Cockneys in California

Cockneys in California, subtitled "a piece of golden opportunity in one act", is a play about the California gold-rush by Joseph Stirling Coyne (1803–1868)[1].

The original text

A popular piece, both in Britain and America, as well as the colonies.

First published and produced in London in 1849. Issued as number XXXIII of French's Minor Drama series. The first American edition appeared in 1850 under Taylor's imprint. Also published in New York by M. Douglas (ca 1851) and Samuel French (ca 1855?).

Performances in South Africa

1855: Bosman, 1928[2]: p432, suggests that the play Cockney in Corsica performed in Cape Town on Friday 13 July by Sefton Parry, may have been a play called Cockneys in California by an author whose surname he gives as "French". However, Bosman was wrong, for he seems to have been unaware sub-titling for J.M. Morton's 1843 play A Thumping Legacy, which was often performed as A Cockney in Corsica or The Cockney in Corsica.