The famed Shakespearean actress who moved to Blue Earth, Minnesota
Margaret Somerville, later Margaret Bunn, was a Shakespearean actress who gained notoriety in 19th-century London and spent her final years in southern Minnesota.
Courtesy of Randall Anderson
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In honor of the 459th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare, we have a little history nugget for you.
There are surprising historical connections to be gleaned from small-town graveyards, like the link between one of the great Shakespearean actresses of the London stage in the early 1800s and the town of Blue Earth in southern Minnesota.
MPR News host Cathy Wurzer talked with Randy Anderson, executive director of the Faribault County Historical Society, about the story of Margaret Bunn.
Shakespearean actor Margaret Bunn is buried in Blue Earth, Minn.
Courtesy of Randall Anderson
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: This weekend, theater lovers marked the 459th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare. And in honor of that, we have a little history nugget for you. There's a connection between one of the great Shakespearean actresses of the London stage in the early 1800s and the town of Blue Earth in southern Minnesota. As part of our Minnesota Now and Then segment, we are joined by Randy Anderson. He's the executive director of the Faribault County Historical Society who has tipped us off to this. You've got the greatest stories, Randy. How the heck are you?
RANDY ANDERSON: Hey, Cathy. It's great to talk to you again. We're great down here. I enjoyed your previous story. I'm just west of Freeborn County, so I should probably go help plants and trees this weekend.
CATHY WURZER: You should. She's looking for help. Meg is looking for help. Thank you. We'll put you in touch, Randy. OK, so we don't have a whole lot of time. Tell us about the actress you discovered, Margaret Bunn.
RANDY ANDERSON: Margaret Bunn. Well, she was born in Scotland in 1799, moved with her family to London in 1807, and lived within a couple of miles of the Great West End theater district. And so she apparently in her youth was quite a little actress of her own.
And she got an audition with one of the two great theater companies in London at the time-- Drury Lane and Covent Garden were the two. And she had an audition before the Drury Lane committee, didn't go well. The following year, 1816, she had another audition, and this time the great romantic poet Lord Byron was part of the audition committee.
Apparently, he liked what he saw, and they immediately offered her a contract. And she joined the company that was led by the great Shakespearean actor of the era, Edmund Keene, and within a month was on stage premiering a new play before an audience of about 3,000 people. And that was the beginning of her theatrical career.
CATHY WURZER: And she was something, too. I mean, she was very famous in her time. Her life off stage, I understand, was pretty dramatic, too.
RANDY ANDERSON: Very scandalous. She featured in a number of great Shakespearean roles-- Lady Macbeth, primarily. And I can only imagine what it must have been like to hear her on stage with her Glaswegian accent. I'm sure she had one. She bounced around. She had some difficulties with the management of the theater that Keene was part of. He was not a very pleasant guy and made it difficult for her.
And so she toured the provincial circuit, which was common at the time. Basically, they would go to Bath, Leeds, York-- these companies. And they would stay in residence for several weeks at a time, and so for instance, she would have to learn a dozen leading roles for an eight to 10 week season in a particular town.
And she met a stage manager at this time, a fellow named Alfred Bunn, who was a bit of a notorious character himself. Apparently, he used to get in fistfights with the actors he managed. Anyway, she married him, and then it appears that marriage was not a happy one, and she caught the eye of an elder man who was a nobleman named Lord Barclay.
And they began an affair, openly lived together starting in 1825. And the word is that her husband may have facilitated this in order to have his own assignation with a young actress in the company. So it was kind of a social scandal.
CATHY WURZER: Wow. It is a scandal. OK, I've got about a minute left. So she came to Blue Earth of all places. I know her grandson wanted to be a farmer, so he picked a point on the map and moved here. So she lived here how long till she died?
RANDY ANDERSON: Just for a handful of years. She moved here in 1875, and she died in December of 1882. And unfortunately, the issue of the Blue Earth newspaper is missing for the week they would have held her obituary. But when her daughter died, that obituary had a real interesting teaser-- because I wonder, how much did the people in Blue Earth know about her past?
