Towards the end of her career she played alongside Sir Henry Irving and Dame Ellen Terry at the Lyceum Theatre, London, but it was Alice Marriott who "made the female Hamlet respectable in England.

Her parents were James Henry Marriott (c. 1800 – 25 August 1886), a London, England-born New Zealand theatre manager, actor, entertainer, dramatist, songwriter, engraver, optician and bookseller[3][4] and his wife, Sarah.

[7][8][9] During the 1860s, after living for ten years in New Zealand, James Henry Marriott returned to visit his daughter Alice while she was co-manager of Sadler's Wells.

In fact she did everything about the theatre, even to counting out the salaries on Saturdays ... She made a great deal of money and would have been wealthy had she not married Robert Edgar, who was convinced that he knew the best way to invest it.

He was born in Scotland,[24] the son of Richard Horatio Marriott Edgar, and he was the dramatic author who wrote the comic monologue, The Lion and Albert for Stanley Holloway.

She first performed at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, until asked at short notice to take the part of Biddy Nuts in Wreck Ashore by Buckstone.

[8] In December 1858 she performed in Pauline, or Three Murderers of De Burcy, and in Jane Brightwell, or The Beggar's Petition at the Royal Adelphi, Sheffield.

[27] For the winter season beginning September 1864, her improvements included providing chairs for the dress circle and allowing women to wear bonnets in the pit-stalls.

[7] On 15 January 1870 Marriott appeared at Sadler's Wells (now leased by Mr Pennington) as Julia, in The Hunchback, and she performed in The Lady of Lyons and Fazio there in the same week.

Other Women in Black who played the part in the 19th century were Winetta Montague, Clare Howard, Louise Pomeroy, Charlotte Compton, Millicent Bandmann-Palmer, Julia Seaman and Oliph Webb, to name a few.

The theatre advertised that "medieval documents, weapons and architecture have been copied with exactness ... the result of long and anxious deliberation on the subject, assisted by such evidence as may be deemed authentic."

[1][43] The Brooklyn Daily Eagle noted that she was received politely and appeared to be a rather traditional actress, if not old-fashioned, although she performed "intelligently and well."

On the other hand, she had "a tall commanding figure and, in this role, a fine manly bearing, and she took the part of a youthful prince to perfection ... She (had) a rich deep toned voice, and her elocution (was) admirable.

In May 1869 Alice Marriott became "seriously ill in New York, and (was) prevented from acting," then Robert Edgar "broke a blood vessel, and (was) also laid up for some time.

A few days later, Edgar bemusedly sent his denial from the Rochester Theatre, New York, where Alice Marriott was starring in Hamlet and Jeanie Deans.

The Americans are capricious, and their taste has been vitiated by burlesque and sensation even to a greater extent than that of English audiences, and the reception accorded the lady was not such as her abilities deserved.

[47]Possibly partly in response to the pending Court case against him about non-payment of beer money, Edgar returned to London in August 1869 to "open Sadler's Wells for the forthcoming winter season," while Alice Marriot remained in America, "to fulfil her engagements.

[49] In December of the same year, there was another Court case in London concerning a committee's non-payment to the sculptor who had been commissioned to produce a marble bust of Alice Marriott.

[51] By order of the Court, the sculpture was paid for, Robert Edgar promising to contribute half the cost, but its present whereabouts is unknown.

He quotes reviews of her 1859 tour: "She has made it a creation - a thing of beauty," and "As regards Miss Marriott's portrayal of the young prince, I would almost be induced to say it was perfect."

"[60] The New Zealand Railways Magazine (1939) described her thus: "A rather masculine woman, with a fine presence and considerable talent, a beautiful voice and a phenomenal memory, she was playing for over forty years, and she had an enormous repertoire of long and difficult roles.

"[10] "An actress of the old school, Miss Marriott was well known to Scottish audiences, her impersonation of the title role of Jeanie Deans being famous.

Among her last appearances in the north - about the end of September 1892 - she delighted large audiences by her delineation of the role of Helen Macgregor in Rob Roy.