Attwell (Notes and Queries, 6th ser. i. 335) speaks of a portrait, presumably of her, by Romney in his possession. Genest says that the best idea of her figure, face, and manner is obtainable from a print of the trial scene in ‘Henry VIII’ published in 1819. William Combe, whom her mother in early years refused as her tutor, gives a picture of her in girlhood standing in the wings and tapping with a pair of snuffers on a candlestick to imitate the sound of a windmill.
[The principal facts concerning the life of Mrs. Siddons are given in the Memoirs of Mrs. Siddons, by James Boaden, London, 1827, 2 vols. 8vo, and 1831; Life of Mrs. Siddons, by Thomas Campbell, 1834, 2 vols. 8vo (reprinted in 1839); The Kembles, by Percy Fitzgerald, London, n.d. [1871], 2 vols. 8vo; Mrs. Siddons, by Mrs. A. Kennard, London, 1887, 8vo, in the Eminent Women series. The most trustworthy chronicle of her artistic career is derived principally from playbills furnished by Genest. Campbell's work contains her own memoranda and her letters to Whalley, giving some biographical particulars. Facts and fancies concerning her early days were assiduously collected by the writer known as Cuthbert Bede, and contributed under the title Siddoniana (sic) to a periodical called Titan, for August 1857, and to Notes and Queries (see specially 7th ser. vi. 241–3). In addition to those named, the following works concern Mrs. Siddons's career: A Review of Mrs. Crawford and Mrs. Siddons in the Character of Belvidera, 1782; Verses addressed to Mrs. Siddons by the Rev. Mr. Whalley, London, 1782, 4to; The Beauties of Mrs. Siddons … in Letters from a Lady of Distinction to her Friend in the Country, London, 1786, 8vo; Critique on the Theatrical Performances of Mrs. Siddons, Edinburgh, 1788, 4to; Edwin's Pills to Purge Melancholy … with a humorous account of Mrs. Siddons's first reception in London; Ballantyne's Dramatic Characters of Mrs. Siddons, 1812 (reprinted by the author at her request); Dibdin's Hist. of the Scottish Stage; Wheatley and Cunningham's London Past and Present; Tate Wilkinson's Memoirs; Masson's De Quincey, 1889, ii. 446–454; Memoirs of Charles Lee Lewes; Monthly Mirror and the Theatrical Inquisitor, various years; Lockhart's Life of Scott; Walpole's Letters; Boswell's Johnson, ed. Hill; Stanley's Westminster Abbey; Marshall's Cat. of Engraved National Portraits, 1895; Smith's Cat. of Engraved Portraits; Catalogue of Mathews Collection; Clark Russell's Representative Actors; Lowe's Bibliographical Account of English Theatrical Literature; Hazlitt's Dramatic Essays; Leigh Hunt's Critical Essays on Acting; Dramatic Table Talk; Gilliland's Dramatic Mirror; Thespian Dictionary; Doran's Dramatic Annals, ed. Lowe; Theatrical Biography; Pollock's Macready; Notes and Queries, passim. See also articles: Kemble, Charles; Kemble, John (1599–1679); Kemble, John Philip; Kemble, Roger; Kemble, Stephen.]
SIDENHAM, CUTHBERT (1623–1651), divine. [See Sydenham.]
SIDLEY. [See also Sedley.]
SIDLEY, SAMUEL (1829–1896), portrait-painter, born in Yorkshire in 1829, first studied art in the school of art at Manchester. Subsequently he came to London and was admitted to the schools of the Royal Academy. In 1855 he exhibited for the first time at the Royal Academy, sending ‘An Ancient Mariner.’ He became chiefly known as a successful portrait-painter, and gained frequent commissions for official and presentation portraits. Among these were portraits of Professor Fawcett, Bishop Colenso (presented by his family to the National Portrait Gallery), Lady Brassey, the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham, and other persons of note. He also painted some subject pictures, of which ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ ‘The Challenge,’ and a few others, were engraved and met with some popularity. Sidley continued to paint up to the time of his death, which took place at 8 Victoria Road, Kensington, on 9 July 1896. He was a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, and an original associate of the Royal Cambrian Academy.
[Times, 10 July 1896; Graves's Dict. of Artists, 1760–1893; private information.]
SIDMOUTH, Viscount. [See Addingon, Henry, 1757–1844.]
SIDNEY or SYDNEY, ALGERNON (1622–1683), republican, second surviving son of Robert Sidney, second earl of Leicester [q. v.], by Dorothy, daughter of Henry Percy, ninth earl of Northumberland, was born in 1622 (Collins, Sidney Papers, i. 149; Ewald, Life of Algernon Sydney, i. 28). Philip Sidney, third earl of Leicester [q. v.], was his eldest brother, and Dorothy Spencer, countess of Sunderland [q. v.], Waller's ‘Saccharissa,’ was his sister. Algernon was educated at home, and accompanied his father on his embassy to Denmark in 1632, and also to Paris in 1636. His intelligence early attracted the notice of his father's friends. ‘All who come from Paris,’ wrote the Countess of Leicester on 10 Nov. 1636, ‘commend Algernon for a huge deal of wit and much sweetness of nature’ (ib. ii. 445). In 1642 the Earl of Leicester, being then lord deputy of Ireland, raised and equipped a regiment of horse, under the command of his son, Lord Lisle [see Sidney, Philip, third Earl of Leicester], for the suppression of the Irish rebellion. Algernon was captain of a troop of horse in the regiment,
