John W. Anson

John William Anson
Sketch of the actor, printed in The Illustrated Sporting News in 1862
Born	(1817-07-31)31 July 1817 London
Died	6 February 1881(1881-02-06) (aged 63) London
Occupation	Actor
Spouse(s)	Barbara Johnson

John W. Anson (31 July 1817 – 6 February 1881) was a British actor, noted for his work for the welfare of actors.

At 20 he was a member of the "Garrick Amateur Club" in Cambridge, where he played leading roles. He began his professional career in 1843 at the Theatre Royal, Bath in the play The Wonder by Susanna Centlivre, in the role of Lissardo.

He appeared in Southampton and York, and later at the Theatre Royal in Belfast, where he spent four years.

On 27 December 1846 in Belfast he married Scottish actress Barbara Johnson, who with her brother, actor Samuel Johnson (c.1830-1900) was appearing there. The three, together with two others from the Belfast company, moved to Scotland where they formed a new company, of which John Anson was manager. From early 1847 in the Perth area, they appeared in towns with a repertory of plays so that the audience of each town could see several plays in a week. Barbara Anson took the lead female roles, and John Anson and Samuel Johnson shared the low comedy parts.

Late in 1847 they played in the Dundee area. While in Montrose in November 1847, John and Barbara Anson's son George W. Anson, who became a notable actor, was born. In 1850 the company moved to Inverness.

In 1853 John Anson and his family moved to London, where his first appearance was at Astley's Amphitheatre; he played there the Shakespearean role of Falstaff, and Bailie Nicol Jarvie in a dramatization of Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy.

In December 1857 his wife Barbara died of tuberculosis.

He was involved with the Adelphi Theatre, which was managed by Benjamin Webster, for many years; he was treasurer of the theatre from 1859–71 and 1873-74.