The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Dampier, Alfred
Dampier, Alfred, was born in London in 1847, and educated at the Charterhouse[1]. He began his professional career at Stratford-on-Avon, and subsequently travelled with a company through the chief provincial towns of England and Scotland. In 1872, while playing in Manchester, he was engaged by Mr. H. R. Harwood, then one of the managers of the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, whither he proceeded; and in the following year made his début in Australia as Mephistopheles in his own version of Goethe's Faust. After a three years' engagement in Melbourne, during which period he appeared successfully in Hamlet, Othello, Iago, Richard III., Jaques, and other leading parts, Mr. Dampier visited Sydney, Adelaide, and New Zealand, and thence proceeded to America and London, where, at the Surrey Theatre, he produced, among other pieces, the drama All for Gold, by Mr. F. R. Hopkins, the Australian dramatist. During his various engagements in Australia, America, and England, Mr. Dampier's daughters, Rose and Lily, came into great prominence by their acting in a dramatic version of Helen's Babie's written by Mr. Garnet Walch, of Melbourne. Mr. Dampier returned to Australia, and became lessee of the Alexandra Theatre, which he rechristened the Australian, and there produced with great success a drama founded on Rolf Boldrewood's "Robbery under Arms," written by Mr. Garnet Walch and himself, and in which he appeared as the hero, Captain Starlight. In 1868 Mr. Dampier married Katherine Alice, daughter of T. H. Russell, of Birmingham.
- ↑ To note that this education is not reflected in List of Carthusians, 1800–1879/D (Wikisource contributor note)