Ira Frederick Aldridge (1807 - 1867)

Born 24 Jul 1807 in New York City, New York, United States

Husband of Margaret (Gill) Aldridge — married 27 Nov 1825 in Camden, London, England

Husband of Paulina Amanda (von Brandt) Aldridge — married 20 Apr 1865 in St John, Penge, Surrey, England

Descendants

Died 7 Aug 1867 at age 60 in Łódź, Łódzkie, Poland

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Biography

Frederick William Aldridge is Notable.

Ira Frederick Aldridge, also known as F. W. Keene Aldridge, was a prominent Black Shakespearean stage actor and playwright in the mid-nineteenth century.^[1][2] He was the first actor of African descent to gain widespread recognition and fame and one of the first to appear on European stages.

He was born in New York City in 1807 to Rev. Daniel Aldridge and his wife Luranah.^[2] Although his father would have preferred that he follow in his footsteps and become a preacher, Ira was drawn to the theater from an early age.^[1] He was a young man when his mother died and his father remarried. Unhappy, he ran away to sea, where he narrowly escaped being sold into slavery, but for the captain of his ship rejecting the offer.^[1] He returned to New York and worked backstage at the Chatham Theatre in New York where he was able to receive some acting experience.^[1] He was an actor in the African Company in New York City, in the early 1820s until it burned down in 1823.^[3] After that it became more difficult for Black actors in New York to obtain roles, so he opted to emigrate.^[2][1]

He arrived in Liverpool, England in 1824.^[2][1] By 1825 he'd taken the stage name F. W. Keene Aldridge and concocted a romanticized backstory to bolster his brand;^[2] on 11 October 1825, the London Times gave an unflattering review of the performance of "Mr. Keene, the African Roscius," at the Coburg Theatre. ^[4] But while early reviews were mixed, he found favor with audiences and gradually gained critical success throughout Europe.

He became a naturalized British citizen in 1863.^[2] He died suddenly while on tour in Łódź, Łódzkie, Poland^[2] and was buried in Cmentarz Ewangelicko-Augsburski, Powiat zgierski, Łódzkie, Poland.^[5] At the time of his death he was planning a 100-show tour of the United States. ^[2]

Birth and Early Life

Ira was born to Reverend Daniel and Luranah Aldridge, free Blacks living in New York,^[1][2][6] who may have been originally from either Delaware or North Carolina.^[7] He had one sibling who survived to adulthood, his older brother Joshua.^[7] He received a classical education at the African Free School in New York City.^[2]

Marriage and Children

Ira immigrated to England in about 1824 and shortly thereafter married an Englishwoman, Margaret Gill.^[2] Their marriage took place on 27 November 1825 in St George, Bloomsbury, Camden, England. He was using the pseudonym Frederick William Aldridge.^[8][9]

In 1847, more than twenty years after their marriage, Ira had a son, Ira Daniel, who Margaret lovingly raised as her own; but given her age-- about 49-- and poor health, it is speculated that she was not the biological mother.^[2] In 1851 they were boarders in the household of John Evans in Derbyshire. He was enumerated as a "Tragedian" with his wife, Margaret, and son, Ira D, and, according to the census, he was born in "Africa."^[10]

In 1856 Ira was sued by fellow actor William Stothard, because of an affair with Stothard's wife, Emma, resulting in the birth of a son,^[2] currently unknown. Ira was not enumerated with his wife and son in England in 1861. In 1860 and 1861, with his Swedish mistress (and future wife) he had two children, Luranah and Frederick Ira, baptized in France.

A year after his wife Margaret's death in 1864, he married Amanda Pauline Von Brandt on 20 April 1865 in St John, Penge, Surrey, England.^[11] Their third child and second daughter, Amanda, was born in 1866 and a third daughter, Rachael, was born shortly before Ira's death in 1867. The two older daughters would become acclaimed opera singers.

Legacy and Honors

• 1825 - Became the first African-American actor to establish himself professionally in a foreign country.^[2]
• 1826 - A half-length portrait, Ira Aldridge As Othello, The Moor Of Venice, by James Northcote, shows Ira in the role of Othello.^[2]
• 1832 - In the years leading up to the emancipation of slaves in all British colonies, he began to directly address the audience on closing night regarding the injustice of slavery.^[2]
• 1858 - He became the first actor to be knighted, becoming Chevalier Ira Aldridge, Knight of Saxony, an honor bestowed by Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Meiningen.^[1]
• 1932 - He was one of 33 people and the only African American honored with bronze plaques at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.^[12][2]
• 2007 - Ira purchased a home in 1861 and named it "Luranah Villa" in memory of his mother. It is located at 5 Hamlet Road, Upper Norwood, London, and now has an English Heritage blue plaque.^[13]
• 2014 - A plaque created by the famous Polish sculptor Marian Konieczny was placed at the location of his death.^[2]
• After his death, acting troupes named in his honor were created in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and New Haven.^[2]
• Ira received awards for his art from European heads of state and governments, including the Prussian Gold Medal for Arts and Sciences from King Frederick William III, the Golden Cross of Leopold from the Czar of Russia, and the Maltese Cross from Bern, Switzerland.^[2]
• A bust of Ira by Pietro Calvi is in the foyer of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London.^[2]
• He is included in Professor Molefi Kete Asante's list of "100 Greatest African Americans."
• Red Velvet, a play by Lolita Chakrabarti about his life, was produced in London in 2012.^[2]
• Ira Aldridge Theater at Howard University is named for him.^[2]

