# John Courtney (playwright)

John Courtney (1804–1865) was a Victorian playwright, dramatic actor, and comedian. Courtney was the stage name of John Fuller. He wrote over 60 plays, including the popular dramas Time Tries All first performed in 1848, which attained great success around the UK and also in the US from the 1850s to at least the 1880s, and Eustice Baudin (1854), which attained even greater success in the USA through to at least the 1890s. He wrote the first theatrical adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre (1848) which was rediscovered in 2009. One of his early acting performances was in 1829 as Colonel Freelove in The Day after the Wedding or A Wife's First Lesson adapted by Maria Theresa Kemble from the original French comedy.

## Life and work

John Courtney was born at St James’s, Westminster on 29 August 1804 as John Fuller but when he became an actor he wished to be known as John Courtney and this was the name he used throughout his life. His death certificate records him as "John Fuller otherwise Courtney" and his descendants have all been Courtneys. He worked as an actor on the London stage between 1829 and 1862. In 1848 Courtney wrote a stage adaptation of Jane Eyre titled Jane Eyre or The Secrets of Thornfield Manor, which was shown at the Victoria Theatre. In 1850 he was employed as a "stock author" for £2 per week by Mr Shepherd of the Surrey Theatre. In 1852 he received expenses for a visit to Paris for the sole purpose of spotting suitable plays for adaptation, for example Old Joe and Young Joe. According to The Era, the dramatic and music hall newspaper of the time:
   he was originally intended for a commercial life, but his love for the Drama speedily changed the directions of his pursuits. For some years he was a light comedian at the Birmingham and other country Theatres, and in 1840 he was engaged by Mr Rouse at the Grecian Saloon. Though he never entirely gave up the Stage as a profession, having been a member of the Haymarket company up to the time of his decease, it will as an industrious playwright for the minor Theatres that his name will be most familiar to the public. For the Surrey and Victoria Theatres he wrote a considerable number of pieces, and his very interesting and original drama of Time Tries All, produced at the Olympic Theatre in 1849, remains one of the most popular products of his industrious pen.
He died on February 17, 1865, at Camberwell and is buried at Camberwell Old Cemetery, London.

## Personal life

Courtney married Elizabeth Ann Norman (b. 1821), with whom he had several children: John Fuller Courtney (b. 1847), Albert Fuller Courtney (1851-1907), Rose Helena Courtney (b. 1857), Louise Marian Courtney (b. 1859), Emily Courtney (b. 1860), Clara Courtney (b. 1862), and Alice Courtney (b. 1863).

## Stage performances

Source:
John Courtney appeared on stage as Colonel Freelove in 1829 in the comedy The Day after the Wedding, or A Wife's First Lesson by Maria Theresa Kemble. He played Thames Darrell (1840) in Jack Sheppard a play by John Buckstone based on the novel of the same name by William Harrison Ainsworth first performed at the Adelphi Theatre in 1839. It was a historical romance and a Newgate novel based on the real life of the 18th-century criminal Jack Sheppard. He played Julio in the William Macready production of Othello at the Italian Opera House, Paris in December 1844. He played Sir Agrovaine in The Three Perils of Man by James Hogg at the Surrey Theatre in 1852. He played Gaylove in The Hunchback by James Sheridan Knowles at Windsor Castle attended by Queen Victoria and Lord Palmerston, Prime Minister on 11 January 1860. He also played this part at the performances at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket 13–15 February 1860. He played Captain Peppercoat in The Flying Dutchman and appeared in performances of Macbeth and the Corsicans.

