Thomas Doggett (or Dogget) (c. 1640 â€" 20 September 1721) was an
Irish actor. The birth date of 1640 seems unlikely. A more probable
date of 1670 is given in the Encyclopædia Britannica.Doggett was born
in Dublin, and made his first stage appearance in London in 1691 as
Nincompoop in Thomas D'Urfey's Love for Money. In this part, and as
Solon in the same author's Marriage-Hater Matched, he became popular.
He followed Betterton to Lincoln's Inn Fields, creating the part of
Ben, specially written for him, in William Congreve's Love for Love,
with which the theatre opened (1695); and the following year played
Young Hobb in his own play, The Country Wake. He was associated with
Colley Cibber and others in the management of the Theatre Royal,
Haymarket, and Drury Lane, and he continued to play comedy parts at
the former until his retirement in 1713. Doggett is highly spoken of
by his contemporaries, both as an actor and as a man, and is
frequently referred to in the Tatler and The Spectator.Thomas Doggett
is buried in the churchyard of St Johns Church in Eltham High Street,
SE9 and there is a plaque on the outside of the church in his memory,
which states that Doggett died a "pauper".In 1715 Doggett founded the
prize of Doggett's Coat and Badge in honour of the House of Hanover,
in commemoration of King George I of Great Britain's accession to the
Throne on 1 August 1714. The winner's prize is a traditional
watermen's orange coat with a silver badge added to the sleeve,
displaying the white horse of the House of Hanover and Brunswick, with
the word "Liberty". The race had to be rowed annually on August first
on the River Thames, by six young watermen who were not to have
exceeded the time of their apprenticeship by twelve months. By 1864
the race report comments: .mw-parser-output
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40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote
.templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}
Irish actor. The birth date of 1640 seems unlikely. A more probable
date of 1670 is given in the Encyclopædia Britannica.Doggett was born
in Dublin, and made his first stage appearance in London in 1691 as
Nincompoop in Thomas D'Urfey's Love for Money. In this part, and as
Solon in the same author's Marriage-Hater Matched, he became popular.
He followed Betterton to Lincoln's Inn Fields, creating the part of
Ben, specially written for him, in William Congreve's Love for Love,
with which the theatre opened (1695); and the following year played
Young Hobb in his own play, The Country Wake. He was associated with
Colley Cibber and others in the management of the Theatre Royal,
Haymarket, and Drury Lane, and he continued to play comedy parts at
the former until his retirement in 1713. Doggett is highly spoken of
by his contemporaries, both as an actor and as a man, and is
frequently referred to in the Tatler and The Spectator.Thomas Doggett
is buried in the churchyard of St Johns Church in Eltham High Street,
SE9 and there is a plaque on the outside of the church in his memory,
which states that Doggett died a "pauper".In 1715 Doggett founded the
prize of Doggett's Coat and Badge in honour of the House of Hanover,
in commemoration of King George I of Great Britain's accession to the
Throne on 1 August 1714. The winner's prize is a traditional
watermen's orange coat with a silver badge added to the sleeve,
displaying the white horse of the House of Hanover and Brunswick, with
the word "Liberty". The race had to be rowed annually on August first
on the River Thames, by six young watermen who were not to have
exceeded the time of their apprenticeship by twelve months. By 1864
the race report comments: .mw-parser-output
.templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0
40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote
.templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}
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