BETTY

William Henry West ( only child of William Henry Betty, M.D. of Lisburn, Ireland who d. 1811 ). b. Shrews bury 13 Sep. 1791; made his début at Belfast theatre 16 Aug. 1803 as Osman in tragedy of Zara , and at Crow st. theatre Dublin 29 Nov. 1803 as Douglas; engaged at Covent Garden for 12 nights at £50 per night and a clear benefit, and at Drury Lane on intervening nights on same terms 1 Dec. 1804, after 3 nights his salary was raised to £100 per night; known as the young Roscius; fellow commoner of Christ’s college, Cambridge July 1808 to 1811; returned to the stage 1812 when he failed to draw; made his last appearance in London June 1813; took his farewell benefit at Southampton 9 Aug, 1824. d. 37, Ampthill sq. London 24 Aug. 1874. Roscius in London Biographical Memoirs of W. H. W. Betty 1805, portrait ; Tinsley’s Mag. xv , 415–23 (1874); Temple Bar xlii , 346–61 (1874); Theatrical Inquisitor xii , 227 (1818), portrait ; Graphic x , 227 (1874), portrait ; The dawn of the 19th century in England by J. Ashton ii , 118–29 (1886), portrait .