Research Notes

• His obituary in the New York Times erroneously stated he was born Hewlett in Bellair, near Baltimore, Maryland.^[14] The obituary is possibly referring to George F. Bragg's "Biography of Ira Aldridge", in Men of Maryland, p. 27.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7} Norma Hampson, "A Visit From Ira Aldridge", Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, blog post, 7 January 2014 (https://www.shakespear.org.uk : accessed 9 September 2020).
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22} Wikipedia contributors, "Ira Aldridge," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ira_Aldridge&oldid=967548480 (accessed September 10, 2020).
3. ↑ Anthony Duane Hill, "African Company/African Grove Theater, online at BlackPast.org website, https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/african-company-african-grove-theatre, 11 Feb. 2007.
4. ↑ "The Coburg Theatre" The Times (London, England] Tuesday, Oct. 11, 1825, Issue 12781, p. 2. Review
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images: accessed 15 August 2020, memorial page for Ira Frederick Aldridge (24 Jul 1807–7 Aug 1867), Find A Grave: Memorial #9366046, citing Cmentarz Ewangelicko-Augsburski, Powiat zgierski, Łódzkie, Poland; Maintained by Find A Grave.
6. ↑ Nicholas M. Evans, "Ira Aldridge: Shakespeare and Minstrelsy," The American Transcendental Quarterly, Vol. 16, No. 3, September 2002
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Tracy V. Wilson and Holly Frey, "Ira Frederick Aldridge, Famous Unknown Shakespearean." Stuff You Missed in History Class (Podcast). 6 Feb 2017. How Stuff Works.com (Web). 5 May 2017.
8. ↑ Church of England Parish Registers, London Metropolitan Archives, London; database and digital images, "London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932," Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010 (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 September 2020, behind paywall); citing London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: p82/geo1/023. Ancestry Record 1623 #2523061 Behind Ancestry paywall.
9. ↑ The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies, Canterbury, England; database and digital images, "England, Pallot's Marriage Index, 1780-1837," Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001 (https://www.ancestry.com: accessed 9 September 2020, behind paywall); citing Parish: Bloomsbury St George. Ancestry Record 5967 #19193 Behind Ancestry paywall.
10. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1851," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SGDF-DW9 : 8 November 2019), Ira D Aldridge in household of John Evans, All Saints, Derbyshire, England; citing All Saints, Derbyshire, England, p. 30, from "1851 England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : n.d.); citing PRO HO 107, The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey.
11. ↑ "England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJD2-HDTD : 8 December 2017), Ira Frederick Aldridge and Amanda Pauline Von Brandt, 20 Apr 1865; citing Marriage, St John, Penge, Surrey, England, Kent Archives Office, Maidstone; FHL microfilm 992,641.
12. ↑ Victoria Joynes, "The Legacy of Ira Aldridge," Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, blog post, 30 October 2017 (https://www.shakespeare.org.uk : accessed 9 September 2020).
13. ↑ English Heritage. "ALDRIDGE, IRA (1807-1867)," Blue Plaques, online article (https://www.english-heritage.org.uk : accessed 9 September 2020)
14. ↑ OBITUARY: "Ira Aldridge, the African Tragedian," New York Times 12 Aug 1867: 5.

See also:

• Wikidata: Item Q520060
• Ira Aldridge’s life in New York City by Bernth Lindfors

• Ira Aldridge As Othello, The Moor Of Venice,1826 painting by James Northcote (1746-1831) in the Manchester Art Gallery

• "Ira Aldridge: Theatrical Trailblazer" Chesapeake Shakespeare

• Alex Ross, "Othello’s Daughter: The rich legacy of Ira Aldridge, the pioneering black Shakespearean," The New Yorker 22 July 2013 (29 July issue)

• "Ira Aldridge Biography," Black Economics

• Stacy M Brown, "Remembering the First Black Othello," The Washington Informer, 1 Feb 2017

• "Ira Aldridge – the first black Shakespearian tragedian," International Shakespeare Studies Centre

• Michael Williams, "Ira Aldridge (1807-1867)," Black Past, 11 Feb 2007

• "Ira Aldridge," People Pill

• "The Black Doctor: A Romantic Drama in Four Acts" adapted to the English stage by Ira Adridge, in Dicks' standard plays London : J. Dicks.

• Bernth Lindfors, Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora: Ira Aldridge, Early years: 1807-1833 (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2011)

• Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora: Ira Aldridge: the vagabond years, 1833-1852, (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2011)

• Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora: Ira Aldridge. performing Shakespeare in Europe, 1852-1855, (Rochester, NY : University of Rochester Press, 2013)

• Rochester studies in African history and the diaspora: Ira Aldridge: The last years, 1855-1867, (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2016)

• Bernth Lindfors, Ira Aldridge: The African Roscius, (Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer, 2017)

• Aldridge Collection, Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, Northwestern University

• Ira Aldridge collection, 1807-1867, Southern Illinois University Special Collections Research Center