Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library,
Harvard University
Harvard Depository
This collection is shelved offsite at the Harvard Depository. See access
restrictions below for additional information.
MS Thr 829
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815.
Samuel Whitbread correspondence concerning the Drury Lane Theatre,
1811-1815.
1 box (.25 linear ft.)
Collection materials are in English.
Letters to and from British politician, Samuel Whitbread, related to Thomas
Shaw's dispute with the management of the Drury Lane Theatre.
Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt
No accession number. Purchase; received: 1955 May 31.
There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for
research.
This collection is not housed at the Houghton Library but is shelved offsite at the
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Preferred Citation for Publication:
Samuel Whitbread Correspondence Concerning the Drury Lane Theatre, 1811-1815 (MS Thr
829). Harvard Theatre Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard University.
Samuel Whitbread (1764–1815) was a British politician. He was
the only son and third child of Samuel Whitbread (1720–1796), brewer and politician,
and his first wife, Harriet, daughter of William Hayton, attorney, of Ivinghoe,
Buckinghamshire. When the Drury Lane Theatre burned down in
1809, theater owner Richard Brinsley Sheridan was financially
ruined. Sheridan turned to his old friend Samuel Whitbread to head a committee that
would manage the company, deal with the theater's complex debts, and oversee the
rebuilding. Whitbread asked Sheridan to withdraw from management himself, which he
did entirely by 1811. Thomas Shaw (ca. 1760-ca. 1830) was one
of the many claimants against the management of the Drury Lane Theatre.
Organized into the following series:
- I. Letters from Whitbread
- II. Other letters
Autograph manuscript letters related to Thomas Shaw's dispute with the management of
the Drury Lane Theatre. Includes letters from Samuel Whitbread to Shaw, Richard
Brinsley Sheridan to Whitbread, and Sheridan to Charles Sheridan.
See also MS Thr 527 and MS Thr 816 for additional papers on this topic.
I. Letters from Whitbread
(1)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Autograph
manuscript letter (signed) to [Thomas Shaw;
London],
1811
July 12.
2s.(4p.) in 1 folder.
(2)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Envelope
addressed to Thomas Shaw;
[London],
1811 July 13.
1s. in 1 folder.
(3)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Autograph
manuscript letter (signed) to Thomas Shaw;
Southill,
1811
July 18.
1s.(2p.) in 1 folder.
(4)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Autograph
manuscript letter (signed) to Thomas Shaw;
Southill,
1811
July 21.
3s.(10p.) in 1 folder.
(5)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Autograph
manuscript letter (signed) to Thomas Shaw;
Southill,
1811
July 26.
2s.(4p.) in 1 folder.
(6)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Autograph
manuscript letter (signed) to [Thomas Shaw;
London],
1811
August 15.
1s.(3p.) in 1 folder.
(7)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Autograph
manuscript letter (signed) to Thomas Shaw;
London,
1812
March 25.
1s.(2p.) in 1 folder.
(8)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Autograph
manuscript letter (signed) to Thomas Shaw;
London,
1813
April 5.
1s.(1p.) in 1 folder.
(9)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Autograph
manuscript letter (signed) to Thomas Shaw;
Cardington,
1813
April 18.
1s.(2p.) in 1 folder.
(10)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Autograph
manuscript letter (signed) to Thomas Shaw;
Cardington,
1813
April 20.
1s.(3p.) in 1 folder.
(11)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Autograph
manuscript letter (signed) to Thomas Shaw;
London,
1813
July 10.
1s.(2p.) in 1 folder.
(12)
Whitbread, Samuel, 1764-1815. Autograph
manuscript letter (signed) to Thomas Shaw;
London, [undated].
1s.(3p.) in 1 folder.
II. Other letters
(13)
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816.
Autograph manuscript letter (signed) to Samuel
Whitbread; [no place, undated].
3s.(12p.) in 1 folder.
(14)
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751-1816.
Autograph manuscript letter (signed) to Charles
Sheridan?;
[London,
1815].
1s.(1p.) in 1 folder.