THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Fred Mervin (1876)

[Born Leicester 1844, died London 22 May 1897]

Frederick Mervin, born Charles Marvin, made his London debut in 1870 at the Britannia as Maurice Lagarde in something called Firefly, and later played as Oscar in T. W. Robertson's War at the St. James's Theatre in 1871. Over the next decade he would appear in London and throughout the British Isles in a variety of plays and operas. These included Alfred Cellier's The Sultan of Mocha, in which he played Admiral Sneak in the premiere in Manchester (November-December 1874) and on tour in 1875.

In June 1876, Mervin was engaged to appear on tour with Mr. R. D'Oyly Carte's Opera Bouffe Company. Beginning in July, the tour included Trial by Jury with Mervin as the Learned Judge. His roles in the full-length works on that tour, which ended August 5, 1876, included Don Andres in La Perichole and Duke Ulric in The Duke's Daughter. Mervin later played the Judge in London in a non-D'Oyly Carte production at the Strand Theatre in 1877. During the latter part of the decade his London roles included the Marquis in Les Cloches de Corneville (Globe, 1878) and Hector in Madame Favart (Strand, 1879).

In 1881 Mervin was in Australia with George Musgrove's Opera Company. He ultimately returned to England, where he continued to work as an actor and, beginning in 1890, as a director and stage manager. He was managing productions at the Strand Theatre, London, up until two months before his death.

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