Albert Ernest Pickard (1874-1964) was a showman. publicist and eccentric who became a millionaire and philanthropist. The diminutive A.E.Pickard was born in Bradford, England in 1874. Turning away from a printing apprenticeship he became a wandering showman in Yorkshire, France and London. In 1904 he settled in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

where he took over Fell's American Museum and Waxworks at 101 Trongate when Mr Fell retired. In 1906 he took up a lease of the

Britannia Music Hall The Britannia Music Hall (later known as The Panopticon or The Britannia Panopticon) in Trongate, Glasgow, Scotland is one of the oldest remaining music halls in Britain. It is located above an amusement arcade, at 113-117 Trongate. Built in 1857 ...

renaming it as

Britannia Panopticon The Britannia Music Hall (later known as The Panopticon or The Britannia Panopticon) in Trongate, Glasgow, Scotland is one of the oldest remaining music halls in Britain. It is located above an amusement arcade, at 113-117 Trongate. Built in 185 ...

at 115 Trongate, buying the entire building in 1915 from the Archibald Blair Trust. He introduced

cine-variety Cine-variety is a form of entertainment with a mix of variety acts performing in between the showing of films all for the price of one admission fee. It was popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland between 1900 and the 1930s. Cine-variety was u ...

, with four shows a day; added waxworks and side shows in different floors and a zoo and freak shows. In 1908 he took over the Clydebank Gaiety Theatre, also for cine-variety and soon grew his own cinema circuit in the Glasgow area. Among many performers at the weekly amateur night at his venues, starting with the Britannia Panopticon was a sixteen year old Arthur Stanley Jefferson also known as

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Ha ...

. Pickard expanded his cinema circuit in the Glasgow area including building anew, such as the White Elephant in Shawlands, Glasgow in 1927. Pickard bought and sold numerous houses, shops and real estate, boasting he had more properties than Glasgow Corporation. Frequently buying at auctions and soon reselling. Two sizeable estates he bought for his own family uses were

Formakin House Formakin House is an early 20th-century mansion and estate in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It is located south of the Firth of Clyde, and west of Bishopton. Formakin was designed by Robert Lorimer for wealthy businessman John Holms, though the main ...

(purchased ~1940). and in 1962

Bannockburn House Bannockburn House is a property of historical significance in the town of Bannockburn. It is a Category A listed building. History Bannockburn House was built in the late 17th Century, with slight alterations added in the 19th Century. The house ...

near Stirling. He also bought property in England including in September 1939 the mansion, estate and private racecourse at The Dicker, near Eastbourne, developed by former MP Horatio Bottomley, founder of the Financial Times and of the John Bull magazine. It had cost Bottomley £250,000. Pickard bought it at auction for £2,850. In 1951 he stood for Parliament as The Independent Millionaire candidate but did not overthrow the Socialist majority of 10,000. His advertising reflected his love of large cars, often in bright colours including some 18 Rolls-Royces. He died in 1964, age 90, the result of a fire at his palatial mansion on Great Western Road, Glasgow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickard, A. E. 1874 births 1964 deaths English theatre managers and producers