Dolan, Winifred, 1867-1958

Born in England in 1867, Winifred Dolan began her theatrical career in 1891, when she joined the company of the Margate Theatre Royal. Through her poet uncle Alfred Austin she came to meet Ellen Terry and Henry Irving, both of whom would later become friends and would go on to advise her throughout her career. She also maintained friendships with Edward Gordon Craig and Marion Terry amongst other theatrical luminaries. In 1891 she moved to London and joined St James' Theatre as an understudy, during which time she gained gradual recognition amongst her peers and theatre critics, but was never to establish herself as a successful lead actress. Her last performance on a public stage was in The Lion Hunter at the Imperial Theatre, 1901.

In 1896, on her return from a break from the stage spent in Paris, she was offered and accepted the post of secretary to George Alexander at St. James' Theatre. In the following years, when not acting, she also worked as a script-reader, a front-of-house manager, adapted novels for the stage and even wrote her own plays. Dolan struggled to have these taken up by theatres, but some were performed, notably Kynaston's Wife at St. James' Theatre and The Melcombe Marriage in Brighton, both in 1912.

Dolan retired in 1904 at the age of 35 and went to work as the secretary of the Women's Unionist Association. In 1918, Dolan's sister Aggie became Prioress at New Hall in Chelmsford, a convent with a school attached, and invited Dolan to become a lay teacher of drama and elocution. She accepted the post and went on to establish a dramatic tradition at the school which exists to this day. Dolan lived in a cottage on the New Hall grounds for many years and spent the last 12 years of her life living in the on-site infirmary due to ill-health. She died on 11th June 1958 and was buried in the Community cemetery.

From the guide to the Winifred Dolan Collection, c.1867-1958, (V&A Department of Theatre and Performance)