John Henry Johnstone
John Henry Johnstone (1749–1828) was an Irish actor and singer.
Life
Johnstone was probably born on 1 August 1749, in the horse-barracks in Kilkenny, where his father, a quartermaster in a dragoon regiment, was then quartered. He joined a cavalry regiment, and won some reputation among his comrades for his sweet tenor voice. It is said that on his discharge his colonel recommended him for his singing in a letter to Thomas Ryder, manager of the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. Here in any case Johnstone made his first stage appearance, about 1773, as Lionel in Lionel and Clarissa (Charles Dibdin and Isaac Bickerstaffe). He was engaged for three years, and remained from seven to ten years on the Irish stage, singing principal tenor parts.[1]
The London stage
On the recommendation of Charles Macklin, Johnstone and his wife were engaged by Thomas Harris at Covent Garden Theatre for three years, and Johnstone was well received on his début as Lionel on 2 October 1783. From 1783 to 1803 he remained at Covent Garden, with an occasional summer season at the Haymarket Theatre.[2] His singing voice did not wear well, and he gradually abandoned operatic parts.[1]
He became known as "Irish Johnstone". In 1803 he visited Dublin, and was welcomed as a representative of authentic Irishmen on the stage, such as Sir Callaghan O'Brallaghan in Macklin's Love à-la-Mode.[1]
Johnstone joined Joseph George Holman's protest against the new regulations at Covent Garden Theatre, and accepted an engagement at Drury Lane in 1803. He appeared for the first time onstage there on 20 September 1803 as Murtoch Delany (Irishman in London), and acted there for the rest of his career, though a returned to Covent Garden as Sir Callaghan on the occasion of Charles Mathews's benefit, 8 June 1814, and again in 1820.[1]
Last years
At Covent Garden Johnstone's benefit and last appearance (as Brulgruddery) took place on 28 June 1820. He bade farewell to the stage at Liverpool in August, but appeared once again at a charity performance at Drury Lane on 18 May 1822.[1]
Johnstone died at his house in Tavistock Row, Covent Garden, on 26 December 1828, and was buried in a vault in the eastern angle of St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden.[1]
Family
Johnstone married, first, Ann Maria, the daughter of Colonel Poitier, governor of Kilmainham gaol; she was an operatic singer, and instructed him in music, but they separated a few months after marriage. For a time Sarah Maria Wilson was his mistress. Secondly, he married Ann Bolton, the daughter of a wine merchant, with whom he eloped. Their only daughter became Susan Wallack (died 1851) on marrying James William Wallack, and to her children Johnstone left the bulk of his property (£12,000) in trust. Her eldest son was John Johnstone Wallack.[1][3]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6
Lee, Sidney, ed. (1892). "Johnstone, John Henry". Dictionary of National Biography 30. London: Smith, Elder & Co. - ↑ He sang in the parts of Inkle (Inkle and Yarico), Captain O'Donel (The Woodman, by Henry Bate Dudley), Macheath (Beggar's Opera, and once as Lucy at the Haymarket, when the male and female parts were reversed), and took other operatic first tenor parts, besides Irish characters in both comedy and opera, like Sir Lucius O'Trigger in The Rivals, Major O'Flaherty (The West Indian), Brulgruddery (John Bull by George Colman the younger), and Teague (The Committee, by Sir Robert Howard).
- ↑ Reynolds, K. D. "Johnstone, John Henry". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14969. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1892). "Johnstone, John Henry". Dictionary of National Biography 30. London: Smith, Elder & Co.