James Dance (1721 - 1774)

Born 17 Mar 1721 in Finsbury St Paul, Middlesex, England

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Hooper) Dance — married 23 Aug 1739 in London, England

Died 29 Jan 1774 at age 52 in Finsbury, Middlesex, England

Biography

He was born 17 Mar 1720/1, baptised on 23 Mar 1720/1 at St Giles Cripplegate, eldest son/child of George Dance and Elizabeth (Gould) Dance ^{[1] [2] [3]}

He entered Merchant Taylors' School in 1732 and in 1737 was admitted to St John's College, Oxford. He left without graduating and took on the assumed the name of Love (based on the name De L'Amour associated with his wife); a name he used both on and off stage until he died - indeed he was generally referred to as James Love (and not James Dance).

23 Aug 1739 a clandestine marriage was recorded at Mrs Barrots between James Dance, Gent, bachelor of St Luke Old Street & Elizabeth Hoper spinster of St Dunstans in The East ^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

He is remembered foremost as an actor, but also as a playwright, theatre manager and a poet, although it is often reported he was not regarded as particularly successful at any. He was also an amateur musician and a cricketer, being a member of Richmond Cricket Club (a leading club in the 1740s) and is famous within sporting circles for his poem: Cricket: An Heroic Poem of 1744, whose line "The strokes re-echo o'er the spacious ground" is often quoted.

He is recorded to have died of dropsy (probably = Edema) on 29 Jan 1774 ^[8] and was buried on 8 Feb 1774 in St Luke's Old Street, Finsbury ^[9]

Research Notes

Some confusion has arisen by multiple records based on various sources concerning the year his was born/baptised most records indicate 23 Mar 1721 for his baptism, of which many have been converted to 1721/2; yet due to copies of the baptism also being recorded on 23 Feb 1720; the year 1720/1 seems more probable than 1721/2 (it also fits the events in later years better).

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQLF-YDM : 21 March 2020), James Dance, 1720.
2. ↑ London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/GIS/A/002/MS06419/015
3. ↑ Ancestry.com. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
4. ↑ Ancestry.com. London, England, Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers, 1667-1754 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Registers of Clandestine Marriages and of Baptisms in the Fleet Prison, King's Bench Prison, the Mint and the May Fair Chapel. Records of the General Register Office, Government Social Survey Department, and Office of Population Censuses and Surveys, Registrar General (RG) series 7. The National Archives, Kew, England.
5. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQSP-FTT : 11 December 2014), James Dance, 29 Aug 1739, Marriage; citing p. 28, Fleet, London, record group RG7, Public Record Office, London.
6. ↑ Ancestry.com. London, England, Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers, 1667-1754 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
7. ↑ Ancestry.com. London, England, Clandestine Marriage and Baptism Registers, 1667-1754 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
8. ↑ http://www.dance-family.com/norbury.htm
9. ↑ London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P76/LUK/004/02 Ancestry uk Record 1624 #1921850 Ancestry.com. London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives.

Other Background Sources

• https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1981/31205_Vol5-00480/17906?backurl=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/person/tree/151741700/person/162020352004/facts/citation/622038180306/edit/record
• https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/7077/ChalmersBiogDict_20426?pid=493&backurl=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D7077%26h%3D493%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DzXm9473%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=zXm9473&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.253563146.203627132.1586441397-318701384.1556262848#?imageId=ChalmersBiogDict_20427
• https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1981/31205_Vol5-00480?pid=17907&backurl=https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D1981%26h%3D17907%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DzXm9473%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=zXm9473&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.194828846.203627132.1586441397-318701384.1556262848