Cooper. Mrs. Warner was at the outset all but invariably the heroine. Among representations in the following season were William Tell, Henri IV in Sullivan's ‘King's Friend’ (an original part, 21 May 1845), ‘Richelieu,’ Beverley in the ‘Gamester,’ Romont in the ‘Fatal Dowry’ (perhaps his greatest quasi-tragic part), Rolla in ‘Pizarro,’ Lear, Leontes, Evelyn in ‘Money,’ and Hastings in ‘Jane Shore.’ In 1846–7 Mrs. Warner retired from management. The theatre opened with the ‘First Part of King Henry IV,’ Phelps playing Falstaff; Creswick making, as Hotspur, his first appearance in London, and Mrs. H. Marston playing Mistress Quickly. Phelps's characters included Brutus, Mordaunt in the ‘Patrician's Daughter’ (Miss Addison appearing as Lady Mabel), Mercutio, the Duke in ‘Measure for Measure,’ Damon in ‘Damon and Pythias,’ Adrastus in Talfourd's ‘Ion,’ Arbaces in ‘A King and no King’ of Beaumont and Fletcher, not seen since 1788. On 18 Feb. 1847 he produced, for the first time, ‘Feudal Times,’ by the Rev. James White [q. v.], and played Walter Cochrane [Earl of Mar]. Prospero, Reuben Glenroy in Morton's ‘Town and Country,’ Bertram in Maturin's ‘Bertram,’ and the Provost in Lovell's ‘Provost of Bruges’ followed. The season 1847–8 opened with ‘Cymbeline,’ Phelps playing Leonatus (23 Nov.). On 3 Nov. he was the original John Savile in White's ‘John Savile of Haysted.’ On 27 Dec. 1847, in mounting ‘Macbeth,’ he dispensed, for the first time since the Restoration, with the singing witches. Jaques followed, and after that Malvolio and Falstaff in the ‘Merry Wives of Windsor.’ Next season (1848–9) opened with ‘Coriolanus.’ Isabella Glyn [q. v.] now replaced Miss Addison, for Phelps did not keep his leading actresses long. Leon in Beaumont and Fletcher's ‘Rule a Wife and have a Wife’ followed, and was succeeded by the ‘Honest Man's Fortune,’ altered by R. H. Horne from Beaumont and Fletcher, in which Phelps played Montague. On 10 May 1849 he was the original Calaynos in a tragedy so named by G. H. Boker, an American.
On 22 Oct. 1849 Phelps was Antony in a performance, the first for a century, of Shakespeare's ‘Antony and Cleopatra.’ This was perhaps Phelps's most successful revival. On 12 Dec. Phelps was the original Garcia in ‘Garcia, or the Noble Error,’ of F. G. Tomlins, and on 11 Feb. 1850 the original Blackbourn in George Bennett's ‘Retribution.’ He also added to his repertory Jeremy Diddler and Octavian in the ‘Mountaineers.’ On 22 Aug. 1850 Leigh Hunt's ‘Legend of Florence’ was revived, with Phelps as Francesco Agolanti. Nov. 20 saw Webster's ‘Duchess of Malfi,’ adapted by R. H. Horne. Phelps took the part of Ferdinand. Timon of Athens was first assumed 15 Sept. 1851. On 27 Oct. he appeared as Ingomar, and on 27 Nov. was first seen in his great comic character, Sir Pertinax Macsycophant, in Macklin's ‘Man of the World.’ On 6 March 1852 he was the original James VI in White's ‘James VI, or the Gowrie Plot.’ In the following season, 1852–3, he revived ‘All's well that ends well,’ playing Parolles; ‘King Henry V,’ playing the King; and the ‘Second Part of King Henry IV,’ doubling the parts of Henry and Justice Shallow. Bottom, long esteemed Phelps's greatest comic character, was first seen October 1853. ‘Pericles,’ not acted since the Restoration, was revived 14 Oct. 1854, Phelps playing Pericles. His only other new part in that season was Bailie Nicol Jarvie in ‘Rob Roy.’ Christopher Sly, in the ‘Taming of the Shrew,’ was first seen in December 1856. In the ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona,’ produced on 18 Feb. 1857, Phelps did not act. Don Adriano de Armado, in ‘Love's Labour's Lost,’ was first seen 30 Sept. 1857. Lord Ogleby, in the ‘Clandestine Marriage,’ followed on 4 Nov. On 19 Jan. 1858, as one of a series of festival performances for the marriage of the princess royal, he played Macbeth at Her Majesty's Theatre. Dr. Cantwell, in the ‘Hypocrite,’ was first taken 13 Oct. 1858, and on 11 Dec. Penruddock in the ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ On 14 Sept. 1859 he played for the first time Job Thornberry in ‘John Bull,’ and on 18 Oct. was the original Bertuccio in the ‘Fool's Revenge,’ Tom Taylor's adaptation of ‘Le Roi s'amuse.’ In May 1859 Phelps had made a not very successful visit to Berlin and Hamburg, where he is said to have played ‘King Lear’ to empty benches. In the spring of 1860 he appeared under Harris at the Princess's, playing a round of characters.
The following season, 1860–1 was the first of Phelps's sole management of Sadler's Wells, Greenwood, upon whose financial and business capacity Phelps had entirely relied, having retired. The season was only memorable for the appearance of his son Edmund, who played Ulric to his father's Werner. On 24 Jan. 1861 he appeared with his company at Windsor Castle in ‘Richelieu.’ At the outset of Phelps's last season (1861–2) at Sadler's Wells, he appeared in the title-rôle of an adaptation of Casimir Delavigne's ‘Louis XI.’ A piece called ‘Doing for the Best,’ in which he played Dick Stubbs, a carpenter, was a failure. But the withdrawal of Greenwood had transferred to Phelps's shoulders business responsibilities for which he was unfitted, and on 15 March 1862 his
