Edwin, John

1749

1790

John Edwin, one of England’s busiest actors during the eighteenth century, was born on 10 August 1749 in Clare Market, St Clement Danes. He was the son of the watchmaker John Edwin. His mother Hannah was the daughter of the sculptor Henry Brogden. One of John’s sisters, Elizabeth, acted in London in the late 1780s. As a lad John Edwin gave declamations at local ‘spouting clubs’ and taverns and captured the attention of several theatrical people, including the great comedian Ned Shuter and the managers Francis Waldron and John Lee. He obtained an engagement at Manchester in the summer of 1765 and then at Smock Alley, Dublin, that autumn. After another 11 years bouncing round in the provinces, Edwin made his first London appearance at the Haymarket on 19 June 1776 in an unspecified role in “The Cozeners”. While playing some years at Bath in winters and at the Haymarket in summers, he added to his repertoire such parts as Launcelot in “The Merchant of Venice”, the title role in “Midas”, Wingrave in Colman’s “The Suicide”, Justice Woodcock in “Love in a Village” (G0182) and Jerry Sneak in “The Mayor of Garratt”. For his first appearance at Covent Garden on 24 September 1779 he played Touchstone in “As You Like It”. In the 1780s at Covent Garden and the Haymarket this busy comedian acted at least 130 different parts, until worn down by overwork and overdrinking he died on 30 October 1790 at the age of 41 and was buried at St Paul, Covent Garden, between Dr Arne and Ned Shuter. He was a talented and creative comic actor. He had a face that enabled him to be irresistibly funny. His style of singing produced roars of laughter. Edwin was celebrated for his occasional songs ‘in character,’ and several collections of anecdotes, including “Edwin’s Jests” and “Edwin’s Pills to Purge Melancholy”, were published. Edwin lived for some 20 years with his common law wife Sarah Walmsley, who acted in London as Mrs Edwin. Their uneasy relationship produced four sons and a daughter, including John Edwin ‘the younger’ (1769-1805), who was a fine comic actor during the last years of the eighteenth century and was much esteemed by the public. The younger Edwin married Elizabeth Richards, an actress who is noticed below as Elizabeth Rebecca Edwin (1771?-1854). In addition to the six portraits of the elder John Edwin in the Garrick Club, the BDA lists another 25 pictures of him. G0186 attributed to Roberts in PGC is now credited to C. R. Ryley and shows Edwin as Jerry Blackacre in “The Plain Dealer”. Similarly, G0187 is also by Ryley and shows Edwin as Croaker in “The Good Natured Man”.