and the historian George Grote. After brief stints in the merchant navy, and as a tea-planter in Bengal and other unsuccessful ventures, he returned to England, working briefly in a hospital where his brother was a surgeon, and then as an apprentice engineer. Having enjoyed amateur theatricals, he decided to try the stage, adopting the stage-name William Terriss. His first appearance on stage was at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Birmingham in 1868 as Chouser in The Flying Scud. His first West End theatre role was the small part of Lord Cloudrays in a revival of Tom Robertson's Society in 1870, at the old Prince of Wales's Theatre. Still restless, however, Terriss then travelled with his wife to South America and the Falkland Islands, where he tried his hand at sheep-farming and other rustic jobs. In 1871 Terriss returned to London with his wife and baby. He had successes at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in Robin Hood and in Rebecca, based on Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, among other plays. His wanderlust again compelled him to take his young family to America, this time Kentucky, to breed horses. Again failing to find financial success, Terriss returned to London in 1873. Over the next few years he established his acting career. His handsome presence, fine voice, friendly demeanour and gallant bearing made him one of Britain's most popular actors. Because of his swashbuckling style, he became famous in hero parts and was known as "Breezy Bill". In 1873, at the Strand Theatre, he appeared as Doricourt in the comedy The Belle's Stratagem, which was a long-running success. He then returned to Drury Lane, playing in such roles as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, and was popular as Captain Molyneux in Dion Boucicault's The Shaughraun, among others. He continued to play in various London theatres in the mid-1870s such roles as Julian Peveril in a successful adaptation of Peveril of the Peak and the title role in the stage adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby at the Adelphi Theatre. In 1878 he had a hit as Squire Thornhill in Olivia, an adaptation by W. G. Wills of The Vicar of Wakefield, alongside Ellen Terry and Hermann Vezin. Among other roles, especially in melodrama, in the late 1870s, he was Captain Absolute in The Rivals. Peak years In 1880 he joined Henry Irving's company at the Lyceum Theatre, playing such parts as Cassio