Lionel Benjamin Rayner (10 October 1788 – 24 September 1855) was an English actor, usually playing rustic characters. As an actor-manager he opened in 1831 a short-lived theatre in the Strand, London .
29-668: Rayner was born in Heckmondwike in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1788. His father, a farmer and cloth manufacturer, died before he was seven years old. After seeing, at Leeds, Charles Mathews as Farmer Ashfield in Thomas Morton 's Speed the Plough , he ran away from home and joined a company at Cheadle, Staffordshire , where he opened as Jeremy Diddler in James Kenney 's farce Raising
58-459: A community based radio station that broadcast from the Dewsbury on 101.8 FM. The town has its own bus station . Very few bus services terminate at Heckmondwike; most are through services from across West Yorkshire including Leeds , Bradford , Huddersfield and Wakefield . Patent theatre The patent theatres were the theatres that were licensed to perform "spoken drama " after
87-851: A manner that secured for him offers from Drury Lane and Covent Garden Theatre . At Covent Garden, under Charles Kemble , he made what was announced as his first appearance there, in October 1823, as Tyke in Thomas Morton's The School of Reform . His engagement was for three years at a salary rising from £10 to £12 per week. Later that month he was seen as Robin Roughhead in Fortune's Frolic . Sam Sharpset in The Slave , Fixture, and Pan in Midas followed, and he had an original part in an unprinted drama in two acts, The Ferry of
116-815: A salary of thirty shillings, joined the Nottingham company. Here, where he rose in reputation, he was seen by John Bannister in Zekiel Homespun and Dr. Pangloss in The Heir at Law by George Colman the Younger , and was recommended by him to the manager of the Haymarket Theatre . Having made the acquaintance and friendship of John Emery , to whose parts he succeeded, Rayner went to York, where he played rustics, sailors and similar parts. Stamford, Lynn, Louth, Manchester, Huntingdon, and other places were visited. His popularity
145-466: A song, Rayner,' was the reply, 'and we'll go quietly home.' Rayner mounted a tub, and, with the accompaniment of one violin, sang a song, receiving in response hearty cheers." Rayner was five feet eight in height, stoutly made, dark in complexion, with hazel eyes and a certain appearance of rusticity. He was a sporting man, a member of Tattersalls , and, while in the country, a follower of the hounds. Attribution Heckmondwike Heckmondwike
174-483: A subscriber to the Covent Garden fund; on attaining his sixtieth year he claimed a pension, and on this and some aid from his pen he lived, contracting a second marriage and administering to the needs of others in the profession poorer than himself. He died on 24 September 1855, and was buried in the old burial-ground, Camberwell , near his only son. He had, in 1812, married, at Shrewsbury, Margaret Remington, daughter of
203-558: Is a town in the Kirklees district, West Yorkshire , England, 9 miles (14 km) south west of Leeds . Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire , it is close to Cleckheaton and Liversedge . It is mostly in the Batley and Spen parliamentary constituency, and had an estimated population of 16,986 at the 2011 Census increasing to 18,149 at the 2021 Census. Heckmondwike forms part of
232-674: The A62 road . Heckmondwike ward is represented on Kirklees Council by three Labour councillors. In 2003 the ward elected David Exley of the British National Party , after the serving councillor left the Labour Party to run as an independent. Exley was re-elected in 2004, and in 2006 a second BNP member, Roger Roberts, was elected. Roberts had previously served as councillor for the Conservative Party . In May 2007 David Sheard (Labour),
261-571: The Heavy Woollen District . The origins of Heckmondwike are in Old English . First recorded as Hedmundewic [ sic ] in the Domesday Book of 1086, Hedmu n dewic in 1166, and as Hecmundewik sometime in the 13th century, the name seems to be from * Hēahmundes wīc , or 'Heahmund's dairy-farm'. During Saxon times, Heckmondwike was a "berewick" or independent village in
290-717: The King's Company , at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1663; Davenant established his company, the Duke's Company , in Lisle's Tennis Court in Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1661, later moving to Dorset Garden in 1671. In Dublin, the Theatre Royal opened in Smock Alley in 1662; this building survives and was reopened as a theatre in 2012. After problems under the direction of Charles Killigrew, Thomas' son,
