HEREFORD’S own famous 18th century son David Garrick is to play centre stage in this year’s 250th anniversary of Shakespeare’s Jubilee in Stratford-upon-Avon.

A blue plaque in Maylord Street provides one of the few reminders that the actor was born at Hereford in 1717 while the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust acknowledges him as the man who put Stratford on the map.

Garrick was one of the most famous actors of his day and in September 1769 the first celebration of the Bard – Shakespeare’s Jubilee – took place. It was the first time that the playwright’s home town was brought into focus, a place that has gone on to become one of the world’s top tourist destinations.

“Every week thousands of people make the pilgrimage to see Shakespeare’s birthplace,” explains Chris Smith from the trust. “But they might not have visited the town at all had it not been for a man by the name of David Garrick.”

The young Garrick, born at the Angel Inn at Hereford. was educated at what is now King Edward VI School in Lichfield where he was for a time a pupil of Samuel Johnson.. The wine business he ran with his brother took him to London and it was there that his writing and acting career took off.

Shakespeare’s works were to have a great influence on his successful theatrical career and promoting a love of the plays, specifically in Stratford, was to become Garrick’s greatest ambition.

As preparations for the great Jubilee event were underway, huge crowds gathered in Stratford to celebrate the life of the poet, among them much of London’s Shakespearian world., and a statue erected at the town hall was unveiled by the Hereford actor.

Unfortunately, heavy rain put paid to the grand pageant planned as a centrepiece of the celebrations. Not to be outdone, Garrick wrote a play based on the Jubilee that was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre the following month. It ran for what was then a record 90 performances, enabling the actor to recoup much of the money he had lavished on the ill-fated event in Stratford.

Thanks to him, the undeveloped market town of just 2,000 became a hub for visitors. In 1847, a public campaign involving Charles Dickens and Prince Albert raised enough money to buy the birthplace in Henley Street for the nation. While the transformation of Stratford came after Garrick’s death, he is officially recognised as the prime mover.

“It really was Garrick who drew Shakespearean attention to Stratford on a wider scale,” says Chris Smith.