J. Chesters

J. Chesters was a soldier and amateur actor.

Also referred to as J. Chester in the North Lincoln Sphinx, the regiment's newsletter.

This is possibly also the same person referred to by F.C.L. Bosman (1980: pp271, 281) as Mr Chester or simply as Chester.

Biography

He held the rank of sergeant in the North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot during his service in the Cape Colony, both in Cape Town and in Grahamstown and Keiskama Hoek (modern spelling: Keiskammahoek), when the regiment was sent to the Eastern Frontier of the Cape Colony between 1860 and 1862 shortly after the Xhosa cattle-killing movement and famine (1857-1858).

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

A Sergeant J. Chesters (or J. Chester) appears to have been one of the Sergeants who produced shows for the entertainment of the troops and nearby civilians and is mentioned in the North Lincoln Sphinx as a member of the Sergeants Dramatic Club. He acted in four productions during his stay in the Eastern Frontier, the performances undertaken for the Sergeants of the Regiment and the Amateurs of the Band.

The plays performed were:

October 8, 1860: Acted in Sergeants of the Regiment performance of Mark Lemon's one-act farce, The Camp at Chobham. (Second Sapper).

October 12, 1860: Acted in Sergeants of the Regiment staged William Shakespeare's Tragedy of Macbeth. (Rosse).

March, 1861: A certain Chester is mentioned by F.C.L. Bosman (1980: pp.171, 181) as the possible co-author and certainly a performer in a "Grand Drawingroom Entertainment" called Music under Difficulties, or The Composer in Search of Quiet, put on by Mr St George (the other participant) in the Theatre Royal, Cape Town in March of 1861. He was possibly on furlough at the time.

November 4, 1861: Acted in the Amateurs of the Band production of Thomas J. Lynch's two-act drama, The Rose of Ettrick Vale or The Bridal of the Borders. (Glenbrae, a hunter of the highland border).

February 17, 1862: Acted in the Amateurs of the Band production of The Omnibus, or A Convenient Distance. (Mr Dobbs).

Sources

North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 2, Grahamstown, September 15, 1860, page 18.

North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 3, Grahamstown, November 1, 1860, page 30.

North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 3, November 1, 1860. Page 31.

North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 9, November 13, 1861. Page 125.)

North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 12, February 28, 1862, page 179/180.)

North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 14, Keiskama Hoek, December 10, 1862, page 270.

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