Lily Dampier

Katherine Annabel Lily Dampier (1867 or 1868 – 6 February 1915),[lower-alpha 1] known as Lily Dampier, was an Australian actress of stage and screen. She was the daughter of Alfred Dampier and married to Alfred Rolfe.[2][3][4]

Lily Dampier from Photograph album compiled c. 1870–1900. Collection, State Library Victoria (Australia) MS6135

Her best known stage parts were Sylvia in For the Term of His Natural Life and Kate in Robbery Under Arms.[5] She also performed many roles from Shakespeare and worked in England.

A contemporary described her as a better actress than her sister Rose:

Certainly she was the more forceful, physically, and vocally, but she was disqualified for high tragic roles by the fact that she had ridiculously small feet for a well developed woman, and used to walk in mincing and tottering steps in moments when rhythmic striding was needed.[6]

She married actor/architect William Watkins, stage name Watkin Wynne, on 19 September 1889, divorced 1892.[7] He was a member of her father's company of actors. She married Rolfe in 1893.[8]

Death

Lily was staying in William Street, West Melbourne when she took ill. Her husband was filming in Sydney and was going to take her to a private hospital when she died. According to contemporary reports, "her death occurred rather suddenly".[9] Her mother (stage name Katherine Russell) died shortly after,[10] and her sister Rose also died young.[11]

Select filmography

Notes
  1. One reference gives her date of birth as January 1859[1] problematical given her father's year of birth 1843~47 and her (presumed) mother born c. 1848. January 1869 is quite plausible.

References
  1. Stage Jottings. Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 50, 27 February 1915, Page 14
  2. 'Miss Lily Dampier' The Sydney Morning Herald 8 Feb 1915: 10 accessed 26 Nov 2011
  3. "Among the Players". The Winner. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 10 February 1915. p. 10. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  4. Vagg, Stephen (18 August 2019). "Australian Movie Stars". Filmink.
  5. "Miss Lily Dampier Dead". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill, NSW: National Library of Australia. 8 February 1915. p. 1. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  6. "Reminiscences of the Stage". The Arrow. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 14 December 1917. p. 3. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  7. "A Theatrical Divorce Case". Barrier Miner. Vol. 5, no. 1320. New South Wales, Australia. 18 June 1892. p. 4. Retrieved 14 August 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. Richard Fotheringham, "Introduction", Robbery Under Arms by Alfred Dampier and Garnet Walch, Currency Press 1985
  9. "Social Notes". The Leader. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 13 February 1915. p. 50. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  10. "Death of Mrs Dampier". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 6 May 1915. p. 10. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  11. "Death or Rose Dampier". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 22 May 1919. p. 8. Retrieved 12 January 2012.


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