Augustus Glossop Harris

Who was Augustus Glossop Harris?

Augustus Frederick Glossop Harris was a British actor and theatre manager.

Born in Naples, Italy, in 1825 he was the son of Joseph Glossop, first manager of the Royal Coburg Theatre, and opera singer Mme Féron, a former prima donna assoluta at La Scala in Milan.

His early career saw limited success as a comedian in London and Augustus Glossop was imprisoned for bankruptcy in June 1848. By 1851 he had adopted the name Augustus Harris.

He became a leading manager of opera and ballet, notably at Covent Garden, London, but also in Paris, Berlin and St. Petersburg. He wrote the libretto, with Edmund Falconer, for the opera The Rose of Castille; with music by Michael William Balfe, it was produced on Broadway in 1867. In the last four years of his life, he put on Christmas spectacles at Covent Garden.

He married Maria Ann Bone on 17 February 1846. He died in 1873 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.