The Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden was a place of amusement in
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
, London. It opened in 1876, and the building was demolished in 1903. The attraction was located northwest of
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
on Tothill Street. The building was designed by Alfred Bedborough in an ornamental style faced with
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...
. The Aquarium Theatre was located in the west end of the building and was renamed the Imperial Theatre in 1879.
Methodist Central Hall
The Methodist Central Hall (also known as Central Hall Westminster) is a multi-purpose venue in the City of Westminster, London, serving primarily as a Methodist church and a conference centre. The building, which is a tourist attraction, also ho ...
now occupies the site.
History
The Royal Aquarium opened on 22 January 1876. Its board of directors included
Henry Labouchère
Henry Du Pré Labouchère (9 November 1831 – 15 January 1912) was an English politician, writer, publisher and theatre owner in the Victorian era, Victorian and Edwardian eras. He is now most remembered for the Labouchere Amendment, Labouchè ...
, the financier and journalist;
William Whiteley
William Whiteley (29 September 183124 January 1907) was an English entrepreneur of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the founder of the William Whiteley Limited retail company whose eponymous department store became the Whiteleys ...
the retailer; and
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
, the composer. It was intended to offer art exhibitions, concerts and plays, among other intellectual entertainments such as
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibit ...
.
[''The Royal Aquarium, and Imperial Theatre, Victoria London'']
(Arthur Lloyd music and theatre history site) accessed 11 September 2008
The main hall was long by wide. A roof of glass and iron covered it. It was decorated with palm trees, fountains, pieces of original sculpture, thirteen large tanks meant to be filled with curious sea creatures and an orchestra capable of accommodating 400 performers. Surrounding the main hall were rooms for eating, smoking, reading and playing chess, as well as an art gallery, a skating rink and a theatre.
[McCann, Bill]
"Central Hall and the Royal Aquarium"
, Story of London, 23 September 2002 The Aquarium adopted an expensive system of supplying fresh and sea water from four cisterns sunk into the foundations. The system quickly ran into problems. The large tanks for fish did not contain any. This became a standing joke, but the directors did display a dead whale in 1877.
By the 1890s, the Aquarium acquired a risqué reputation, as unaccompanied ladies promenaded through the hall in search of male companionship. Emily Turner, a visitor from
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, worked as a salesgirl at the Aquarium between October 1891 and January 1892. She met a Major Hamilton there, who bought her supper at Gatti's (in the Strand) and took her to entertainments at the
Alhambra Theatre
The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two yea ...
, promising to set her up in rooms in
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...
. The major disappeared after providing her with "gelatin capsules" for a cough. The pills made her ill, and she stopped taking them. The unused pills were passed to
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
, and she was traced by Inspector Jarvis of the
Metropolitan police
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
. He identified the missing major as the serial killer
Thomas Neill Cream
Thomas Neill Cream (27 May 1850 – 15 November 1892), also known as the Lambeth Poisoner, was a Scottish-Canadian medical doctor and serial killer who poisoned his victims with strychnine. Over the course of his career, he murdered up t ...
. The pills were analysed and found to contain only
quinine
Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg cr ...
. Turner refused to identify Cream for fear of having to appear at the trial and have her own respectability questioned.
Entertainments at the Aquarium
![GeorgeLeybourne1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/GeorgeLeybourne1.jpg)
After its opening, the expensive Aquarium and its programme of art exhibits and classical music were indifferently received by the public, and the venture was failing. Soon, instead of scientific lectures and the high-minded entertainments intended for the hall by its founders, the directors turned to more profitable
music hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...
and variety acts (animal acts, African dancers, hypnotists, etc.) The Aquarium became most famous for offering dangerous and sensational circus and other acts.
[ The showman and tightrope walker The Great Farini programmed many of these beginning in 1877. One of the most famous was the young female ]human cannonball
The human cannonball act is a performance in which a person who acts as the "cannonball" is ejected from a specially designed cannon. The human cannonball lands on a horizontal net or inflated bag placed at the landing point, as predicted by phys ...
, Zazel, who was launched by an apparatus of Farini's design. The perceived danger of these acts caused protests and put the venue's licence in doubt but drew crowds.
