# The Strand Magazine/Volume 3/Issue 16/Portraits of Celebrities

W. S. Penley; Charles François Gounod; Lyon Playfair; J. E. Muddock; Helen Mathers; F. C. Burnand
Layout 4
Portraits of Celebrities at Different Times of their Lives.
W. S. PENLEY.
Born 1852.
| Age 4 Months. From a Photo. by Denenlain & Blake. | Age 32. From a Photograph. [AS 'ROBERT SPALDING' IN "THE PRIVATE SECRETARY."] |
| Age 26. From a Photo. by Bertin, Brighton. | Present Day. From a Photo. by Warwick Brookes, Manchester. |
R. WM. SIDNEY PENLEY was born at Grove House Academy, St. Peter's, near Margate, a school kept by his father, who soon afterwards removed to Charles-street, Westminster. The boy at the age of seven was a singer in the choir of St. John the Evangelist, Westminster, and in later years was principal bass in Bedford Chapel, Bloomsbury. He began his stage career in the burlesque of "Zampa" under Miss Litton, at the Royal Comedy Theatre; since which time his name has been a house-hold word, especially in connection with the immortal "Private Secretary."
CHARLES FRANÇOIS GOUNOD.
Born 1818.
| Age 17. From a Drawing by Ingres. | Age 51. From a Photo. by Petit, Paris. |
| Age 42. From a Photo. by Petit, Paris. | Age 73. From a Photo. by Nadars, Paris. |
ONS. GOUNOD was born at Paris, and educated in music at the Conservatoire under Halévy and Zimmermann. Our first portrait represents him in his student days. At twenty-two he was appointed organist at a church in Paris, for which he wrote several masses. At the age of twenty-nine he married the daughter of Zimmermann. His first opera, "Sapho," was produced in 1851, with some success; but it was not until 1859, when he was forty-one, that he suddenly attained to world-wide fame and popularity with the well-known opera of "Faust," the melody and tenderness of which quite took the world of music by surprise. His two most important works since that time are the opera of "Romeo et Juliette" and the oratorios of the "Redemption" and "Mors et Vita."
SIR LYON PLAYFAIR.
Born 1819.
| Age 30. From a Photo. by Thomas Roger, St. Andrews. | Age 55. From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry. |
Age 71. From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry.
HE RIGHT HON. SIR LYON PLAYFAIR, K.C.B., LL.D., F.R.S., the son of the late Dr. George Playfair, Inspector-General of Hospitals in Bengal, was educated at the Universities of St. Andrews and Giessen, and at University College, and was a favourite pupil of the celebrated chemists, Graham and Liebig. After managing for some years some calico-printing works at Clitheroe, he became, at the age of twenty-four, Professor of Chemistry in the Manchester Royal Institution, and Professor of Chemistry in Edinburgh University in 1856. Dr. Playfair served on numerous Royal Commissions; for instance, that of 1844, which inquired into the sanitary condition of towns, and the Civil Service Commission of 1874, of which he was president, and which produced the "Playfair Scheme," and his reports were marked by great ability. He was a Special Commissioner at the Great Exhibition of 1851, at the close of which, in recognition of his scientific services, he was made a Companion of the Bath, and received an appointment in the household of the Prince Consort. He was elected as Member of Parliament for the Universities of Edinburgh and St. Andrews in 1868. He held office in the Ministry of 1873-4 as Postmaster-General, and was made a Privy Councillor. In 1880 he was appointed Chairman of Ways and Means, and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons. During his term of office it fell to his lot to deal with the Irish question, at a time when party spirit ran high, and his suspension of the whole of the Irish members in 1882 was one of the most remarkable incidents of recent Parliamentary warfare. In 1885 he was President of the British Association. Sir Lyon Playfair is the author of numerous scientific works, as well as of numerous books on general subjects.
J. E. MUDDOCK, F.R.G.S.
| Age 12. From a Daguerrotype. | Age 38. From a Photo. by Braithwaite, Ulverston. |
| Age 19. From a Photo. by Rider & Barrett, Southampton. | Present Day. From a Photo. by Valentine & Sons, Dundee. |
R. MUDDOCK, whose powerful story, "For God and the Czar," has been delighting the readers of Tit-Bits, was educated for the Indian Government service, and was in India during the Mutiny. He has passed a most adventurous and varied life, has been a special correspondent, and a distinguished mountaineer, has written many well-known novels, the most recent of which are "Dead Man's Secret," "Stormlight," and "Stories Weird and Wonderful."
MISS HELEN MATHERS.
Born 1852.
| Age 18. From a Photo. by Debenham, Regent-street, W. | Age 26. From a Photo. by Debenham, Regent-st, W. |
| Age 23. From a Photo. by Debenham, Regent-street, W. | Present Day. From a Photo. by Esmé Collings, Brighton. |
ELEN MATHERS was quite a girl when she achieved an extraordinary success with "Comin' thro' the Rye." Many other stories followed; and she may be said to have inaugurated the shilling novel with "Found Out." She married, in 1876, Mr. Henry A. Reeves, a well-known hospital surgeon, whose specialty is orthopædics. He is himself an accomplished author, and his favourite recreation is chess. They have one son, who inherits his mother's chief characteristic—brightness.
F. C. BURNAND.
Born 1836.
| Age 14. From a Drawing. | Age 30. From a Photograph. |
| Age 20. From a Photograph. | Age 43. From a Photo. by Elliott & Fry. |
Present Day. From a Photo. by Walery.
R. FRANCIS COWLEY BURNAND, at the age represented in our first portrait, was at Eton; our second portrait shows him at Cambridge; the third at an age when he was already well known as the smartest writer of burlesques of the day; and the fourth just as he became editor of Punch. For a full account of Mr. Burnand's career, the reader is referred to the "Illustrated Interview," which appears in another part of the present number.