George Mattocks

Performing as Ferdinand in The Tempest with Ann Cargill

George Mattocks (1735–1804) was a British stage actor and singer.

He appeared at Southwark Fair in 1747 as a child performer and the following year appeared at Bartholomew Fair. Originally billed as George Maddox when he started at Drury Lane he soon altered the spelling of his name and was a regular member of the company from 1749 to 1752, also appearing at Richmond Theatre.

He was absent from the London stage for several years, appearing at Bristol's Jacobs Well Theatre before returning to join the Covent Garden company in 1757. He remained at the theatre for the next twenty five years, particularly appearing in ballad operas and other musical events, some straight comedy but almost never tragedies. In 1762 he featured in Thomas Arne's opera Artaxerxes.

In 1765 he married actress Isabella Hallam, who was afterwards billed Isabella Mattocks. Because he had previously had two children with the actress Harriet Pitt, her Isabella's guardians were opposed to the marriage so they eloped to France.

One of his final parts at Covent Garden was in John O'Keeffe's The Castle of Andalusia in 1782. He had continued to tour Britain in the summer, and was particularly associated with Liverpool and later Edinburgh, where he was stage director during his final years. He died in 1804 and was buried in Edinburgh.

Bibliography

• Gilman, Todd. The Theatre Career of Thomas Arne. Rowman & Littlefield, 2013.
• Highfill, Philip H, Burnim, Kalman A. & Langhans, Edward A. A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800: Volume 4. SIU Press, 1975.