319-533: The Puritan rule in the English Commonwealth . After he was restored to the throne, Charles II issued letters patent to Thomas Killigrew and William Davenant , granting them the monopoly right to form two London theatre companies to perform "serious" drama. The letters patent were reissued in 1662 with revisions allowing actresses to perform for the first time (Fisk 73). Killigrew established his company,
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#1732858345851348-457: The Restoration of Charles II as King of England , Scotland and Ireland in 1660. Other theatres were prohibited from performing such "serious" drama, but were permitted to show comedy , pantomime or melodrama . Drama was also interspersed with singing or dancing, to prevent the whole being too serious or dramatic. Public entertainments, such as theatrical performances, were banned under
377-655: The Theatre Royal, Cork , in 1760; the Theatre Royal, Bath , in 1768; the Theatre Royal, Liverpool , in 1772; the Theatre Royal, Bristol , in 1778; the Theatre Royal, Waterford , in 1785; and the Theatre Royal, Birmingham , in 1807. These monopolies on the performance of "serious" plays were eventually revoked by the Theatres Act 1843 , but censorship of the content of plays by the Lord Chamberlain under Robert Walpole 's Theatrical Licensing Act of 1737 continued until 1968. This British theatre–related article
406-559: The Blanket Hall was built for trade in the town's primary manufacture. It was replaced by a second hall erected in 1839, on Blanket Hall Street in the town centre. Elizabeth Gaskell 's biography of Charlotte Brontë in 1857 described the inhabitants of Heckmondwike as "a chapel-going people, very critical of their sermons, tyrannical to their ministers and violent radicals". The town ceased generating electricity in 1924. The Power Company buildings survive in part on Bath Road. The remains of
435-640: The Devils , which were played by a company including Miss M. Glover, Charles Selby and William Henry Oxberry . However, the theatre closed in November 1831 for want of patronage, because of the absence of the Lord Chamberlain 's license and the opposition of the patent theatres . Rayner went into the country, and obtained a great success as Lubin in Love's Frailties , written for him by J. J. Stafford to show off his abilities. He made further attempts, all unsuccessful, to open
464-734: The Guiers . In the following season his name was rarely in the bills. He was seen, however, in June 1825 as Friar Tuck in Ivanhoe , and later that month as Caliban . During his third season he can only be traced in Dandie Dinmont, Zekiel Homespun, and in Rolamo in Clari , which he played for his benefit. In 1831 he took the site of Burford's Panorama , and erected there a house known as Rayner's New Subscription Theatre in
493-649: The King's Company was taken over by the Duke's Company in 1682. The two companies merged, and the combined "United Company" continued under Thomas Betterton at Drury Lane. After some disagreements, Betterton obtained a licence from William III to form a new company at the old theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1695, which moved to the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden , in 1720 (now the Royal Opera House ). The two patent theatres closed in
522-609: The Strand . Two burlettas , Professionals Puzzled by William Leman Rede , and Mystification , were produced, and Rayner appeared as Giles in The Miller's Maid ; Harriet Waylett became his leading actress. Bayle Bernard brought out for her his Four Sisters , Madame Céleste appeared in a drama called Alp the Brigand . Leman Rede wrote for the theatre The Loves of the Angels and The Loves of
551-529: The Strand with a magistrate's license and with non-dramatic pieces. His persistence in pointing out that, while theatres on the south side of the Thames could be opened, those on the north side could not, helped to form public opinion on the subject; and in 1836 a license was granted. It was too late to be of service to Rayner, who retired from his long fight practically ruined, and began writing for racing papers and magazines. During his stay at Covent Garden he had become
