>Lettler: Adding local short description: "British actor", overriding Wikidata description "British actor and economist" (Shortdesc helper)

2021-01-30T20:14:46Z

Adding local short description: "British actor", overriding Wikidata description "British actor and economist" (Shortdesc helper)

New page

{{short description|British actor}}
[[File:Percy Anstey 1914.jpg|thumb|right|Percy Anstey c1914]]
'''Percy Anstey''' (25 February 1876 – 23 November 1920) was a British stage actor of the early 20th-century who later studied [[Economics]] and became a lecturer and college Principal in India.

He was born as '''Percival Louis Page''' in [[Paris]] in 1876, the son of Mary Louisa ''née'' Anstey (1838–1895) and Captain Andrew Mathew Adolph Page (1837–1890), an army officer<ref name=Google>Christopher T. Husbands, [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ACSNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA238&lpg=PA238&dq ''Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, 1904–2015''], Palgrave MacMillan (2019)- Google Books p. 238</ref> who separated from his wife soon after the birth of his son to go to Australia where he was appointed Secretary and Inspector of the Board for the Protection of Aborigines. He remained in Australia for the rest of his life.<ref>Giordano Nanni and Andrea James, [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=K-vLAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA108&lpg=PA108&dq ''Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country''], Aboriginal Studies Press (2013) - Google Books p. 108</ref>

==Stage career==
[[File:Percy Anstey and John Martin-Harvey.jpg|thumb|left|Percy Anstey (left) and [[John Martin-Harvey]] in ''The Breed of the Treshams'' (1903)]]
Taking his mother's maiden name as his stage name, his theatre appearances include: Captain Cornelius Vandam/Messenger in ''Bonnie Dundee'' at the [[Adelphi Theatre]] (1899–1900),<ref>[[J. P. Wearing]], [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=o5JWAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq ''The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel''], Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books p. 8</ref> Marzo opposite [[Harley Granville-Barker]] and [[Laurence Irving (dramatist)|Laurence Irving]] in ''[[Captain Brassbound's Conversion]]'' at the [[Criterion Theatre]] (1900),<ref>Wearing, ''The London Stage 1900-1909'', p. 39</ref> and ''[[Twelfth Night]]'' at the Lecture Hall, [[Burlington Gardens]] in London (1902–1903).

In 1902 he joined the company of [[John Martin-Harvey]] in a tour of the United States acting in ''A Cigarette Maker's Romance''/''Rouget De L'Isle'', ''The Children of Kings'' and ''The Only Way''.<ref>[https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/percy-anstey-29977 Broadway career of Percy Anstey] - [[Internet Broadway Database]]</ref> With Martin-Harvey he toured the provinces of Britain in ''A Cigarette Maker’s Romance'', ''The Only Way'', ''The Breed of the Treshams'' and ''[[Hamlet]]'', (1903-1904), ''Hamlet'' at the [[Lyric Theatre, London|Lyric Theatre]] (1904-1905), and ''[[Eugene Aram]]'' on tour including at the [[Prince's Theatre, Bristol]] (1905-1906).<ref>[https://theatricalia.com/person/c0j/percy-anstey Career of Percy Anstey - Theatricalia website]</ref> His affair with the actress [[Amy Coleridge]] who had also been on Martin-Harvey's American tour with her husband the actor [[William Haviland (actor)|William Haviland]] lead to her divorce from her husband in 1904.<ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/2465/40243_625988_4438-00000/16617#?imageId=40243_625988_4438-00006 England & Wales, Civil Divorce Records, 1858-1918: 1904 - Ancestry.com {{subscription}}]</ref> In 1906 Anstey and Coleridge married.<ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/8913/ONS_M19064AZ-1298/6574809 England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 for Amy Matilda Cowlrick: 1906, Q4-Oct-Nov-Dec - Ancestry.com {{subscription}}]</ref>

