AustLit

English-born actor, circus performer, theatre manager/lessee, producer, director.

For more than half a century, from the 1850s, George and Rose Lewis forged high-profile careers that encompassed circus, the popular stage and theatre management in Europe, Australia, China, India and New Zealand.

Lewis (known professionally as G.B.W. Lewis), started out as a circus performer and eventually took his own companies to India before turning to the theatre after meeting his future wife, actress Rose Edouin. The couple was primarily associated with theatrical ventures in the East between 1867 and 1876, with years 1872-1876 also including tours of Australasia. They settled in Melbourne in 1876, becoming the Bijou Theatre’s first lessees, and later leased and/or managed theatres in Sydney, Melbourne and New Zealand. Lewis's career achievements included bringing an equestrian/horse circus to Melbourne, opening the building that became the Princess Theatre, building theatres in Calcutta, and being an early employer of J.C. Williamson. Lewis continued his involvement in the industry in various managerial capacities up until shortly before his death in Melbourne. He had also invested in property but ran in to financial difficulties as a result of the depression.