John Brunton (15 May 1849 – 22 July 1909) was a Scottish scenic artist who worked in theatres in Britain and Australia. Brunton was brought to Australia in 1886 by the theatrical partnership of Williamson, Garner and Musgrove. From about the mid-1890s he worked on productions by Bland Holt, known for his spectacular touring productions of melodramas and pantomimes. Brunton died in July 1909 in Sydney. He was the father of the popular actress, Dorothy Brunton.
Biography
Early years
John Brunton was born on 15 May 1849 in Edinburgh, the son of John and Margaret Brunton.NSW death registration: John Brunton; reg. no.: 7819/1909; reg. district: Sydney. He was educated at the Royal High School in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh (north of The Canongate). As a boy Brunton "showed such a passionate inclination towards drawing and painting, that his father prudently allowed him to suit his own tastes in choosing a profession".Mr. John Brunton, Table Talk (Melbourne), 20 September 1889, pages 5-6.D. H. Souter (1909), John Brunton: Scenic Artist and Painter, Art and Architecture, Vol. 6 No. 4 (July - August 1909), pages 103-108.
In about 1862 Brunton, aged thirteen years, was articled to William Glover as an apprentice scenic painter. Glover was a leading scenic artist, based in Glasgow. Brunton spent seven years with Glover in Glasgow, "learning every detail of his profession, and becoming a great favourite with Glover". As well as his artistic skills, William Glover "was an enthusiastic devotee" of both fencing and boxing and instilled a love of these sports onto his young protégé ("who proved no dullard"). As Brunton progressed at fencing "the two scene painters – master and pupil – to show their skill to an admiring world, gave the famous broadsword combat in Rob Roy in public during a revival of that play". This appearance was such a success that soon afterwards they played the Corsican Brothers at a benefit performance, "when the great duel scene was made their special effort". This proved so popular that Glover and Brunton "played the piece for a fortnight – more for devilment and pleasure than for profit". Glover had a custom whereby each year he took his apprentices "to some selected spot in the Western Highlands, where they encamped for a few weeks, living a delightfully Bohemian existence".
Brunton also studied painting under Sam Bough. Bough worked as a scene painter with William Glover in the mid-1860s at the Theatre Royal in Dunlop Street, Glasgow.The Theatre Royal, Dunlop Street, Glasgow, Arthur Lloyd.co.uk: The Music Hall and Theatre History Site website; accessed 9 January 2023.
In 1867 Brunton, aged eighteen, probably had a relationship with an actress of about the same age named Georgina Duncan. In October 1867, in the Blythswood area of Glasgow, Duncan gave birth to a daughter, born out of wedlock.Carolina Brunton Duncan, born 16 October 1867 at Blythswood, Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland; mother: Georgina Duncan (Scotland: Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950; Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013).Family records, Ancestry.com. The child was named Carolina and raised by her mother with the surname Brunton.1871 Scotland Census: Household of Elizabeth Gillespie (Georgina Duncan's maternal grandmother), 127 South Wellington Street, Hutchesontown, Glasgow; Parish: Glasgow Govan; ED: 7; Page: 16; Line: 7; Roll: CSSCT1871_140. When Carolina Brunton married in March 1888, aged 21, she recorded her father's details as "John Brunton, Scenic Artist, Deceased".Marriage registration (16 March 1888): John L. J. Brough & Carolina Brunton; No. 654/22; Rutherglen district (South Lanarkshire, Scotland).
Scenic artist
After his seven-year apprenticeship with Glover, Brunton was engaged as a scenic artist for twelve months at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth, county Devon. He painted scenery for a pantomime performed at Christmas 1869 and early in 1870.
During this period John Brunton married Sarah Hotchkis, a young woman he had met in Glasgow. The couple were married in April 1870 at Plymouth.Civil Registration Marriage Index, Marriages registered from April to June 1870, page 113. John and Sarah Brunton had three children: Robert (born in about 1872 in Scotland), Frederick (born in 1878 in Liverpool) and Jessie (born in 1881 in Liverpool).1881 England Census: Registration district: West Derby, Lancashire; Class: RG11; Piece: 3704; Folio: 119; Page: 9; GSU roll: 1341887. The youngest child, Jessie, died as an infant in May 1882.Liverpool Record Office, Liverpool Cemetery Registers: Reference: 352 Cem 2/2/5; cemetery: Necropolis (Low Hill).
After a year in Plymouth, Brunton returned to Edinburgh during 1870 to work at the Theatre Royal in Broughton Street, managed by Charles Wyndham.The Theatre Royal, Broughton Street, Top of Leith Walk, Edinburgh, Scotland, Arthur Lloyd.co.uk: The Music Hall and Theatre History Site website; accessed 13 January 2023. The principal scenic artist at the Edinburgh Theatre Royal was William Gordon, father of George Gordon (a scenic artist who Brunton would later work with in Australia).Judy Leech (10 February 2018), 'JCW: A Scenic Tour', Theatre Heritage Australia Inc. website; accessed 14 December 2022. Brunton remained at Edinburgh for about four years.
In about 1876 Brunton took up a position at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Liverpool.The Royal Alexandra Theatre and Opera House, Liverpool ( 1867), Arthur Lloyd.co.uk: The Music Hall and Theatre History Site website; accessed 13 January 2023.Mr. John Brunton, the scenic artist..., The Lorgnette (Melbourne), 5 June 1886, page 4. He remained in Liverpool for nine years, a period Brunton later described "as the happiest time in his life". As well as painting scenery "for the usual dramatic pieces and the yearly pantomime (nine in all)", he also produced work for a number of Shakespearian productions. At his scene-painting studio in Liverpool, Brunton maintained a social space which his friends and acquaintances kept "well supplied with cigars and light refreshments of a spiritous kind". Part of the room was set up as "a shooting gallery". Another fixture of the room was a couple of trapezes, where the company engaged in "an amusement they termed the 'Battle of the Trapeze', another invention of the wily Brunton".