And in that obituary, it's written that Margaret Boone was a leading Shakespearean artist of London and probably would have been a leading star had she not early in life married Alfred Bunn. So clearly, people around here knew her story. I wish I knew more about the few years she spent here, but she was a very important figure for a short period of time-- but a very important figure in stage history and Shakespearean history in the 19th century.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, Randy. Job well done on Margaret Bunn. Thank you. We'll have you back soon.
RANDY ANDERSON: Absolutely. Thanks, Cathy. Bye.
CATHY WURZER: Randy Anderson is the executive director of the Faribault County Historical Society in Blue Earth.
RANDY ANDERSON: Hey, Cathy. It's great to talk to you again. We're great down here. I enjoyed your previous story. I'm just west of Freeborn County, so I should probably go help plants and trees this weekend.
CATHY WURZER: You should. She's looking for help. Meg is looking for help. Thank you. We'll put you in touch, Randy. OK, so we don't have a whole lot of time. Tell us about the actress you discovered, Margaret Bunn.
RANDY ANDERSON: Margaret Bunn. Well, she was born in Scotland in 1799, moved with her family to London in 1807, and lived within a couple of miles of the Great West End theater district. And so she apparently in her youth was quite a little actress of her own.
And she got an audition with one of the two great theater companies in London at the time-- Drury Lane and Covent Garden were the two. And she had an audition before the Drury Lane committee, didn't go well. The following year, 1816, she had another audition, and this time the great romantic poet Lord Byron was part of the audition committee.
Apparently, he liked what he saw, and they immediately offered her a contract. And she joined the company that was led by the great Shakespearean actor of the era, Edmund Keene, and within a month was on stage premiering a new play before an audience of about 3,000 people. And that was the beginning of her theatrical career.
CATHY WURZER: And she was something, too. I mean, she was very famous in her time. Her life off stage, I understand, was pretty dramatic, too.
RANDY ANDERSON: Very scandalous. She featured in a number of great Shakespearean roles-- Lady Macbeth, primarily. And I can only imagine what it must have been like to hear her on stage with her Glaswegian accent. I'm sure she had one. She bounced around. She had some difficulties with the management of the theater that Keene was part of. He was not a very pleasant guy and made it difficult for her.
And so she toured the provincial circuit, which was common at the time. Basically, they would go to Bath, Leeds, York-- these companies. And they would stay in residence for several weeks at a time, and so for instance, she would have to learn a dozen leading roles for an eight to 10 week season in a particular town.
And she met a stage manager at this time, a fellow named Alfred Bunn, who was a bit of a notorious character himself. Apparently, he used to get in fistfights with the actors he managed. Anyway, she married him, and then it appears that marriage was not a happy one, and she caught the eye of an elder man who was a nobleman named Lord Barclay.
And they began an affair, openly lived together starting in 1825. And the word is that her husband may have facilitated this in order to have his own assignation with a young actress in the company. So it was kind of a social scandal.
CATHY WURZER: Wow. It is a scandal. OK, I've got about a minute left. So she came to Blue Earth of all places. I know her grandson wanted to be a farmer, so he picked a point on the map and moved here. So she lived here how long till she died?
RANDY ANDERSON: Just for a handful of years. She moved here in 1875, and she died in December of 1882. And unfortunately, the issue of the Blue Earth newspaper is missing for the week they would have held her obituary. But when her daughter died, that obituary had a real interesting teaser-- because I wonder, how much did the people in Blue Earth know about her past?
And in that obituary, it's written that Margaret Boone was a leading Shakespearean artist of London and probably would have been a leading star had she not early in life married Alfred Bunn. So clearly, people around here knew her story. I wish I knew more about the few years she spent here, but she was a very important figure for a short period of time-- but a very important figure in stage history and Shakespearean history in the 19th century.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, Randy. Job well done on Margaret Bunn. Thank you. We'll have you back soon.
RANDY ANDERSON: Absolutely. Thanks, Cathy. Bye.
CATHY WURZER: Randy Anderson is the executive director of the Faribault County Historical Society in Blue Earth.
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