Beatrice Ferrar (25 March 1875 – 12 February 1958) was a British actress who made a speciality of playing in 18th-century dramas.

Early life Born in St Pancras in London in 1875 as Flora Beatrice Bishop to Mary S. Bishop (1836-) and Charles R. Bishop (1814–), the Managing Clerk to a firm of solicitors, she was one of three actress sisters which included Ada Ferrar (1864–1951) and Jessie Ferrar (a.k.a. Marion Bishop, 1879–1950).1881 England Census for Flora B. Bishop: London, St George Hannover Square - Ancestry.com .

She followed Ada the oldest sibling on to the stage, making an early appearance as a fairy for Frank Benson and played Richard, Duke of York in Richard III. She played Fanny Bunter in Tom Taylor's New Men and Old Acres.

Stage career

Ferrar made her London début aged 15 in 1890 as one of the Two Young Zephyrs in The Bride of Love at the Adelphi Theatre in a production that included her sister Ada FerrarJ. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books p. 19. before appearing as the 12-year-old Tow Tow in Sweet Nancy at the Lyric Theatre, playing the title role for three weeks during the run.Theatre Review and Programme for Sweet Nancy (1890) - Robert Williams Buchanan website. She joined the company of John Hare to play Beatrix Brent in Lady Bountiful at the Garrick Theatre (1891). She appeared as Milly opposite H. B. Irving in T. W. Robertson's School at the Garrick Theatre (1891),Wearing, The London Stage 1890-1899, p. 85. and was the precocious schoolgirl Mildred Selwyn opposite H. B. Irving in Sydney Grundy's A Fool's Paradise at the Garrick Theatre (1892).Wearing, The London Stage 1890-1899, p. 101. She was at the Comedy Theatre as Mrs. Robert Briscoe in The Sportsman (1892)Wearing, The London Stage 1890-1899, p. 153. and was Grace Walters in The Great Unpaid (1892)Wearing, The London Stage 1890-1899, p. 165. before playing a number of roles for Hare, Winifred Fortescue and Edward Terry on tour. With Edward Terry she acted in Love in Idleness (1896), and played the emotional child Lisa in The Squire of Dames opposite Charles Wyndham at the Criterion Theatre (1895) and Georgiana Ridout in The Matchmaker at the Shaftesbury Theatre (1896).'The Ferrar Family' - The Sketch, 16 December 1896, p. 316. She appeared in Gertrude Warden and John Wilton Jones's one act play A Woman's Proper Place (1896).

She was Irene opposite Charles Hawtrey in One Summer's Day at the Comedy Theatre (1898);Wearing, The London Stage 1890-1899, p. 155. Florry Larkins in a revival of The Club Baby at the Avenue Theatre (1898);Wearing, The London Stage 1890-1899, p. 377.Beatrice Ferrar in The Club Baby - The Library of Nineteenth-Century Photography. and Pamela Beechinor in The Manoeuvres of Jane at the Haymarket Theatre (1899).Wearing, The London Stage 1890-1899, p. 394.

Her obvious ladylike qualities somewhat prevented her from convincingly playing the vulgar music hall singer Maud St. Trevor in Hearts Are Trumps at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane (1899)Wearing, The London Stage 1890-1899, p. 424. but she had more success as Lucy in The Rivals opposite Cyril Maude'Revival of The Rivals at the Haymarket Theatre' - The Sketch, 2 May 1900, p. 65. and as Miss Constance Neville in Oliver Goldsmith’s She Stoops to Conquer, both at the Haymarket Theatre (1900)J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books p. 1. with The Era saying of her performance in the latter, "Miss Beatrice Ferrar’s Miss Neville was younger and more hoydenish than is customary; but, in practice, this proved an advantage ... In the more serious passages of the part Miss Ferrar showed how keenly acute she is by nice enunciation and by sufficiently subduing her vivacity..."The Era, London, 13 January 1900, p. 13d.

Ferrar played Lisa opposite H. B. Irving in The Twin Sister at the Duke of York's Theatre (1902);Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909, p. 85 Dolly Banter in What Would a Gentleman Do? at the Apollo Theatre (1892); Praline in the farce The Girl from Maxim's at the Criterion Theatre (1902);'In Stageland' - The Navy and Army Illustrated, 28 March 1903 p. iv. Miss Sterling opposite Allan Aynesworth in The Clandestine Wedding at the Haymarket Theatre (1903);Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909, p. 135. Amy Spencer opposite Cyril Maude in Cousin Kate at the Playhouse Theatre (1903);'Miss Beatrice Ferrar in Cousin Kate at the Haymarket Theatre' - The Tatler 9 December 1903. Mrs. Harry Tavender in Joseph Entangled (1904) at the Haymarket Theatre;Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909, p. 170. Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Adelphi Theatre (1905) opposite Oscar Asche as Bottom and Roxy Barton as Titania;A Misummer Night's Dream (1905) - Footlight Notes websitePostcard of Beatrice Ferrar and Walter Hampden in A Midsummer Night's Dream - Shakespeare and the Players - Emory University. Miss Pellender opposite Cyril Maude and Winifred Emery in The Superior Miss Pellender at the Waldorf Theatre (1906);Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909, p. 275. Miss Neville opposite Cyril Maude and Winifred Emery in She Stoops to Conquer at the Waldorf Theatre (1906);Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909, p. 280. Lucy opposite Lewis Waller in The Rivals at the Lyric Theatre (1910);J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1910-1919: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books. and Boyne in Herbert Beerbohm Tree's star-studded production of The Critic opposite Laurence Irving, Marie Tempest and Gertie Millar among others at His Majesty's Theatre (1911). In 1912 she was touring the provinces as Lucienne Bocard in The Glad Eye.The Glad Eye and An Interrupted Divorce - Leeds Playbills database.

Later years In her later years she lived in London with her younger sister, Jessie. In the 1939 England Register, she was listed as "Actress" and her sister Jessie as "Wholesale Milliner".1939 England and Wales Register for Beatrice Ferrar: London, City of Westminster - Ancestry.com .

Beatrice Ferrar died in 1958 in London. In her will she left an estate valued at £2,451 6s 3d.England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Flora Beatrice Bishop: 1958 - Ancestry.com . She never married.

References

External links Portraits of Beatrice Ferrar - National Portrait Gallery, London