Table Of ContentPage i
A Biographical Dictionary of Actors,
Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers &
title:
Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-
1800. Vol. 13, Roach to Siddons
Highfill, Philip H.; Burnim, Kalman A.;
author:
Langhans, Edward A.
publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0809315254
print isbn13: 9780809315253
ebook isbn13: 9780585031545
language: English
Performing arts--England--London--
Biography--Dictionaries, Actors--England--
London--Biography--Dictionaries,
subject
Theatrical managers--England--London--
Biography--Dictionaries, London
(England)--Biography--Dictionaries.
publication date: 1991
lcc: PN2597.H54 1991eb
ddc: 790.2/092
Performing arts--England--London--
Biography--Dictionaries, Actors--England--
London--Biography--Dictionaries,
subject:
Theatrical managers--England--London--
Biography--Dictionaries, London
(England)--Biography--Dictionaries.
Page ii
By permission of the Trustees, The Wallace Collection, London
MARY ROBINSON
by Reynolds
Page iii
A Biographical Dictionary Of Actors, Actresses,
Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage
Personnel In London, 16601800
Volume 13: Roach to H. Siddons
by PHILIP H. HIGHFILL, JR., KALMAN A. BURNIM and
EDWARD A. LANGHANS
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY PRESS
CARBONDALE AND EDWARDSVILLE
Page iv
Copyright © 1991 by the Board of Trustees, Southern Illinois
University
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Designed by Andor Braun and George Lenox
Publication of this work was made possible in part through a grant
from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
(Revised for vol. 13)
Highfill, Philip H.
A biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, musicians, dancers,
managers & other stage personnel in London, 16601800.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Performing artsEnglandLondonBiographyDictionaries. 2. Actors
EnglandLondonBiographDictionaries. 3. Theatrical managersEngland
LondonBiographyDictionaries. 4. London
(England)BiographyDictionaries.
I. Burnim, Kalman A., joint author. II. Langhans, Edward A., joint
author. III. Title.
PN2597.H5 790.2'092'2 {B} 71157068
ISBN 0809315254
Volume 13 Roach to H. Siddons
Page 1
Roach or Roachly, Mrs. See ROCHE, MRS .
Road, Mr [fl. 1768], house servant?
Testimony given in connection with a suit against George Colman
named a Mr Road who, with a Mr Stevenson, threatened the manager
Harris with bludgeons when he tried to enter Covent Garden Theatre
in August 1768.
Roan, Mr [fl. 1732], actor.
Master Roan played Lorenzo in The Cobler of Preston's Opera in
February 1732 with Mme Violante's company of youthful actors at the
playhouse in Dame Street, Dublin. The following 4 September 1732 at
the Haymarket Theatre in London Mme Violante's company presented
The Beggar's Opera with Mr Roan (presumably the same young man)
as Filch.
Robbins. See ROBINS .
Robert. See also ROBERTS .
Robert, Mrs [fl. 1700], singer.
According to the Catalogue of Printed Music in the British Museum,
the song Phillis would her charms improve, published about 1700,
was sung by a Mrs Robert "at the Consort in Charles Street Covent
Garden and at the Consort in York-Buildings."
Robert, Anthony c. 15971679, lutanist, singer.
Born about 1597, the Frenchman Anthony Robert (or Roberts) was
appointed a musician in ordinary in the King's Musick on 18
December 1626 and was granted an annual livery of £16 2s. 6d. He
was listed among the lutes and voices. In July 1632 Robert was
granted £15 for a new theorbo (double-necked lute). He later claimed
to have served Henrietta Maria, consort of Charles I, at her Catholic
Chapel at Somerset House for 40 years; his service with her
presumably began in 1629 and continued to her death in 1669. He
became leader of her band of musicians, according to Harley in Music
in Purcell's London, and it is probable that he accompanied her on at
least some of her journeys over the years.
Robert was reappointed to the King's Musick at the Restoration; a
warrant of 1661 noted that he was a singer. That same year he was
petitioned against by John Troutbeck for a debt of £500a considerable
sum in those days. On 4 November 1662 Anthony Robert's son Henry
was admitted to the King's musical establishment but remained
without a salary until his father died and his post became vacant. That
arrangement suggests that in 1662 the elder Robert may have been in
poor health. If so, he recovered and continued active in the King's
Musick (and at Somerset House, apparently) for many years.
His salary at court was £40 annually, but it was seldom paid on
schedule. In March 1666, for example, Robert was still waiting for his
fees from 1660, 1661, and 1662; in 1671 he had not yet been paid for
1669 and 1670; and in 1675 he had not received his 1671 livery
allowance. The Robert who sang in the court masque Calisto on 15
February 1675 was presumably Anthony.
The Lord Chamberlain's accounts tell us that Anthony Robert died on
9 May 1679; he was replaced in the King's Musick not by his son but
by John Abell on 5 June. Robert had written his will on 24 June 1677,
at which time he gave his age as "ffourscore yeares" and said he was a
"musick-mast.e dwelling in this citty of London. " The will, written in
French, was transcribed by a notary public. Robert requested burial in
Somerset Chapel, where, he said, he had served the deceased
Henrietta Maria as music master for 40 years. He left everything to his
wife, Ann Basilo (or Basile), asking her to serve as his executrix and
arrange for masses to be said so that he would "not be seperated
neither in life or death'' from the Catholic Church. He admonished his
children (unnamed) to respect their mother and live in "a perfect union
and intelligence," and he denied rights in his estate to ''any of my
children." In 1683 Mrs Robert was still waiting for her husband's
livery payments for the period 16761678. Their son Anthony joined
the King's Musick in 1689.
Robert, Anthony [fl. 16891702], singer.
Anthony Robert, the son of Anthony Robert (c. 15971679), was
appointed a singer in the King's Musick on 16 July 1689. He may
have accompanied William III on a trip to the
Page 2
Hague in January 1691. An odd warrant in the Lord Chamberlain's
accounts, dated 26 February 1697, stated that Robert was to be
appointed a musician without fee; possibly he was granted a second
post. He was still singing at court in April 1702.
Robert, Henry [fl. 1662], musician.
Henry Robert (or Roberts) was admitted to the King's Musick on 4
November 1662 as a musician in ordinary for the lute, viol, and voice,
but he was not to have a salary until the death of his father Anthony.
Perhaps the elder Robert was ill at the time, but he lived on to 1679.
Robert, William [fl. 16991714?], singer.
A Lord Chamberlain's warrant dated 24 April 1699 directed that
clothing for William Robert, a former Chapel boy whose voice had
broken, was to be provided John Blow, the Master of the Children of
the Chapel Royal. Robert may have been the "Roberts" who was a
member of the King's Musick in 1714. Perhaps he was related to the
court musician Anthony Robert (fl. 16891702), or perhaps he should
be identified as the son of the composer William Robart.
Roberti. See ROBERTS, MR [fl. 17341740].
Roberto, Signor, called "Presto Truffarello" [fl. 1727], conjuror.
On 23 December 1727 the Craftsman announced that Signor Roberto,
called "Presto Truffarello," had lately arrived from Italy and would
exhibit at a room in Westminster. He did tricks with cards, cups, and
balls, and brought with him a posture maker, a tumbler, and a rope
dancer. They were scheduled to perform every day after Christmas
except Sundays and holidays, but how long they stayed is not known.
Roberts, Mr [fl. 17341740], dancer.
If we have correctly identified the performers named Roberts in the
