When Jessie Bateman was only twelve she played Cobweb in A Midsummer Night's Dream for Frank Benson at the old Globe Theatre in 1889; she then joined Benson's company and toured with him for the next five years; with Benson she of course performed in a number of Shakespeare's plays.

She left the company in 1896 and returned to London. Over the years she played many parts in a variety of popular plays, but no Shakespeare plays were among them after her time with the Bensonians.

                                                             

A studio postcard

A role in a non-Shakespearean play

A role in a non-Shakespearean play