Sir William Don, 7th Baronet

[2] Sir William was then compelled to turn to account the experience which he had acquired as an amateur actor, and after a short starring engagement in the north of England, he went to America, where he made his first public appearance as "John Duck" in the Jacobite at the [Old] Broadway Theatre, New York, on 27 October 1850.

[4] Sir William remained in America for nearly five years, playing with success in New York, Philadelphia, and other large towns, and on his return to England found that after all his affairs had been wound up he was still in debt about £7,000.

At this period he had taken to playing female characters in burlesques, and he appeared at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, in Valentine and Orson and in a travestie in The Colleen Bawn called "Eily O'Connor".

He possessed a fine sense of humour, a quick perception of the ludicrous side of life and character, a remarkable talent for mimicry, a strong nerve, a ready wit, and great self-possession.

[5] In 1867 she went to the United States, where she made her appearance on 18 February at the New York Theatre in Peggy Green and the burlesque of Kenilworth, and on the close of the season returned to her native country.