Laurence Sydney Brodribb Irving

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Sydney_Brodribb_Irving

Laurence Sydney Brodribb Irving (21 December 1871 – 29 May 1914)[1] was an English dramatist and novelist.

Born in London, Laurence Irving was a son of the great Victorian actor manager, Sir Henry Irving and his wife Florence (née O'Callaghan), and brother to actor manager Harry Brodribb Irving. He was educated at Marlborough College and the College Rollin in Paris, following which he was in Russia for three years studying for the Foreign Office. However, instead he took up acting, making his first appearance in 1893 in F. R. Benson's theatrical company (not counting childhood performances[2]). He went on to become a dramatist.[3] Due to the financial failure of one of Laurence's plays, his father was forced to sell the Lyceum Theatre, London. Irving was married to a fellow performer, actress Mabel Lucy Hackney (1880-1914).

Laurence and Mabel were on a tour of first Australia and then North America from 1912 to 1914. Their biggest success on the tour was Laurence's own play Typhoon which was a topical play set in the time of the Russo-Japanese War, with Laurence playing a Japanese officer.

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Laurence and Mabel Irving later drowned in the RMS Empress of Ireland disaster on 29 May 1914. Reports in the news accounts of the tragedy say that they got separated and Laurence was in a position of temporary safety, but he knew Mabel could not swim and he jumped back into the St. Lawrence River to rescue her. Their bodies were never found.

He is not to be confused with the son of his older brother Harry Brodribb Irving, the set-designer Laurence Irving, who wrote the highly regarded and definitive biographies Henry Irving, the Actor and his World and The Successors.

Mabel Hackney and Laurence Irving are, without a doubt, the best-known passengers aboard the Empress of Ireland. Irving was a well-known stage actor. Mabel Hackney was his partner on stage and in life. Lawrence Irving’s production troupe was on a Canadian tour and gave its final performance at the Walker Theatre in Winnipeg on May 23. There was not enough time for the whole troupe to pack its bags in time for the Quebec City departure on May 28. Only Hackney and Irving, Harold Neville South and Elsie Roberts South, who were all in a hurry to return to England, managed to board the Empress of Ireland. The rest of the company boarded White Star’s Teutonic.

Neither Hackney nor Irving survived the sinking.

http://www.empress2014.ca/seclangen/prttprsnlt.html

GEDCOM Note

Irving was born at Keinton Mandeville in the county of Somerset. His elder son, Harry Brodribb Irving (b. 1870), usually known as "H. B. Irving", became a famous actor and later a theatre manager.[1] Sir Henry Irving had two sons. His other son, Laurence Irving (b. 1872), became a dramatist. Sir Henry Irving had two sons, Harry Brodribb (b. 1870) and Laurence (b. 1872). They were educated for other walks of life, the former the bar, and the latter for the diplomatic service; but both turned to the stage, and the elder, who had already established himself as the most prominent of the younger English actors at the time of his father's death, went into management on his own account. Laurence Irving Laurence Sydney Brodribb Irving (1871-1914) was an English dramatist and novelist. Laurence Irving was a son of the Victorian actor manager, Sir Henry Irving. Due to the financial failure of one of Laurence's plays, his father was forced to sell the Lyceum Theatre, London. Irving was married to fellow actress Mabel Lucy Hackney. Laurence and Mabel Irving later drowned in the Empress of Ireland disaster on May 29, 1914. He is not to be confused with the son of his older brother Henry Brodribb Irving, who was also called Laurence. Laurence Irving worked as an art director on a few of Douglas Fairbanks major films including Iron Mask and the Taming of the Shrew. In British films, he co-produced The Inheritance (Uncle Silas). He started out working as a costume and scenery designer in the 1920s on the London stage. Later Irving became an author. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Empress of Ireland Career Nationality: Canadian Owner: Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Builder: Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Glasgow, Scotland Laid down: Unknown Launched: January 27, 1906 Christened: January 27, 1906 Maiden voyage: June 29, 1906 Fate: Sunk after colliding with Storstad in 1914 General Characteristics Tonnage: 14,191 Gross tonnes Displacement: Unknown Length: 570 feet (174.1 meters) Beam: 65.6 feet (19.99 meters) Draught: Unknown Power: Quadruple expansion steam engines Propulsion: Twin Screw Speed: 18 knots Passenger Capacity: 1,580 The Empress of Ireland was a transatlantic ocean liner owned by Canadian Pacific Steamship Company that sailed between Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, and Liverpool, England. She sank in 1914 after colliding with Storstad in an incident which claimed 1,012 lives, making it the worst maritime disaster in Canadian history. Her sinking was overshadowed by World War I and became a forgotten tragedy. Disaster The Empress of Ireland departed Quebec City for Liverpool at 16:30 local time on May 28, 1914 with 1,477 passengers and crew. Henry George Kendall had just been promoted to captain of the Empress of Ireland at the beginning of the month and it was his first trip down the Saint Lawrence River in command of the vessel. Early the next morning on May 29, 1914, the ship was proceeding down the channel near Pointe-au-Père, Quebec (eastern district of the town of Rimouski) in heavy fog. At 02:00 local time, Empress of Ireland collided with the Norwegian collier Storstad. Storstad did not sink, but Empress of Ireland, with severe damage to her starboard side, rapidly shipping water, rolled over and sank within 14 minutes, claiming 1,012 passengers and crewmen. There were only 465 survivors. Ultimately, the immense loss of life can be attributed to three things: the location in which Storstad made contact, failure to close her watertight doors, and failure to close all portholes aboard. Including the fact that most passengers, at the time of the crash, were asleep - most not even awakening when the ship was hit.