LEVEY, BARNETT

LEVEY, BARNETT (1798–1837), Australian pioneer of the theater. Levey's brother Solomon was sent to Australia as a convict in 1819 but became wealthy within a few years as a merchant. Barnett arrived as a free settler in 1821 and was given a land grant. In 1828 he built the Royal Hotel in Sydney and used part of it as a theater, where he himself often performed and sang. In 1833 he built the Theatre Royal, the first real theater in Australia. It was destroyed by fire in 1840, but the importance of his work was generally acknowledged, and the district where he lived was later named "Waverley" after the name of his house. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: J.S. Levi and G.F.J. Bergman, Australian Genesis: Jewish Convicts and Settlers, 1788–1860 (2002 ed.), 111–23; H.L. Rubinstein, Australia I, 352; ADB.