Harris vs Harris: A Restoration Actor at the Court of Arches

Palmer, Richard and Roberts, David (2025) Harris vs Harris: A Restoration Actor at the Court of Arches. Huntington Library Quarterly, 86 (4). ISSN 0018-7895

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Abstract

Henry Harris was one of Restoration London's leading actors and theater managers, as well as a long-serving yeoman of the revels at court, engraver at the Royal Mint, and friend to Samuel Pepys. Recently discovered records at Lambeth Palace Library of the former Court of Arches shed new light on Harris's trade background as a maker of scales and seals, on his financial situation in the theater, and in particular on his troubled marriage to a woman now identified as Anne Johnson. The case of Harris v. Harris ran for four years and surfaced claims and counterclaims of abuse, coercion, drunkenness, adultery, and violence. Ultimately, Harris's social connections and poise counted in his favor. Contributing a previously unknown exemplar to the scholarship of marriage in the late seventeenth century, the case also problematizes existing narratives concerning the social status of actors in Restoration London.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	unedited draft not for citation, and has been accepted for publication in Huntington Library Quarterly
Identification Number:	10.1353/hlq.2024.a970064
Dates:	Date Event 10 October 2023 Accepted 25 September 2025 Published Online
Subjects:	CAH19 - language and area studies > CAH19-01 - English studies > CAH19-01-03 - literature in English
Divisions:	Arts > English and Media > English
Depositing User:	Gemma Tonks
Date Deposited:	14 Nov 2023 14:32
Last Modified:	28 Apr 2026 11:34
URI:	https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/14939

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