Alice Chapin

Alice Chapin or Alice Ferris (August 28, 1857 – July 5, 1934) was an American actress, playwright and suffragette active in England. She returned to America and played roles in silent films.

Alice Chapin
BornAugust 28, 1857
Keene, New Hampshire
DiedJuly 5, 1934 (Aged 76)
Keene, New Hampshire
NationalityUnited States of America
Spouse(s)Harvey Merrill Ferris
Children2

Life

Chapin was born in Keene, New Hampshire, to Ephraim Atlas Chapin, who had interests in the railroad, and to Josephine, née Clark. Alice had an elder brother Alfred,[1] who was elected as a Democrat to the 52nd United States Congress.

After 1868 she moved to Brooklyn, where she was successful in amateur dramatics whilst her brother became a successful politician and lawyer. She made an unsuccessful marriage with a realtor, and her name was briefly Ellis until she obtained a divorce in June 1888. She now had a son, Harold Chapin, and she moved to England taking with her a large inheritance from her mother. In England she had another daughter named Elsie Chapin.[1]

In London her new life involved professional acting. She appeared in important productions, including one production, The Websters, with Harold and his wife to be, Calypso Valetta, at the Royalty Theatre. On a more amateur and political basis she was an active member of the Actresses' Franchise League. The league included many notable actresses amongst their members, and with their help the League produced suffrage plays. Chapin wrote and adapted some of the plays.[1]

Chapin was also a militant suffragette within the Women's Freedom League, and she was sentenced to jail in 1911. She and Alison Neilans splashed chemicals over the ballot papers in the 1909 Bermondsey by-election.[1] The protest was intended to highlight that the Prime Minister had refused to see a deputation. Chapin was successful in damaging many ballot papers and Neilans damaged a few. All of the ballot papers were still readable and John Dumphreys was elected. However, presiding officer George Thorley had the chemicals splashed in his eye. At their trials the doctors said that Thorley may have a haze over his eyes for life.[2] The suffragettes believed that Thorley had exaggerated his injury and the damage that may have been done was due to him applying ammonia after the incident in an attempt to alleviate any damage.[3]

Chapin and Neilans were tried at the Old Bailey, and Neilans later published an account of their defence.[4] Chapin was given a larger sentence than Neilans, but she was released two days after her under the "King's Pardon".[3]

Meanwhile, her son, Harold, was following in her career. He was acting but also writing and staging plays in London. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps despite being an American. He was wounded and killed whilst volunteering to fetch the wounded at the Battle of Loos in 1915. The loss of his talent was compared to the death of Rupert Brooke. Alice appeared alongside Gerald du Maurier, Sydney Fairbrother, and Calypso Valetta in a memorial presentation of four of his plays. One of the plays, The Philosopher of Butterbiggens, was later recreated in Provincetown, Massachusetts, with Elsie Chapin as the director.[5]

Alice Chapin returned to America and by 1917 was appearing in silent films. She had a number of appearances until 1925 alongside other actors including Bebe Daniels and Gladys Leslie.

Chapin died in Keene, New Hampshire, in 1934.[1]

Plays
  • Shame (with E.H.C. Oliphant 1892)
  • The Wrong Legs (1896)
  • A Knight Errant (1906)
  • The Happy Medium (with P. Gaye, 1909)
  • Outlawed (Court, 1911) a dramatisation, with Mabel Collins, of the novel by Collins and Women's Freedom League leader Charlotte Despard.

Partial filmography
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References
  1. Maggie B. Gale, 'Chapin, Harold (1886–1915)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2015 accessed 9 Nov 2017
  2. "Centenary of Bermondsey suffragette protest". London SE1. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  3. "The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Suffragette, by E. Sylvia Pankhurst". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
  4. Alison Neilans (c. 1910). The Ballot Box Protest, [and the Trial of Mrs. Chapin and Miss Neilans, at the Central Criminal Court]: Defence at Old Bailey. Women's Freedom League.
  5. "The Philosopher of Butterbiggens". www.provincetownplayhouse.com. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
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