F. B. Chatterton
[5] Earlier in life John Chatterton had inherited and spent a large fortune and not wanting the same thing to happen to his sons decided that at least three of them should become successful harpists.
[4] Here he presented a season, mainly of Shakespeare, by the popular actor Barry Sullivan, and staged F. C. Burnand's first major play, a burlesque called Dido, which ran for 80 performances.
[7] Frederick Chatterton then took over the management of the Theatre Royal in Rochester in Kent for the 1860–61 season but this was a financial disaster and leaving his with so little money that in January 1861 he had to walk back to London.
Despite this success in 1863 the owner of the Lyceum gave the lease to the French actor Charles Fechter and dispensed with the services of Falconer and Chatterton.
Their joint management opened on Boxing Day 1862 with the pantomime Little Goody Two-Shoes, after which they produced Falconer's play Bonnie Dundee, which proved a financial disaster.
In 1866 the partners had a disagreement, following which Falconer was declared bankrupt and Chatterton took over as sole lessee, opening on 23 September 1866 with Samuel Phelps in King John.
However, Halliday reduced the play from thirty-four scenes to twelve thus leaving out numerous characters and various plotlines which angered fans of Shakespeare and causing the production to lose between £4,000 and £5,000.
[1] Chatterton opened the 1875–6 season with the first British production of Boucicault's The Shaughraun which ran at Drury Lane from September to 18 December when it transferred to the Adelphi Theatre to make way for the pantomime Dick Whittington starring the Vokes Family.
For the 1879–80 season the Gatti Brothers made him manager of the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden but heavy snowstorms kept audiences away and the pantomime failed.
For a period he was reduced to teaching elocution and acting and gave public readings of the works of Charles Dickens, but largely he relied on benefit performances for financial support.
[1] Frederick Balsir Chatterton died of bronchitis and of 'carcinoma of glands in neck causing laryngeal obstruction' at Alpha House, Lansdowne Road in Dalston in London in February 1886 aged 52 and was buried the same month in Brompton Cemetery.
[14] His biography Shakespeare Spelt Ruin: The Life of Frederick Balsir Chatterton, Drury Lane's Last Bankrupt by Robert Whelan was published in 2019.