580-666: The Wind . His manager played the light-comedy parts which Rayner wanted to play, so he left and joined, at a salary of three shillings weekly, a company in Stone, Staffordshire , where he stayed for three years. In Stratford-on-Avon, by his performance of Solomon Lob in Love laughs at Locksmiths , he raised his position and his salary. He appeared in Manchester as Robin Roughhead in John Till Allingham 's Fortune's Frolic with success; and then, at
609-556: The first Blanket Hall were demolished in spring 2008, along with a number of other old buildings including some former Co-op buildings that had been used as the post office and former "George" public house . A health centre was opened in July 2010 to house two former doctors' practices. Located at the edge of the Pennine hills, the land rises to the north, east and south of the town centre. The town covers an area of one square mile (640 acres),
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#1732858345851638-506: The former Spenborough Urban District and Heckmondwike. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire . Television signals are received from the Emley Moor TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Leeds on 92.4 FM, Heart Yorkshire on 106.2 FM, Capital Yorkshire on 105.6 FM, Hits Radio West Yorkshire on 102.5 FM, Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire on 96.3 FM and Branch Radio ,
667-502: The manor of Gomersal , which, before 1066, was held by Dunstan and Gamel. The Poll Tax of 1379 records seven families in Heckmondwike, about 35 people: including one named Thomas of Stubly. Most lived in isolated farmsteads such as Stubley Farm, on high ground overlooking the marshy Spen Valley floor. In 1684, there were around 250 people, occupying 50 houses, in the town. The town became famous for manufacturing blankets, and by 1811
696-604: The prompter of the York circuit, and had by her a son. Joseph Knight wrote: "Rayner was a good serio-comic actor. His countrymen, though good, were not equal to those of John Emery, whom, however, he surpassed as Giles in The Miller's Maid . Job Thornberry, in George Colman the Younger's John Bull , represents the line in which he was seen to the most advantage. His Penruddock, in Richard Cumberland 's The Wheel of Fortune ,
725-601: The summer months. To fill the gap, several temporary theatres or fairs performed only in the summer. In 1705 the Queen's Theatre was established, originally for opera . Next was the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 1720; due to the influence of its later proprietor Samuel Foote , it became the third patent theatre in London in 1766. Further letters patent were granted to theatres in other English and Irish towns and cities, including
754-591: The town boundary is not the same as the ward boundary. Heckmondwike has a telephone exchange, north of High Street in the Wakefield 01924 dialling area. The exchange covers Liversedge , and parts of Dewsbury Moor and Staincliffe . In 1894 Heckmondwike Urban District Council was established and was incorporated into Kirklees in the local government reorganisation of 1974. The Heckmondwike electoral ward includes Millbridge, Flush, and Norristhorpe in Liversedge south of
783-436: Was compared, not to his disadvantage, with that of Kemble. It wanted dignity, but exhibited something higher and more beautiful—the picture of a heartbroken miserable misanthrope. In private life Rayner's character stood high. He was indefatigable in work and always conciliatory. When a house for his benefit was full, and a crowd outside was clamorous, he came and spoke to those assembled, asking what he could do for them. 'Sing us
812-683: Was everywhere marked. Nevertheless, he was thinking of leaving the stage, when he received an offer from Robert William Elliston for Drury Lane . He appeared there in November 1822, playing Dandie Dinmont in Guy Mannering . At Drury Lane he seems to have played only this character, in which, in February 1823, he was replaced by Ralph Sherwin . Rayner then joined the Lyceum , where he appeared in July 1823 as Fixture in Thomas Morton's A Roland for an Oliver , and subsequently played Giles in The Miller's Maid . in
841-529: Was returned. In May 2008 Exley lost his seat to Labour candidate Steve Hall. In May 2010 Roberts lost his seat to Labour candidate Viv Kendrick. Sheard was re-elected in 2011, and Hall was re-elected in 2012. The weekly newspaper was the Heckmondwike Herald until Friday 15 August 2008 after which the title was merged into the Spenborough Guardian incorporating the Heckmondwike Herald . It covers
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