We might think George's claim to be a 'Professor' is a bit grand considering he's only 19, but two years later, from the Banbury season of 1835, comes documentary testimony to the fact that the versatile George Edward Partleton was a man of many talents. This is in the shape of a leaflet he had printed to spread the news that during the season he would run a 'dancing academy':

Twenty-two years later, George was still advertising dance lessons, but has dropped the quadrilles and gallopades in favour of more modern dances:

Left: Oxford Journal - Saturday 29 September 1855

Back to 1835, the terms were 10 shillings a month, the lessons on Wednesdays and Fridays, at two in the afternoon for young ladies and gentlemen and at seven' in the evening for adults. He also offered to teach the violin and tune and teach the piano.

We are now coming to a period which is extremely well documented, because, amazingly, a number of the personal letters of George Partleton have survived and are held at Northampton Records Office. During his career George was in regular correspondence with his friend and business associate, Mr Thomas Lewis Gery, who was a solicitor in Daventry and a theatre fan. Through these, published in Theatre Unroyal, we get some marvellous insights into small details of the Partleton family life.

From Market Harborough, Leicestershire, on May 31, 1836, we find out some of the business side of affairs of the travelling troupe when George Partleton writes to Gery, in which George's grammar and spelling are preserved:

From this we learn that George earns his money, at least in part, from benefit performances where he would receive all the takings for a particular evening's performance. It's a gamble, which the actor could easily lose, as we see in the illustration below from The Life of an Actor, published in 1824 by Pierce Egan. A near-empty house which wouldn't even cover the company's costs for the night:

This engraving also shows us a super example of what we might expect to see in the interior of a small provincial theatre such as George would have played.

But on other occasions, there would have been full houses, as is illustrated in the same book; a boisterous and mischievous crowd queuing and jostling to get into a performance with a guest actor from London. A lady has fainted in the crush:

In George's letter of 31 May 1836, there's an apologetic postscript where we get a glimpse of this lifestyle of moving from town to town and staying in pubs:

We can track the movements of George and Frances over the next few years, through the birth (and deaths) of their children; George (1834 Chipping Norton), Catherine (1835 Newport Pagnell), Edward Charles (born 1837 Bedford, died 1838 Bromsgrove), Helen (born April 1839 Uxbridge, died July 1839 Northampton), Edward Frederick (born 1840 Bedford), Frances Helen (born 1841 Northampton).

As we can see, as 'strolling players', the family moved about a lot. Really, a lot. We only see snapshots where the children are born, but there must have been many, many more moves and the life of this family must have been quite lively, not to mention exhausting, during these years.

Pierce Egan again furnishes us, in the picture below, with another illustration from his 1824 book which helps us to visualise what could equally be the Jackman company arriving at a small-town venue, complete with theatre-wagon loaded with scenery, instruments, props, and actresses stacked on top:

The valiant actor has grabbed the turnpike-keeper by his collar for daring to ask for the toll. Tolls were how road maintenance was funded at the time. I guess tollbooth keepers in 1824 were about as popular as traffic wardens today. Necessary but unpopular. The residents of the inn, at the right, where the travelling company will probably stay, look on approvingly, waiting for their paying guests.

Back to our George. We also learn from his correspondence at this time that he augmented his income also by selling music and violin strings.

But we have still more details to fill in the gaps... below is an actual playbill of the company appearing at Bedford. The date is Monday 31 July 1837.

Above we see George and his wife Frances, now married, both appearing together in the famous Richard Sheridan comedy The Rivals. George also performs a 'Scotch Dance' with his sisters-in-law. The show was performed in front of the local MP's. In the play, George has the role of 'John', and Frances performs the role of 'Lucy'.

This provides us with an insight into the lifestyle of the travelling performer... because on that night of 31 July, Frances is 8 months pregnant, so although she takes a part in the play, presumably she is not one of the 'Misses Jackman' leaping around doing a Scotch Dance. Just five weeks later, on the 6th September 1837, the couple are still in Bedford, and she gives birth to her second son, Edward Charles Partleton. Unfortunately, little Edward is to die within a year. Imagine poor Henry and Frances' situation: after this disaster they have to continue to perform in comedies and to make people laugh.

And the tragedy is set to continue. In May 1839 in Uxbridge, Frances gives birth to her second daughter, Helen. Within three months, the family are in Northampton where the researches of Terry Partleton have thrown up a fascinating and tragic newspaper story from the Northampton Mercury of September 1839:

Laudanum is an opium derivative and was in very widespread use as medicine in Victorian times for both adults and children. It was dangerous indeed, and extremely easy to fatally overdose, as we witness above. The death of little Helen Partleton was also noted in the book Theatre Unroyal, where the death certificate is identified as recording 'Death through medicine incautiously administered'.

In late 1840, Frances gives birth to another baby boy, whom they again name as Edward, this time Edward Frederick.

A short while later In a letter he wrote from the Kings Arms, Leighton Buzzard on February 28, 1841, George might have an eye to posterity.

Then we learn a little about his son George Partleton Jr, who is just six years old but already immersed in the acting business, and indeed is acting in London:

Clearly money is a little tight from time to time.

More family news given in a second letter, from Northampton at the end of March 1841...

And if you are hoping that George and Frances' woes are over, unfortunately they are not. For little baby Edward was indeed very ill, and died within a few weeks of the letter. But at the same time of Edward's death, Frances is already again pregnant with her third daughter, Frances Helen.

So we move on two more months to the night of 6 June 1841, the night of the first proper census to be held in England. Here we find George Edward Partleton with his family lodging at Market Place, Bicester. This census information came an early stage of investigation, before all the previous evidence had been unearthed, and the discovery of George gives the family tree researcher a very nice surprise. Among the myriad humdrum occupations listed; barber, milliner, baker, we find George's to be rather different; Comedian.

So, to recap, the family at this time consists of George, Frances and their two children, George and Catherine. But Frances is now four months pregnant with her daughter Frances Helen who was to stay with her for a further 66 years till the end of her life.

So what did Bicester Market Place look like? We have a late Victorian picture of the Market Place, also known as Market End, really an attractive market square. In fact we have a whole set of them and they are so nice that we should take the opportunity to see the Market Place as George and Frances did... step into their shoes on that sunny Victorian summer's day:

If I have calculated from the census correctly, the family are staying two houses along from the Cross Keys Inn, which can be seen in the above photo. Step into Their Shoes!

Here's a little map of Bicester:

Examination of the 1841 census shows that the whole Jackman ensemble have taken lodgings in the town centre. Below we see old Henry with some more of his family, all comedians, at Kings End which can be seen just up the road from Market End on the above map:

We move on a year to 26 March 1842, where George writes a letter about the company's recent season at Uxbridge and exposes a raw nerve about the press:

In George's opinion the company was 'very good' at this time.

It is frustrating that we never get to see faces amongst all this history, but It is from Uxbridge at earlier times that we can furnish a face, a person whom George Partleton would certainly have met and very likely worked with, because he is a close friend of old Henry Jackman, and he had been a member of the Jackman Company in its earlier days. This is the celebrated Victorian comedian Henry Compton, grandfather of actress Fay Compton. Here is a picture of Mr Compton at a time when George Partleton would have known him:

Henry Jackman features prominently in Henry Compton's memoirs.