Painted by Augustus Earle (1826). Courtesy of Art Gallery of South Australia
Levey Barnett_A8sz_thumbnail.jpg
Painted by Augustus Earle (1826). Courtesy of Art Gallery of South Australia

 

Levey Barnett_A8sz.JPG
Barnett Levey (11 works by) (a.k.a. Barnett Levy )
Born: Established: 1798 London ; Died: 2 Oct 1837 Inner Sydney
Gender: Male
Arrived in Australia: Dec 1821
Heritage: Jewish
Expand me! ADB Irvin - Theatre comes to Australia Levi, et al. - Australian Genesis Levey died at his home in George St, Sydney. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page4259979 (In this death notice, and on several other occasions, Levey's name is spelt Levy. I've made it an aka.) TW 06/03/2012

BiographyHistory

A colonial entrepreneur, Barnett Levey was heavily involved in the cultural life of New South Wales in the 1820s and 1830s, and was responsible for the establishment of the Theatre Royal in 1833 - (arguably) 'the first real theatre in Australia'.

Source: George F. J. Bergman, 'Levey, Barnett (1798 - 1837)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2, Melbourne University Press, 1967, pp 108-110.

Notes

  • See also the full Australian Dictionary of Biography Online entry for Barnett Levey (1798-1837).
  • The June 1933 issue of The Home includes 'October Centenary' (by D. B.), a brief section noting that an 'Australian centenary which should not be overlooked by the theatrical world is due for celebration in October next. In December, 1832, Barnett Levey opened a theatre in a salon of the Royal Hotel, Sydney...This was only a temporary affair, and on October 5, 1833, he opened what was Sydney's first permanent theatre'. (appears in the topical monthly column, 'Contributed Comments')