W. Carr

W. Carr (fl 1850s-1860s) was a soldier and amateur performer.

Probably the same person referred to simply as Carr or as Mr Carr by F.C.L. Bosman (1980, p. 73 and 76).

Biography

He came to the Cape Colony as a private in the North Lincolnshire Regiment of Foot, presumably some time in the late 1850s.

Initially stationed in Cape Town, the regiment was sent to the Eastern Frontier of the Cape Colony (now the Eastern Province, South Africa) between 1860 and 1862, shortly after the Xhosa cattle-killing movement and famine (1857-1858). The regiment was based in Grahamstown and Keiskama Hoek at that time.

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

A Carr is listed one of the performers used by Sefton Parry for a production of The Poor Gentleman (Colman), done under the auspices of the Cape Volunteers in the

Private W. Carr acted in five productions during his three-year stay on the Eastern Frontier.

While in the Eastern Cape, a W. Carr was a member of the regiment's Dramatic Club, in the section known as the Amateurs of the Band.

November 12, 1862: Acted in the Amateurs of the Band performed John Baldwin Buckstone's two-act domestic melo-drama, Luke The Labourer. The play is set in a village in Yorkshire. (played "Charles Maydew", a young farmer).

Sources

North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 14, Keiskama Hoek, December 10, 1862, pages 270-272.

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

November 26, 1862: Acted in the Band of Amateurs production of I. Pocock's famous “melo-drama” The Miller and His Men. (Kelmar, an old cottager).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 14, Keiskama Hoek, December 10, 1862, page 272.)

November 26, 1862: Acted in the F. Kenny's capital old two-act farce, The Illustrious Stranger. (Azan).

(North Lincoln Sphinx, Vol 1, No 14, Keiskama Hoek, December 10, 1862, page 272.)