==Move to India==
Anstey left his acting career to study [[Economics]] at the [[London School of Economics]] where he was President of the Students' Union, taking his [[Bachelor of Science|B.Sc]] degree in 1910<ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/61488/47594_b377772-00008/3096434?backurl=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/60367813/person/412134021406/facts/citation/1122186592833/edit/record UK, University of London Student Records, 1836-1945 for Percy L Anstey: Graduate List (1930-1931) - Ancestry.com {{subscription}}]</ref><ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/61488/47998_83024005549_1489-00544/3172186?backurl=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/60367813/person/412134021406/facts/citation/1122186593168/edit/record UK, University of London Student Records, 1836-1945 for Percy Louis Anstey: Student Registers, 1839-1912 - Ancestry.com {{subscription}}]</ref><ref name=LSE>[https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsehistory/2018/04/11/dr-vera-anstey-so-absolutely-sane-clear-quick-intelligent-safe/ Dr Vera Anstey – “so absolutely sane, clear, quick, intelligent & safe”] - [[London School of Economics]] website</ref> and by 1911 was a lecturer in Economics at [[University of Sheffield|Sheffield University]]<ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/2352/rg14_00238_0417_03/1107519?backurl=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/60367813/person/412134021406/facts/citation/1122186592556/edit/record 1911 England Census for Percy Louis Anstey: London, Hammersmith, South Hammersmith - Ancestry.com {{subscription}}]</ref> before serving as the head of the Economics department at the [[University of Bristol]].<ref name=Google/><ref name="Oxford Biography">{{cite web |url=http://oxforddnb.com/view/article/61350 |title=Anstey, Vera |last=Thomas |first=J.J.|work=[[Dictionary of National Biography#Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |date=2004 |accessdate=2 July 2017 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 1912 Anstey was appointed tutor of the [[Workers' Educational Association]] with a £30 a year
grant made to the class by the University of Bristol.<ref>[https://www.wea.org.uk/sites/default/files/southwest-heritage-of-learning-project-book.pdf WEA South West: A Heritage of Learning] - [[Workers' Educational Association]]</ref> In 1913 after divorcing his first wife he married [[Vera Anstey|Vera Powell]],<ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/8913/ONS_M19133AZ-0023/708211 England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 for Percy L Anstey 1913 - Ancestry.com {{subscription}}]</ref> the economist and noted expert on the economy of India. All three of their children were born in India after he joined the Bombay Educational Department and took the role of Principal at the [[Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics]] in [[Mumbai|Bombay]] in March 1914 accompanied by his wife. In June 1914 he was appointed Principal and Professor of English at the college, and in February 1916 was appointed Principal and Professor of Economic Theory and History.<ref name="Oxford Biography" /><ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/61468/47593_83024005549_1597-00512/517758?backurl=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/60367813/person/412134021406/facts/citation/1122186593231/edit/record UK, Registers of Employees of the East India Company and the India Office, 1746-1939 for Percy Louis Anstey: The India Office List 1920 - Ancestry.com {{subscription}}]</ref> In 1917 with Professors C. J. Hamilton and [[Gilbert Slater]] he co-founded the Indian Economic Association (IEA), the oldest and largest organisation of professional economists and policy makers in India.<ref>[https://www.thehitavada.com/Encyc/2019/12/27/Vice-President-to-inaugurate-annual-conference-of-IEA-today.amp.html Vice-President to inaugurate annual conference of IEA (2019) - Indian Economic Association website]</ref>

He and Arthur Anstey, their youngest child, died in [[Delhi]] in India from [[cholera]] during November 1920.<ref name=LSE/><ref name="Oxford Biography" /> In his will he left just £138 2s 2d to his widow<ref>[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1904/31874_222817-00061/4912558?backurl=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/60367813/person/412134021406/facts/citation/1122186592344/edit/record England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Percy Louis Anstey 1921 - Ancestry.com {{subscription}}]</ref> which resulted in [[Vera Anstey]] returning to the United Kingdom with their two surviving children, Mary Anstey (1916–) and the psychologist [[Edgar Anstey (psychologist)|Edgar Anstey]] (1917–2009). She needing a job to support herself and her two children, took a role as an assistant lecturer in Economic History at the [[London School of Economics]] in 1921.<ref name="Oxford Biography" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anstey, Percy}}
[[Category:1876 births]]
[[Category:1920 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Paris]]
[[Category:English male stage actors]]
[[Category:English male Shakespearean actors]]
[[Category:19th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:Workers' Educational Association]]
[[Category:People of British India]]
[[Category:English economists]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Sheffield]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Bristol]]
[[Category:University of Mumbai faculty]]
[[Category:Deaths from cholera]]

Percy Anstey - Revision history

>Lettler: Adding local short description: "British actor", overriding Wikidata description "British actor and economist" (Shortdesc helper)