&c. ii.
278-284) there is some measure of truth in this assertion, but the work as
a whole is untrustworthy.

BYRON, HENRY JAMES (1834-1884), English playwright, son of Henry Byron, at
one time British consul at Port-au-Prince, was born in Manchester in
January 1834. He entered the Middle Temple as a student in 1858, with the
intention of devoting his time to play-writing. He soon ceased to make any
pretence of legal study, and joined a provincial company as an actor. In
this line he never made any real success; and, though he continued to act
for years, chiefly in his own plays, he had neither originality nor charm.
Meanwhile he wrote assiduously, and few men have produced so many pieces of
so diverse a nature. He was the first editor of the weekly comic paper,
_Fun_, and started the short-lived _Comic Trials_. His first successes were
in burlesque; but in 1865 he joined Miss Marie Wilton (afterwards Lady
Bancroft) in the management of the Prince of Wales's theatre, near
Tottenham Court Road. Here several of his pieces, comedies and
extravaganzas were produced with success; but, upon his severing the
partnership two years later, and starting management on his own account in
the provinces, he was financially unfortunate. The commercial success of
his life was secured with _Our Boys_, which was played at the Vaudeville
from January 1875 till April 1879--a then unprecedented "run." _The Upper
Crust_, another of his successes, gave a congenial opportunity to Mr J.L.
Toole for one of his [v.04 p.0906] inimitably broad character-sketches.
During the last few years of his life Byron was in frail health; he died in
Clapham on the 11th of April 1884. H.J. Byron was the author of some of the
most popular stage pieces of his day. Yet his extravaganzas have no wit but
that of violence; his rhyming couplets are without polish, and decorated
only by forced and often pointless puns. His sentiment had T.W. Robertson's
insipidity without its freshness, and restored an element of vulgarity
which his predecessor had laboured to eradicate from theatrical tradition.
He could draw a "Cockney" character with some fidelity, but his _dramatis
personae_ were usually mere puppets for the utterance of his jests. Byron
was also the author of a novel, _Paid in Full_ (1865), which appeared
originally in _Temple Bar_. In his social relations he had many friends,
among whom he was justly popular for geniality and imperturbable good
temper.

BYRON, JO