Lily Hanbury

A cabinet card portrait of the British actress Lily Hanbury (1874-1908).

Born Lily Alcock in 1874, she was educated in London, she made her stage début in 1888 in W.S. Gilbert’s Pygmalion and Galatea at the Savoy Theatre. She reached the peak of her popularity playing Shakespearean roles, mainly under the management of Wilson Barrett and Beerbohm Tree.

She died on 5 March 1908 from medical complications following the delivery of a still-born child. Following cremation, her ashes were interred at the Jewish Cemetery in Willesden.

Lily's younger sister Hilda, also an actress and one time member of Herbert Beerbohm Tree's theatrical company, is the grandmother of Edward Fox and great-grandmother of Emilia Fox and Laurence Fox.

Photographed by the London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company.