At the time of the 1881 census John and Sarah Brunton and their children were living at 73 Crown Street in Liverpool.
During his period in Liverpool, Brunton probably maintained links with the Theatre Royal in Edinburgh. He produced the scenery for J. M. Campbell's drama Through My Heart First, performed at the Edinburgh Theatre Royal from about March 1884. A critic for the Edinburgh Courant newspaper commented on the scenery in the play (which was described as "most effective"): "So conscious were the audience of this that at the commencement of each act the artist was called for".Theatre Royal - Through My Heart First (advertisement), Edinburgh Courant, 21 March 1884, page 1.
By 1885 or earlier Brunton had formed a relationship with Cecily Christina Neilsen (known as 'Cissy'), who had been a Shakespearean actress in Edinburgh.Mrs. C. Brunton, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 June 1933, page 15. By the time Brunton and Cecily Neilsen departed for Australia in April 1886, Cecily was heavily-pregnant and gave birth a fortnight after the steamer left London. Brunton's wife Sarah and their two remaining children continued to live in Britain, so the implication is that Brunton deserted his wife and family.By 1891 Sarah Brunton was living with her younger sister in Scotland at Inverkip, county Renfrewshire. In the 1891 census her husband John is recorded as "not in residence" (1891 Scotland Census: Parish: Inverkip; ED: 2; Page: 26; Line: 15; Roll: CSSCT1891_184). Sarah Brunton lived until January 1910 and there is no record of a divorce (nor is there a record of any marriage between Brunton and Cecily Neilsen). Upon arriving in Australia, Cecily was assumed to be "Mrs. John Brunton".Shipping Intelligence. The Argus (Melbourne), 31 May 1886, page 4.
During his residency in Liverpool Brunton exhibited "a collection of his pictures" at Agnew's Art Gallery in London, for which he received favourable reviews. In 1886 one of his paintings was hung in the Royal Academy.
In 1886 the Australian theatrical production partnership of Williamson, Garner and Musgrove, based in Melbourne, engaged Brunton to travel to Australia to work for the partnership as a scenic artist. Australian newspaper reports anticipating Brunton's arrival described him as "an artist of distinction".Since the advent of George Gordon..., South Australian Advertiser (Adelaide), 12 May 1886, page 5. In March 1886, prior to his departure for Australia, Brunton exhibited a collection of his paintings, comprising landscapes and seascapes, at the Liverpool Art Gallery. In a review of the exhibition a critic writing in the theatrical trade journal, The Era, described Brunton's work as possessing "a fanciful imagination and an ardent love of nature" supported by "solid technical acquirements gained in the best school".
A farewell gathering in Brunton's honour was held by the Liverpool Press Club on 1 April 1886, followed by another at the Grand Hotel.
To Australia
Brunton and the heavily-pregnant Cecily left London for Australia on 15 April 1886 aboard the R.M.S. Garonne, a mail steamer of the Orient Steam Navigation Company line. The steamer reached Port Said on April 29 where Cecily gave birth to a son (which the couple named John). "Mr. and Mrs. John Brunton" and their infant son arrived in Melbourne on 30 May 1886.World War I service record:
The initial engagement of Brunton by Messrs. Williamson, Garner and Musgrove was to take the place of George Gordon during Gordon's "temporary absence".Mr. John Brunton, scenic artist.... The Argus (Melbourne), 31 May 1886, page 5. In late-April 1886 the scenic artist, George Gordon returned to England for a five-month period, "partly for the sake of his health, which has suffered by his indefatigable industry and application; and partly to regain touch of the progress of pictorial art in Europe".Mr. Gordon's Benefit, The Argus (Melbourne), 19 February 1886, page 6; By the mail steamer Iberia..., The Argus, 3 May 1886, page 7.
With Williamson, Garner and Musgrove
In early October 1886 the "nautical opera" Billee Taylor made its Australian premiere at the Theatre Royal in Sydney (which included in the cast the newly-arrived English comedian William Elton in the role of 'Ben Barnacle').Theatre Royal, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 9 October 1886, page 746. The operetta featured scenery by John Brunton as backdrop for each of its two acts: (Act I) a "village on Southampton water" ("the blue waters rippling on the sands, the mountains in the distance, and the cottage homes stretching away to the right") and (Act II) a view of Portsmouth harbour ("with stately ships at rest, the massive batteries in front").Amusements: Theatre Royal, Sydney Morning Herald, 11 October 1886, page 8; Theatre Royal (advertisement), Sydney Morning Herald, 14 October 1886, page 2.
On 27 December 1886 Williamson, Garner and Musgrove's production of Robinson Crusoe, written and arranged by Alfred Maltby, opened at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne. According to advertisements, the pantomime was "gorgeously illustrated with magnificent scenery" by Brunton, who had been employed "upon this work for upwards of six months".Theatre Royal Pantomime (advertisement), The Age (Melbourne), 21 December 1886, page 8. Advertisements for Robinson Crusoe during January 1887 attributed the scenery for the pantomime to both Brunton and John Hennings, a fellow scenic artist.Theatre Royal, The Lorgnette (Melbourne), 25 January 1887, page 1.
During 1887 Brunton was involved in the following theatrical productions: