Duke's Theatre, Dorset Gardens, engraved by W. Sherwin (c.1645-1711) 1673 (engraving)

by tradition designed by Sir Christopher Wren; built by Thomas Betterton, actor and the Davenant family in 1671. The founder of the Duke’s Company (and Poet Laureate) Sir William Davenant had died in 1670. The Dorset Garden Theatre in London, was also known as the Duke of York's Theatre, or the Duke's Theatre. In 1685, King Charles II died and his brother, the Duke of York, was crowned as James II. When the Duke became King, the theatre became the Queen's Theatre in 1685, referring to James' second wife, Mary of Modena. The name remained when William and Mary came to the throne in 1689. It was the fourth home of the Duke's Company, one of the two patent theatre companies in Restoration London, and after 1682 continued to be used by the company's successor, the United Company.