Two studio portraits of Miss Lily Dampier in “The Lady of Lyons” by Bulwer-Lytton. Sydney, 1887.

Two albumen print photographs, in identical cabinet card format, 165 x 109 mm (mounts); rectos with printed caption ‘Miss Lily Dampier’ and imprint of ‘Falk / 496 George Street, Sydney’; one with pencilled annotation recto ‘Lady of Lyons Sept. 1887, both identically inscribed in ink to verso ‘Lily as Lady of Lyons Sept 4th 1887’; both prints and mounts with some very light foxing.

Provenance: from a group of theatre-related photographs originally collected by the Sydney actor, stage manager and playwright Alfred Dampier.

Australian stage and silent screen actress Lily Dampier (Katherine Annabel Lily Dampier, 1867-1915) was the daughter of Alfred Dampier and Katherine Russell. Although her best known stage roles were Shakespearean, she was also a success as Sylvia in her father’s adaptation of Marcus Clarke’s novel For the Term of His Natural Life, and as Kate in Robbery Under Arms. She later starred in several early Australian silent films, including three released in 1911: The Life of Rufus Dawes, which was based on her father’s stage adaptation of For the Term of His Natural Life; Captain Midnight, the Bush King; and Captain Starlight, or Gentleman of the Road.