Augustus Harris - Catherine Street, London, UK - Statues of Historic Figures on Waymarking.com

There is little on the memorial that gives an insight as to whom it is for other than the name Augustus Harris. The name of the sculptor is scribed into the terracotta between the cherubs.

The memorial was designed by Sir Thomas Brock and is a bronze bust in terracotta surround, incorporating a drinking fountain. It was unveiled on 1st November 1897 by the Lord Mayor of London and is situated on a corner of the Drury Lane Theatre.

Sir Augustus Harris was manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane during its heyday from 1873 to 1896. He died of exhaustion at the early age of forty-four. The Prince of Wales was patron of the memorial committee, which decided to erect a drinking fountain with a bronze bust of Harris by Brock.

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Augustus Frederick Glossop Harris (5 June 1825 – 19 April 1873) was a British actor and theatre manager.

Born in Naples, Italy, in 1825 he was the son of Joseph Glossop, first manager of the Royal Coburg Theatre (now known as the Victoria Theatre or the Old Vic), and opera singer Mme Féron (aka Fearon), a former prima donna assoluta at La Scala in Milan.

His early career saw limited success as a comedian in London and Augustus Glossop was imprisoned for bankruptcy in June 1848. By 1851 he had adopted the name Augustus Harris.

He became a leading manager of opera and ballet, notably at Covent Garden, London, but also in Paris, Berlin and St Petersburg. He wrote the libretto, with Edmund Falconer, for the opera The Rose of Castille; with music by Michael William Balfe, it was produced on Broadway in 1867. In the last four years of his life, he put on Christmas spectacles at Covent Garden.

He married Maria Ann Bone on 17 February 1846. He died in 1873 and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.

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