English earl in conversation with actor (7)

I believe the answer is:

chatham

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'english earl' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'conversation with actor' is the wordplay.
'conversation' becomes 'chat' (chat is a kind of conversation).
'with' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'actor' becomes 'ham' (ham is a kind of actor).
'chat'+'ham'='CHATHAM'

'in' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for chatham that I've seen before include "Historic naval town" , "Former PM" , "Place in Kent" , "Former naval town in Kent" , "N. Kent dockyard town" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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