Event Comment: [Henderson's 1st appearance on the stage was as Hamlet, at Bath, 6 Oct. 1772. In I.iv "after the short ejaculation of 'Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!' he endeavoured to conquer that fear and terror into which he was naturally thrown by the first sight of the vision, and uttered the remainder of the address calmly, but respectfully, and with a firm tone of voice, as from one who had subdued his timidity and apprehension" (Davies, III, 30). "Palmer's Ghost would have been more in character had he given less into the rant of declamation and the bustle of stage action, which accord not with our ideas of a supernatural being; his crying, likewise, at the recital of his murder, was childish, and destroyed the solemnity of the scene' (Morning Post, 27 June).

Event Comment: Benefit for Palmer. Mainpiece: Not acted these 2 years. [In afterpiece Prologue by David Garrick.] Public Advertiser, 7 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Palmer at his house in Bow-street, Bloomsbury. Receipts: #132 16s. 6d. (55.15.0; 26.3.6; 0.8.0; tickets: 50.10.0) (charge: #75 0s. 6d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Palmer. Tickets to be had of Palmer, Bow-street, Bloomsbury

Event Comment: [In afterpiece the playbill retains Dodd, but he "having lost his Father, an apology was made for R. Palmer's playing his character in the Critic; and though the apology was a very handsome one, it is but justice to say it was unnecessary, R. Palmer acquitting himself in such a manner as did him infinite credit" (Morning Chronicle, 4 Feb.).] Receipts: #186 8s. (151.1; 33.19; 1.8)

Event Comment: Benefit for Palmer. Public Advertiser, 7 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Palmer at his house in Bow-street, Bloomsbury. Receipts: #222 19s. 6d. (116.13.0; 29.11.6; 1.8.0; tickets: 75.7.0) (charge: #71 4s. 6d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Palmer (the Lady who perform'd Calista). [Mainpiece: Prologue by Thomas Baker.] No Person to be admitted without a ticket, which may be had of Mrs Palmer, No. 13 Pierpont-Row; at the King's Head Tavern in the upper-Street; and at the place of Performance. [The date of the performance of The Fair Penitent, of which play Calista is the heroine, has not as yet come to light.

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time at a public theatre; C 3, by Elizabeth Craven, Baroness Craven, afterwards Margravine of Anspach, 1st acted privately at the Town-Hall, Newbury, 6 Apr. 1780. Text (G. Riley, 1781) assigns no parts. Prologue by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Epilogue by Joseph Jekyll (see text)]: With new Dresses, &c. "The Prologue [the first 30 lines and the concluding couplet of which were used by Sheridan as the Prologue to Pizarro (see dl, 24 May 1799)] was so much admired that at the request of the Duchess of Devonshire and several other of the nobility it was respoken after the piece; but as King was absent from the theatre, it was delivered by Palmer" (Town and Country Magazine, May 1780, p. 23 ). "The chief singularity was that [Lady Craven] went to it herself the second night, in form; sat in the middle of the front row of the stage-box, much dressed, with a profusion of white bugles and plumes, to receive the public homage due to her sex and loveliness. The Duchess of Richmond, Lady Harcourt,...Mrs Damer, Lord Craven,...and I were with her. It was amazing to see so young a woman entirely possess herself-but there is such an integrity and frankness in her consciousness of her own beauty and talents, that she speaks of them with a naivete as if she had no property in them, but only wore them as gifts of the gods. Lord Craven on the contrary was quite agitated by his fondness for her and with impatience at the bad performance of the actors, which was wretched indeed, yet the address of the plot, which is the chief merit of the piece, and some lively pencilling carried it off very well, though Parsons murdered the Scotch lord, and Mrs Robinson (who is supposed to be the favourite of the Prince of Wales) thought on nothing but her own charms, or him. There is a very good though endless prologue written by Sheridan and spoken in perfection by King, which was encored (an entire novelty) the first night: and an epilogue that I liked still better and which was full as well delivered by Mrs Abington, written by Mr. Jekyl. The audience, though very civil, missed a fair opportunity of being gallant, for in one of those ----logues, I forget which, the noble authoress was mentioned, and they did not applaud as they ought to have done, especially when she condescended to avow her pretty child and was there looking so very pretty...Yet Lady Craven's tranquillity had nothing displeasing;...and it was tempered by her infinite good nature, which made her make excuses for the actors instead of being provoked at them" (Walpole [28 May 1780], XI, 178-80). Public Advertiser, 14 July 1781: This Day at Noon will be published The Miniature Picture (price not listed). Receipts: #144 9s. (94.9; 48.3; 1.17)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 2 years. [In mainpiece the playbill assigns the Herald to Wright, but on the Kemble playbill a MS annotation substitutes R. Palmer.] Receipts: #234 1s. (213/1/0; 20/8/6; 0/11/6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Waldron. Public Advertiser, 9 May: Tickets to be had of Waldron, No. 19, Martlet-court, Bow-street, Covent Garden. Mainpiece [1st time in London; C 5, by Francis Godolphin Waldron, 1st acted at Richmond, Aug. 1782, as The Belle's Stratagem; or, The Female Fortune-Hunters, and again at the HAY in 1794 as Heigho for a Husband! Prologue by the author (MacMillan, Larpent Catalogue, 100). Author of Epilogue unknown. MS: Larpent 599; not published]. Afterpiece: Not acted these 8 years. The Indisposition which prevented King from performing last Friday continuing, Palmer has very kindly undertaken and studied the Character King intended to have appeared in this Evening. Receipts: #126 15s. 6d. (34/5/0; 21/18/6; 2/15/0; tickets: 67/17/0) (charge: #106 9s. 8d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Palmer. Gazetteer, 20 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Palmer at his house, No. 39, Goodge-street, Rathbone-place. Receipts: #287 9s. (147/8/0; 14/1/6; 0/19/6; tickets: 125/0/0) (charge: #69 7s.)

Event Comment: "We have been frequently displeased at [Palmer's] noisy extravagance of acting in many of his tragic parts, but in none more than in the character of Dionysius in that patched-up pantomimic drama entitled The Grecian Daughter" (Candid Strictures, pp. 6-7). Receipts: #279 16s. (249/8/0; 28/0/6; 1/12/6; tickets not come in: 0/15/0)