This photograph shows the huge cast of GIlbert Sullivan's Trial by Jury on stage at the Ellen Terry Benefit held on the afternoon of the 12th June 1906 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. The Benefit celebrated Ellen Terry’s 50 years on stage and starred leading actors and entertainers in a programme that included recitals, songs and tableaux vivants. Trial by Jury presented by W.S. Gilbert himself, was just one of the items in the six-hour long programme, crowded with celebrities from the theatre and the arts. Gilbert himself played the Associate, with Rutland Barrington as the Judge, Courtice Pounds as the Defendant, and Fanny Brough the Plaintiff. The jury included Francis Burnand, Arthur Conan Doyle, Anthony Hope, Brandon Thomas and Joseph Comyns-Carr. Decima Moore was one of the Bridesmaids and the crowd in court included Rosina Brandram, Sydney Grundy and John Martin-Harvey.

The Benefit was a huge success, raising £6,000 for Terry, who was now approaching her 70th birthday. Terry herself appeared as Beatrice in a performance of Act I of Much Ado About Nothing, along with an impressive 24 members of her family.

W.S. Gilbert can be seen with his characteristic moustache, the last man on the right in the left-hand group of men, not looking at the camera!