Sir William Don, 7th Baronet
Sir William Henry Don, 7th Baronet (4 May 1825 – 19 March 1862) was a British baronet who became an actor.
He was the son of Grace Jane Stein and Sir Alexander Don, 6th Baronet of Newtondon. His father died when William was less than a year old, and he inherited the baronetcy. His mother later married Sir James Maxwell Wallace. William was educated at Eton (1838–1841) and took part in the Eglinton Tournament in 1839.
William joined the British Army as a cornet in the 5th Dragoon Guards in 1842, later becoming a lieutenant and an extra aide-de-camp to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. He retired in 1845 in debt. His Newtondon estate had to be sold to pay creditors.
He then turned to acting. His first public appearance in the United States was in New York on 27 October 1850, playing “John Duck” in The Jacobite. He spent nearly five years in America, performing in New York, Philadelphia, and other cities, and received praise for his work. When he returned to England, he was still in debt (about £7,000) but continued to act, performing in Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London, including Whitebait at Greenwich in 1857.
In 1861 he went to Australia, where he appeared in burlesques at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne, including Valentine and Orson and a Kenilworth travestie called Eily O’Connor. In February 1862 he went to Hobart, Tasmania with his own company. He fell ill and died on 19 March 1862 in Hobart Town from an aneurysm of the aorta.
William Don was known for his humor, quick wit, and talent for mimicry. He had two marriages: first, in June 1847, to Antonia Lebrun; and second, on 17 October 1857, to Emily Eliza Saunders, a well-known actress from London theatres. After his death, Emily continued to perform and later faced financial difficulties.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 15:21 (CET).