James Roland MacLaren

The family later moved to Liverpool, where James Roland MacLaren first took to the stage, appearing second to Barry Sullivan, the well known Victorian actor.

[2] It was here with MacLaren that the actor Sir Henry Irving made his first stage appearances before moving to London where he later became famous as the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Count Dracula.

[3][4] For some thirty years MacLaren was renowned in the north east of England as an actor in stock companies, a noted recitalist and a playwright.

[6] In part through popularity of the play which toured England in 1879, the actions of Crawford became more widely recognised and a statue of him was built almost 60 years after his death in Mowbray Park.

Commemorative mugs and earthenware fired at Balls Pottery Sunderland in 1890 were inscribed with verse from the play:[7] Notable actors in the Royal Lyceum Theatre production of 1879 included: James Roland MacLaren married the singer Isabella Carr (1848–1928) in 1868 with whom he had eight children.