1797, she appeared on the Drury Lane stage, as Elwyna, in Hannah More's "Percy;" and from that time until quite recently, when she took her farewell at the same theatre, she has maintained her position as one of the most popular of English actresses. She has shone almost equally in tragedy and comedy, but her efforts in the latter line have been generally considered as most successful.
In 1800, Miss Betterton married Mr. Samuel Glover, who was supposed to be heir to a large fortune, but this proved a fallacy; he was an idle and dissolute man, and his extravagance and unkindness rendered a separation necessary. Mrs. Glover has had the sole charge of rearing and educating her eight children, and has performed her maternal duties in an exemplary manner. One of her sons is distinguished as a popular musical composer, and another is a clever tragedian, as well as a good amateur painter; her daughter Phyllis came out at the Haymarket, and gave great promise, but she died young. "Looking back," says a contemporary reviewer, "upon Mrs. Glover's long and brilliant career on the stage, we may pronounce her one of the most extraordinary women and accomplished actresses that ever graced the profession of the drama."