The Birth of Dion Boucicault

THE BIRTH OF DION BOUCICAULT SINCE THE DEATH IN 1890 OF THE Irish-American playwright Dion Boucicault1 and especially since his entry in The Dictionary of National Biography~ there have existed two versions of his birth date: 26 December 1820 or 20 December 1822. During the last half of his life Boucicault himself daimed that he was eighteen when London Assurance was produced on 4 March 1841, and in an article for The Nonh American ReV'iew he stated that he was born on 26 December 1822.2 An unofficial substantiation of this date as well as of his legitimacy has rested upon The Career of Dion Boucicault~ a pamphlet or booklet by Charles Lamb Kenney,3 Boucicault's schoolfellow and life-long friend. Kenney's affirmation cannot be accepted, however, because he did not write the booklet. Boucicault wrote it and Kenney signed his name, according to Louise Thorndyke, Boudcault 's third wife.4 Labelling it absurd to trust the fiction that he was so young when he wrote London Assurance, Boucicault's biographer, Townsend Walsh, prefers 1820. A few of the dramatist's friends believed that he was born five to ten years earlier, among them Nym Crinkle (the pseudonym of Andrew Carpenter Wheeler), the deft and usually reliable critic, who knew Boucicault for more than a quarter of a century. The parents of Boucicault-Samuel Smith Boursiquot and Anna Maria Darley-were married at the Protestant St. Thomas's Church, Dublin, on 29 July 1813.5 The bride was about eighteen and the groom about forty-four.6 There is no question that Dion was the youngest of four sons. A copy of his father's wi1l7 refers to William Smith as the eldest son, to the twins George Darley and Arthur as the next in line, and to Dion as his "youngest son," which may be 1 The family, French in ongm, originally spelled its name Boursiquot. Dion and his mother changed this to Bourcicault, and eventually Dion changed his name to Boucicault. Since his father is always referred to as Boursiquot, this spelling will be used to designate both Dion's father and mother, and the spelling Boucicault will designate the playwright. 2 "The Debut of a Dramatist," CXLVIII (April 1889), 457. 3 New York: The Graphic Co., n.d. 4 I am indebted to Mr. Joseph Trachtman, executor of the estate of Louise Thorndyke Boucicault, who let me examine a few of her effects. 5 A coPy of the marriage certificate is in my possession. '6 Mrs. Boursiquot's birth date is computed from the age given on her death certificate and Mr. Boursiquot's from the age entered on his burial certificate. 7 This is not a certified copy but a typed coPy of the will made ca. 1902 and furnished me by Christopher Calthrop, great-grandson of Dion Boucicault. 157 158 MODERN DRAMA September taken as proof either that Dion was legitimate or that Samuel Smith Boursiquot was upholding the virtue of his wife. According to William Smith's death certificate, he died on 14 June 1881 at the age of sixty-two. If his age was given correctly, he was born in 1819, presumably early in the year. According to the death certificate of George Darley, he died on 1 July 1902 at eighty-three. If his age was given correctly, he and his twin Arthur were also born in 1819, late in the year. Therefore, Dian could not have been born before 1820. A search in Dublin to establish the birth date and the legitimacy or illegitimacy of Boucicault proved fruitless since public registration of births did not commence until 1864 and since so many baptismal and other records were destroyed during the "troubles" of 1916-1922. However, the unusual circumstances surrounding the case of Boucicault versus Hart in 1842 in a London court of law afford a solution to the problem. Boucicault had applied to the defendant John Hart, a tailor, for clothes in payment of which he drew a bill of exchange dated 15 June 1841. When it came to maturity Boucicault dishonored it and action being brought against him he suffered judgment by default. Since he now...