John Drinkwater photographs

This material is held atUniversity of Birmingham, Cadbury Research Library, Special Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 150 MS235
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1913-1930s
  • Language of Material
    • English
  • Physical Description
    • English

Scope and Content

Four photographs featuring John Drinkwater at various times throughout his career as an actor, director, playwright and poet.

Administrative / Biographical History

John Drinkwater (1882-1937, poet, playwright, actor, director) was born at Leytonstone, Essex, on 1 June 1882. On meeting Barry Jackson with whom he bonded over their love of theatre he left his office job in Nottingham. Together they established an amateur theatre company in 1907 called the Pilgrim Players and turned it into a professional company by erecting a theatre building of their own, calling it the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. It opened in 1913 with a production of Twelfth Night. He left Birmingham in 1918 to take his own play 'Abraham Lincoln' to London and onto New York. From then on he continued to write and produce many plays and published poetry.

Source: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online Accessed: 15/11/06

Access Information

Open, access to all registered researchers

Other Finding Aids

Conditions Governing Use

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director, Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. The Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Custodial History

Former location: MSS 1/vi/2

Related Material

Birmingham University Special Collections department holds a number of items pertaining to the life and career of John Drinkwater. The Drinkwater Collection (ref. JD) consists of a small collection of manuscript poems, the Theatre Collection (ref. MS38) contains files of reviews and publicity regarding a number of his plays and various letters are dispersed within other collections held by Special Collections. MS236 contains letters of John Drinkwater's wife, Daisy Kennedy.

Associated Materials

The archives of Sir Barry Jackson and the Birmingham Repertory Theatre company can be found at Birmingham City Archives, Central Library.