Eliza Newton

Eliza Newton (c. 1837 – 7 February 1882) was a Scottish stage actress born in Dumfries into a theatrical family. Her father, John Newton, worked as a comedian in English theatres, and her grandfather managed a theatre. Newton began performing as a child, taking on juvenile roles in prominent theatres across London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Edinburgh.

Before her first husband's death, Newton toured with him in popular musical and variety productions. Her first husband was actor Frederick George Lloyd, brother of Scottish music hall entertainer Arthur Lloyd, whom she married before the age of 20. A critic reviewing her 1863 appearance at the New Royalty Theatre in London noted that she was "not without a natural dash and force of manner, but needs to cultivate the art of self-control." She was widowed in her twenties.

Following Lloyd's death, Newton relocated to the United States under the management of J. H. Selwyn. She made her New York debut on 31 October 1864 at the Olympic Theater, playing Helen in Marguerite's Colors. She subsequently appeared in the musical production Sleeping Beauty in the Wood in 1865 and worked at the Olympic Theater under English theatrical producer Mrs. John Wood. Her Broadway appearances, which spanned 1866 to 1869, included Cinderella, Po-Ca-Hon-Tas, Much Ado About a Merchant of Venice, The Dramatic Review for 1868, Poor Humanity, and Cendrillon, among other productions. In 1869 she was also part of John Brougham's company when the Fifth Avenue Theatre opened, and she appeared in The Streets of New York that same year.

Newton planned to leave the United States after a farewell benefit held at New York's French Theater in May 1869, but declining health prevented her departure. She instead continued performing across the country, particularly in the western United States. In 1873 she appeared in a burlesque titled Nymph of the Lurleyberg in Salt Lake City. During the winter of 1879–1880, she performed at the Sawtelle Theatre in Helena, Montana, in a range of productions including The Hidden Hand, By Stealth, The Danicheffs, Kathleen Mavourneen, Leah the Forsaken, The Swiss Cottage, The Returned Soldier, and Sketches in India. A Helena newspaper remarked that "it is only justice to say that the lady fully justified the greatest expectations."

During her time in the United States, Newton married a merchant named W. H. Blackmore, and she had two sons. She died on 7 February 1882 at Bellevue Hospital in New York from cirrhosis of the liver, at approximately 45 years of age. She had been admitted to Bellevue in January of that year from her residence at 131 East Twenty-Seventh Street. Minnie Cummings, manager of a New Haven, Connecticut opera house, offered proceeds from a benefit entertainment to cover Newton's burial expenses. The circumstances surrounding her death were cited at the time as evidence of the need for an actors' fund to address such situations.