ABSTRACT
The staging of legitimate drama in London had been severely limited by law since the passing of the Licensing Act of 1737. The four Brough brothers were the sons of Barnabas Brough, a talented jack-of-all-trades, originally from Northumberland, who moved with his family to London in October 1845 after working as a wharfinger, a wine merchant and brewer, and a printer, in Liverpool, Pontypool, and Manchester respectively. The eldest of the Brough brothers, William Tinsley, was born in London in 1826, educated in Newport, and apprenticed to a printer in Brecon. John Cargill Brough was ‘a most earnest and clever worker in literature and science’. All the four Brough brothers had been among the earliest members of the Savage Club, and it was generally believed that it was Robert who had originally suggested the name, as Richard Savage, the ‘Prince of Bohemians’, had died near their meeting place, the Crown Tavern in Vinegar Yard near Drury Lane.
