Sir Henry Irving was born at Keinton Mandeville Somerset on the 6th of February 1838. He was born to a poor shopkeeper. He started his working life as a solicitor's office boy before becoming a junior clerk with the East India merchants. His first brush with acting was when he joined an elocution class and discovered Sadler's Wells. Irving would spend every spare penny and moment going to Sadler's Wells to watch Samuel Phelps revive the original folio texts of Shakespeare. At the age of 16 he was introduced to William Haskins an actor from the Sadler's Wells company who helped teach Irving the art of acting and ultimately helped him gain his first job acting at the Lyceum Theatre Sunderland playing the part of Gaston in Lytton's 'Richelieu'. In 1857 he moved to Edinburgh where he worked for two and a half years before making his London debut at The Princess's Theatre in 1859. His first experience of the London stage did not go the way he wanted so Irving went back to the provinces for the next seven years. In 1866 he successfully appeared at the St James's Theatre. In 1871 he joined the Lyceum Theatre London under Bateman's direction and found great success. The legend of Sir Henry Irving then really began and hand in hand with his rumoured lover Ellen Terry revolutionised the theatre by attracting the Middle Classes to the theatres. Irving's lasting legacy maybe that he was knighted, the first ever actor to have the honour bestowed on them and brought a brand new level of respectability to the art. For more information there are numerous books available to read about the life of Irving although one of the most accurate is probably 'Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (1906)' by Bram Stoker one of Irving's friends and colleagues.
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