Lot 2823

Description

Victoria. The Princess Theatre Company Limited, registered, 7th April 1879, for one Å“50 share of two hundred offered, with a transfer on the back to James Cassius Williamson, dated 27th October 1882. With spike hole top left corner and light quarter folds, good very fine.

James Cassius Williamson (1845-1913) actor and theatrical manager, born and educated in the U.S.A.. he toured Australia 1874-75, returning to Melbourne in 1879. The Princess Theatre, Melbourne, was built on the site of Astley’s Amphitheatre which had been renovated in 1857 to become the Princess Theatre and Opera House. In 1885 J.C.Williamson, George Musgrove and Arthur Garner formed a partnership resolving to build a new theatre. Designed by William Pitt and built at a cost of Å“50,000 the new theatre, now named the Princess Theatre opened on 18 Dec 1886 with a performance of the ’Mikado’.