author
C. Haddon (Charles Haddon) Chambers
1860–1921
An Australian-born playwright who built his career in England, he was known for polished stage dramas that traveled widely in the late Victorian and Edwardian years. His life moved from Sydney clerical work and bush experience to London’s theatrical world, giving his writing a mix of practicality and stagecraft.
1 Audiobook
The Tyranny of Tears: A Comedy in Four Acts
by C. Haddon (Charles Haddon) Chambers
About the author
Born in Sydney in 1860, Charles Haddon Spurgeon Chambers left school young and worked first as a clerk, then as a boundary rider in the Australian bush. After travel between Australia, Britain, and Ireland, he settled in London and turned seriously to writing for the stage.
Chambers became one of the better-known dramatists of his day, with plays including Captain Swift, The Tyranny of Tears, and The Second Mrs Tanqueray adaptation work among the productions linked with his career. His reputation rested on well-made dramas and comedies of manners that found audiences in Britain and beyond.
He died in England in 1921. Although he is less widely read now than some of his contemporaries, he remains an important figure in Australian literary and theatrical history because he was one of the first Australian-born playwrights to make a substantial mark on the London stage.