Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault /ˈdaɪˌÉ'n ˈbuË sɪˌkoÊŠ/ (né
Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 â€" 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor
and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th
century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as
one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the
English-speaking theatre. Although The New York Times hailed him in
his obituary as "the most conspicuous English dramatist of the 19th
century," he and his second wife, Agnes Robertson Boucicault, had
applied for and received American citizenship in 1873.Boucicault was
born Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot in Dublin, where he lived on
Gardiner Street. His mother was Anne Darley, sister of the poet and
mathematician George Darley. The Darleys were an important Dublin
family influential in many fields and related to the Guinnesses by
marriage. Anne was married to Samuel Smith Boursiquot, of Huguenot
ancestry, but the identity of the boy's father is uncertain. He was
probably Dionysius Lardner, a lodger at his mother's house at a time
when she was recently separated from her husband, with Lardner later
giving Dion Boucicault financial support until about 1840.In 1828,
Lardner was elected as professor of natural philosophy and astronomy
at University College, London, a position he held until he resigned in
1831. Anne Boursiquot followed him to London in 1828, taking all but
one of her children with her. Consequently, from then on Boucicault
attended various schools in and around London, about which there is a
good deal of confusion, which has been dealt with by Richard Fawkes in
a biography. For about four years, from 1829, he seems to have
attended a very small private school in Hampstead kept by a Mr Hessey,
then between 1833 and 1835 was at University College School, where he
began his friendship with Charles Kenney. He later recalled having
boarded in Euston Square with a Rev. Henry Stebbing, a historian.
There is then a gap of two years, when Fawkes believes Boucicault may
have attended Rowland Hill's Bruce Castle School, as stated in the
Dictionary of National Biography. In 1837, he was enrolled at Wyke
House, a school at Sion Hill, Brentford, kept by a Dr Alexander
Jamieson, where he appeared in a school play, in the part of Rolla in
Sheridan's Pizarro, and wrote his own first play, The Old Guard, which
was produced some years later. After that, according to some accounts
he attended a school in Dublin, before returning to London as an
apprentice civil engineer to Lardner.
Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 â€" 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor
and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th
century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as
one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the
English-speaking theatre. Although The New York Times hailed him in
his obituary as "the most conspicuous English dramatist of the 19th
century," he and his second wife, Agnes Robertson Boucicault, had
applied for and received American citizenship in 1873.Boucicault was
born Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot in Dublin, where he lived on
Gardiner Street. His mother was Anne Darley, sister of the poet and
mathematician George Darley. The Darleys were an important Dublin
family influential in many fields and related to the Guinnesses by
marriage. Anne was married to Samuel Smith Boursiquot, of Huguenot
ancestry, but the identity of the boy's father is uncertain. He was
probably Dionysius Lardner, a lodger at his mother's house at a time
when she was recently separated from her husband, with Lardner later
giving Dion Boucicault financial support until about 1840.In 1828,
Lardner was elected as professor of natural philosophy and astronomy
at University College, London, a position he held until he resigned in
1831. Anne Boursiquot followed him to London in 1828, taking all but
one of her children with her. Consequently, from then on Boucicault
attended various schools in and around London, about which there is a
good deal of confusion, which has been dealt with by Richard Fawkes in
a biography. For about four years, from 1829, he seems to have
attended a very small private school in Hampstead kept by a Mr Hessey,
then between 1833 and 1835 was at University College School, where he
began his friendship with Charles Kenney. He later recalled having
boarded in Euston Square with a Rev. Henry Stebbing, a historian.
There is then a gap of two years, when Fawkes believes Boucicault may
have attended Rowland Hill's Bruce Castle School, as stated in the
Dictionary of National Biography. In 1837, he was enrolled at Wyke
House, a school at Sion Hill, Brentford, kept by a Dr Alexander
Jamieson, where he appeared in a school play, in the part of Rolla in
Sheridan's Pizarro, and wrote his own first play, The Old Guard, which
was produced some years later. After that, according to some accounts
he attended a school in Dublin, before returning to London as an
apprentice civil engineer to Lardner.
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