Lily Hanbury (1874 - 5 March 1908) was an English stage performer.
Hanbury was born Lily Alcock, the daughter of Elizabeth (née Davis) and Matthew Alcock. Educated in London, her début was in 1888's W. S. Gilbert's Pygmalion and Galatea at the Savoy Theatre; and later she appeared on most of the leading stages of the English metropolis. Her extensive repertory included, 'Countess Wintersen' in The Stranger; 'Hetty Preene' in G. R. Sims' Lights o' London; and 'Petra' in Ibsen's Enemy of the People'.
She reached her peak in popularity, however, by playing a number or roles in Shakespearian plays, mainly under the management of Wilson Barrett and Beerbohm Tree.
Hanbury died of medical complications following the delivery of a still-born child. Following cremation Lily's ashes were interred at the Jewish Cemetery at Willesden, England.
Lily's younger sister Hilda, also an actress and one time member of Herbert Beerbohm Tree's theatrical company, is the grandmother of Edward Fox and great-grandmother of Freddie Fox, Emilia Fox and Laurence Fox.
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In bulk, doth make man better be,
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:
A lily of a day
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In small proportions we just beauties see,
And in short measures life may perfect be.”
—Ben Jonson (1572–1637)