## Plays written by John Courtney

| Type | Title | Where first performed |
| Drama | The Spirit of the Fountain | Princess's Theatre 1843 |
| Farce | Bounce or The Ojibbeway Indians or American Indians | Princess's Theatre Feb 1844 |
| Farce | Aged Forty | Princess's Theatre Feb 1844 |
| Farce | Taken by Surprise | Princess's Theatre June 1844 |
| Drama | Vanity | The Grecian Theatre 1844 |
| Drama | The Sisters of Chatillon or A Father's Retribution | Surrey Theatre Nov 1844 |
| Drama | The Bride's Journey or The Escapes of Adelaide of Dresden | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) Apr 1846 |
| Drama | The Day Dream or The Heart's Ordeal | City of London Theatre, Bishopsgate Aug 1846 |
| Drama | Clarissa Harlowe | Princess's Theatre Sept 1846 |
| Drama | The Marchioness of Brinvilliers | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) 1846 |
| Drama | The Cook of Kennington or No Followers Allowed | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) 1846 |
| Drama | The Gunsmith of Orleans or The Dead Woman's Secret | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) Jan 1847 |
| Drama | The Ship Boy or The White Slave of Guadaloupe | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) 1847 |
| Drama | The Lighterman of Bankside or The Orphan of Bermondsey | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) Jan 1848 |
| Drama | Jane Eyre or The Secrets of Thornfield Manor | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) Jan 1848 |
| Drama | Jack Frock | City of London Theatre, Bishopsgate Feb 1848 |
| Drama | Rose Clinton or The Victim of Circumstantial Evidence | Britannia Theatre, Hoxton Apr 1848 |
| Drama | The Broken Home or The Artisan's Daughter | Britannia Theatre, Hoxton 1848 |
| Drama | The Road to Transportation | Britannia Theatre, Hoxton 1848 |
| Drama | The Blacksmith of Ghent | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) Jun 1848 |
| Drama | Leah and Nathan or Leah, the Jewess of Constantina or The Arab's Sacrifice | City of London Theatre, Bishopsgate Jun 1848 |
| Drama | Marion Hazelton or The Child of the Wronged | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) June 1848 |
| Drama | Time Tries All | Olympic Theatre Sep 1848 |
| Drama | Frank Wildeye or The Spendthrift Husband | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) 1848 |
| Drama | The Green Hills of Surrey | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) Jan 1849 |
| Drama | The Heir of Ashmore or Time's Story | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) Feb 1849 |
| Drama | The Maid of Velitri or The Last Deed of Garboni | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) Apr 1849 |
| Drama | The Outcast of Lausanne or Claudine of Switzerland, The Wanderer of the Jura | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) May 1849 |
| Pictorial Drama | The Soldier's Progress or The Horrors of War | Royal Victoria Theatre (The Old Vic) Nov 1849 |
| Drama | Hearts at Fault or The Heart Test | Surrey Theatre Mar 1850 |
| Farce | The Two Polts | Surrey Theatre Nov 1850 |
| Drama | Belphegor the Itinerant | Surrey Theatre Jan 1851 |
| Drama | The World's Games or High and Low | Surrey Theatre May 1851 |
| Drama | Living in Glass Houses | Surrey Theatre May 1851 |
| Drama | Roland the Rider | Surrey Theatre Jun 1851 |
| Drama | The Magic of Life | Surrey Theatre Jun 1851 |
| Drama | The Chateau of Valenza | Olympic Theatre Jul 1851 |
| Farce | The Two Bloomers | Surrey Theatre Oct 1851 |
| Operetta | The Charmed Harp | Surrey Theatre Aug 1852 |
| Farce | Going to Cremorne | Surrey Theatre Oct 1852 |
| Drama | Life Seasons or Hearts and Homes | Surrey Theatre Oct 1852 |
| Drama | Off to the Diggings | Surrey Theatre Oct 1852 |
| Drama | Uncle Tom's Cabin | Surrey Theatre Nov 1852 |
| Drama | The Marriage Day or The Life Chase | Surrey Theatre Nov 1852 |
| Drama | The Gamblers Wife | Surrey Theatre Oct 1853 |
| Drama | Old Joe and Young Joe or The Martini Family | Surrey Theatre Oct 1853 |
| Pantomime | The Vale of Gem or Harlequin; Sinbad the Sailor or The Fairy of the Coral Grot | Royal Adelphi Theatre, Liverpool Dec 1853 |
| Drama | Eustace or Eustace Baudin | Surrey Theatre Jan 1854 |
| Drama | The Sultan and the Czar | Surrey Theatre Apr 1854 |
| Drama | Deeds, not Words or The Drooping Flower! | Surrey Theatre Jan 1855 |
| Comedy | Tricks and Trials | Queen's Theatre, Manchester Mar 1856 |
| Comedy | Double Faced People | Theatre Royal, Haymarket Feb 1857 |
| Comedy Drama | A Wicked Wife | Theatre Royal, Haymarket Feb 1857 |
| Drama | The One Word or Pride and Honour | Surrey Theatre Jan 1858 |
| Drama | The Three Thieves of Bucklesbury | City of London Theatre, Bishopsgate Oct 1859 |
| Drama | The Students or Sorry | Surrey Theatre Feb 1861 |
| Drama | Battle with the World | City of London Theatre, Bishopsgate Nov 1861 |
| Drama | The Roman Nose | City of London Theatre, Bishopsgate Jul 1863 |