Lily Dampier

Lily Dampier (Jan 1859[1] or 1867 or 1868 -6 February 1915) was an Australian actor 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]

An earlier secret marriage in 1889 had ended in divorce[7] and her sister also died young.[8] She married Rolfe in 1893.[9]

Death

Lily was staying in Williams St, 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'.[10]

Her mother died shortly after Lily died.[11]

Select filmography

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' The Barrier Miner (Broken Hill) 18 Jun 1892: 4 accessed 26 Nov 2011
  8. "DEATH OF EOSE DAMPIER". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 22 May 1919. p. 8. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  9. Richard Fotheringham, "Introduction", Robbery Under Arms by Alfred Dampier and Garnet Walch, Currency Press 1985
  10. "SOCIAL NOTES". The Leader. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 13 February 1915. p. 50 Section: WEEKLY. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
  11. "DEATH OF MRS. DAMPIER". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 6 May 1915. p. 10. Retrieved 19 November 2014.


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