English actresses, youngest and eldest daughters, respectively, of the Rev. R. N. Barnes, Prebendary of Exeter cathedral.
Violet Vanbrugh was born at Exeter on the 11th of June 1867, and married Mr. Arthur Bourchier, the actor, in 1894, their marriage being dissolved in 1918. She first appeared in London at the Criterion theatre in 1886, and later toured with Toole. In 1889 she was with the Kendals both in London and in America, and in 1892 played Anne Boleyn at the Lyceum in Henry Irving’s production of Henry VIII. After her marriage she played leading parts in many of her husband’s productions, both in Shakespearean and modern drama. Amongst her rôles may be mentioned Queen Katherine, Portia, Lady Macbeth (which she also played in 1911 at His Majesty’s theatre), Yanetta in The Arm of the Law, and the heroines of many modern comedies by Sutro, Henry Arthur Jones and others.
Irene Vanbrugh was born at Exeter on the 2nd of December 1872 and married Mr. Dion Boucicault (1859–1929), the actor, in 1901. She first appeared in London at the Globe theatre in Alice in Wonderland. Like her sister she played with Toole, remaining with him for four years and touring with him in Australia. Subsequently she acted with George Alexander at the St. James’s theatre, with Arthur Bourchier at the Royalty and with Charles Wyndham at the Criterion in Jones’s play The Liars. Her first notable successes were as Sophy Fullgarney in Pinero’s The Gay Lord Quex (1899), Letty Shell in his Letty (1904) and Nina Jesson in His House in Order (1906). She also appeared with distinction in various short plays by Barrie, especially Rosalind and The Twelve Pound Look, and in other modern dramas.
