John Baldwin Buckstone

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John Baldwin Buckstone (September 14, 1802 - October 31, 1879) was an English playwright and comedian who wrote 150 plays, the first of which was produced in 1826. From 1853 to 1856 he managed the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Born in Hoxton, London, he was articled to a solicitor, but soon exchanged the law for the stage. After some years as a provincial actor he made his first London appearance, on January 30, 1823, at the Surrey Theatre, as Ramsay in The Fortunes of Nigel. His success led to his engagement in 1827 at the Adelphi, where he remained as leading low comedian until 1833. At the Haymarket, which he joined for summer seasons in 1833, and of which he was lessee from 1853 to 1878, he appeared as Bobby Trot in his own Luke the Labourer; and here were produced a number of his plays and farces.

After his return from a visit to the United States in 1840 he played at several London theatres, among them the Lyceum, where he was Box at the first representation of Box and Cox [1]. As manager of the Haymarket he surrounded himself with an admirable company, including Sothern and the Kendals. He produced the plays of Gilbert, Planche, Tom Taylor and Robertson, as well as his own, and in most of these he acted. He was the author of 150 plays, some of which have been very popular. For many years he was closely associated with leading actress Fanny Fitzwilliam (nee Copeland), who he was engaged to marry in 1854. She died of cholera a month before the wedding and Buckstone married Fanny's sister Isabella Copeland. His daughter, Lucy Isabella Buckstone (1858-1893), was also an actress.