Men of the Time, eleventh edition/Byron, Henry James
BYRON, Henry James, dramatist and actor, son of Henry Byron, Esq., British Consul at Port-au-Prince, Hayti, is a native of Manchester, and completed his education in London. He is well known to the play-going public as one of the most skilful and prolific writers of burlesque extravaganzas. His earliest effort in this line, "Fra Diavolo," produced at the Strand Theatre on the first night of Miss Swanborough's season in 1858, was speedily followed by several successful pieces; amongst which may be mentioned the "Maid and Magpie," "Aladdin," "Esmeralda," "The Lady of Lyons," and "Grin Bushes;" two farces, and a comedy entitled "The Old Story." Other theatres competed for his burlesques, and for the Adelphi he wrote the "Babes in the Wood." "Ill-treated Il Trovatore;" for the Olympic, "Mazeppa Travestie;" for Drury Lane, "Miss Eily O'Connor;" and for the Princess's, "Jack the Giant-Killer," and other pantomimes. At the Haymarket, amongst other pieces, was produced his "Dundreary Married and Done for;" at the Prince of Wales's, "La Sonnambula Travestie," "Lucia di Lammermoor," "Little Don Giovanni," "Der Freischutz," and original comedies, "War to the Knife" and "A Hundred Thousand Pounds." Mr. Byron has contributed extensively to periodical literature, was the first editor of Fun, and is the author of a three-volume novel—"Paid in Full," originally published in Temple Bar. He made his first appearance in London as an actor at the Globe Theatre in his own drama of "Not Such a Fool as he Looks," Oct. 23, 1869. Among his later pieces are, "An American Lady," a comedy in three acts, produced at the opening of the Criterion Theatre, March 21, 1874; "Old Sailors," a comedy, brought out at the Strand later in the same year; and "Our Boys," which was played for the 1150th time at the Vaudeville Theatre on Aug. 9, 1878. Mr. Byron is a member of the Middle Temple.