BORN	27 February 1847 in Market Street, Coventry
DIED	21 July 1928 at her home in Smallhythe, Kent
FAMILY	Daughter of theatrical parents. Ellen's mother was Sarah Ballard who eloped with Ben Terry her father. Ellen's father was a keen instructor of the theatrical arts. The stage however, was the only school she knew
1856-59	Ellen regularly appeared in Charles Kean's productions
1857	Ellen plays the good fairy Goldenstar and then later the bad Dragonetta in the pantomine 'The White Cat'
1858	Ellen given tributes for her performance of Prince Arthur in 'King John'
1859	Ben Terry takes Kate (Ellen's sister) and Ellen on tour in 'A Drawing Room Entertainment'
1862	Ellen joins the Theatre Royal in Bristol. She meets George Fredric Watts. Ellen and Kate pose for Watt's painting 'The Sisters'. Ellen performs in Sardou's 'Nos Intimes' and is acclaimed in London
1863	She joins the Haymarket Theatre in London
1864	She meets Lewis Carroll who photographs the Terry family. At the age of 16 she left the stage to marry the painter George Fredrick Watts. He was 46. They separated after only 10 months. She returned to the stage but made limited appearances
1865	'Alice in Wonderland' is published
1866	Ellen travels to Paris
1867	Ellen joins the Wigan's Company. She stars with Henry Irving in 'Katherine and Petruchio', Garricks adaption of Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew'
1868	She again leaves the stage to co-habit with Edward Godwin, an architect. The couple set up house in a cottage in Hertfordshire
1869	Edith Craig, known as Edy, is born. Godwin works on the design of a house in Harpenden for the family
1872	Edward Gordon Craig, known as Teddy, is born
1874	Ellen and Edward's relationship begins to break up. Financial difficulties set in and bailiffs seize the cottage. Ellen returns to the stage to star in the London production of 'The Wandering Heir' and 'It's Never Too Late to Mind'
1875	Ellen plays Portia to great acclaim in 'Merchant of Venice'. Ellen and Godwin part. Godwin makes an abortive attempt to kidnap Edith Craig
1878	Ellen plays Olivia in WG Wills' adaptation of Oliver Goldsmith's 'The Vicar of Wakefield'. She also plays Ophelia and is the leading lady in Henry Irving's 'Lyceum'
1878	Ellen having been divorced by Watts, marries attractive actor Charles Kelly (Wardell). Kelly's heavy drinking however soon leads to the failure of this marriage
1878	Henry Irving, the greatest actor in London, leases the Lyceum Theatre and engages Ellen as his leading lady. For Ellen (31) and Irving (40) this was the start of an electrifying partnership that lasted more than 20 years. In their first production, Hamlet, Ellen plays the lead role of Ophelia. Ellen goes on to play nearly all Shakespeare's heroines. The company frequently tours America
1880	Ellen's plays Beatrice to Charles Wardell's Benedick in 'Much Ado about Nothing'
1883	Ellen's children take on the surname of 'Craig'
1885	Charles Wardell dies
1886	Edward William Godwin dies
1887	Ellen is the star of 'The Amber Heart' at the Lyceum
1892	Ellen's mother Sarah Terry dies
1895	Ellen's father Ben Terry dies
1896	Ellen stars in 'Cymbeline' at the Lyceum
1900	Ellen buys a 16th-century farmhouse at Smallhythe, Kent
1902	Ellen's association with the Lyceum company ends after it goes into liquidation
1903	Ellen begins to manage the Imperial Theatre, where her son, Edward Gordon Craig, produces Ibsen's 'The Vikings'. She appears as the fierce Hiordis
1904	George Fredrick Watts dies
1905	Henry Irving dies - Ellen is devastated
1905	Ellen plays Lady Cicely Waynflete in George Bernard Shaw's 'Captain Brassbound's Conversion'
1906	Ellen Terry's jubilee year. She visits Coventry to lay the foundation stone of the Empire Theatre. She plays Hermione in Beerbohm Tree's production of 'The Winter's Tale'
1907	Her third, and final, marriage takes place to American actor, James Carew. Carew, a member of the cast of 'Captain Brassbound's Conversion', is two years younger than Ellen's son. The marriage lasts only two years
1908	Ellen's memoir 'The Story of My Life' first appears
1909	Ellen undertakes a series of lecture recital tours in the United States. The lectures are based upon Shakespeare's heroines and prove very popular
1911	Returns to the UK, continues her lecture tour
1913	Ellen's 'The Russian Ballet' published
1914	Ellen's world tour starts in Australia but due to the outbreak of World War I and her failing health the tour is cancelled
1915	Ellen is operated upon for cataracts. She is nearly blind thereafter
1916-22	Ellen appears in five films. They are generally considered not her best work
1925	Ellen Terry is designated Dame of the British Empire. She receives the award in a wheelchair. Spends the remainder of her life quietly at Smallhythe Place
1928	Ellen Terry dies. After her death the Ellen Terry Memorial Museum was founded at Smallhythe Place. Ellen's daughter, Edy, worked tirelessly to raise funds to keep the museum open, until 1939 when the Museum was handed over to the National Trust

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