In 1880, George Leybourne
George Leybourne (17 March 1842 – 15 September 1884) was a ''Lion comique'' of the British Victorian music hall who, for much of his career, was known by the title of one of his songs, " Champagne Charlie". Another of his songs, and one that ...
popularised a song about the Aquarium that parodied Alfred Vance
Alfred Peek Stevens (1839 – 26 December 1888), best known by his stage name of Alfred Vance, was a 19th-century English music hall singer. He was also known as ''The Great Vance'', and ''Alfred Grenville''.
Early life
Vance was born in L ...
's song "Walking in the Zoo":
:Lounging in the Aq.,
:That against all other modes
:Of killing time I'll back.
:Fun that's never slack,
:Eyes brown, blue, and black
:Make one feel in Paradise
:While lounging in the Aq.[
The all-day variety entertainments at the Aquarium turned less respectable, including billiards matches, novelty acts and side-shows of all kinds, and commercial stalls offering perfumery and gloves. ]George Robey
Sir George Edward Wade, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (20 September 1869 – 29 November 1954),James Harding (music writer), Harding, James"Robey, George" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University P ...
made his first professional appearance at the Aquarium in 1891. Located across the street from the Houses of Parliament
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...
, the Aquarium was popular with members of the House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
. The comedian Arthur Roberts also sang a song about the Aquarium:
:I strolled one day to Westminster,
:The Royal Aquarium to see;
:But I had to stand a bottle
:just to lubricate the throttle
:Of a lady who was forty-three.[
]
Theatre
The Aquarium Theatre at the west end of the Royal Aquarium opened on 15 April 1876. The theatre was also designed by Bedborough and was built by Messrs. Lucas with a capacity of 1,293. Henry Jones (1822-1900) built an unusually large and powerful Grand Organ for the Royal Aquarium under the supervision of Sullivan. The organ was installed at the rear of the main stage in 1876 at the opening of the Hall. In 1878, however, it was moved from the stage to a position up in the gallery.
''The School for Scandal
''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777.
Plot
Act I
Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Sna ...
'' played at the theatre in 1877, as did a revival of W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...
's adaptation of ''Great Expectations''. Samuel Phelps
Samuel Phelps (born 13 February 1804, Plymouth Dock (now Devonport), Plymouth, Devon, died 6 November 1878, Anson's Farm, Coopersale, near Epping, Essex) was an English actor and theatre manager. He is known for his productions of William ...
made his last appearance at the theatre in 1878. The farce ''Fun in a Fog'' played at the theatre in 1878, and ''Family Honour'' by Frank Marshall premiered in the same year. The theatre was named the Imperial Theatre in 1879. ''The Beaux Strategem'' by George Farquhar
George Farquhar (1677The explanation for the dual birth year appears in Louis A. Strauss, ed., A Discourse Upon Comedy, The Recruiting Officer, and The Beaux’ Stratagem by George Farquhar' (Boston: D.C. Heath & Co., 1914), p. v. Strauss notes ...
, ''She Stoops to Conquer
''She Stoops to Conquer'' is a comedy by Oliver Goldsmith, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in the English-speaking world. It is one of the few plays from the 18th ...
'' by Goldsmith and ''The Poor Gentleman'' all played at the theatre that year. Shakespeare's ''As You Like It
''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...
'' and ''Anne Mie'', by Roster Faasen, played at the theatre in 1880, as did the comic opera
Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue.
Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...
''Billee Taylor
''Billee Taylor, or The Reward of Virtue'' is "a nautical comedy opera" by Edward Solomon, with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens.
The piece was first produced at the Imperial Theatre in London on 30 October 1880, starring Arthur Williams ...
'', composed by Edward Solomon
Edward Solomon (25 July 1855 – 22 January 1895) was an English composer, conductor, orchestrator and pianist. He died at age 39 by which time he had written dozens of works produced for the stage, including several for the D'Oyly Carte Oper ...
, with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens
Henry Pottinger Stephens, also known as Henry Beauchamp (1851 – 11 February 1903), was an English dramatist and journalist.
After beginning his career writing for newspapers, Stephens began writing Victorian burlesques in the 1870s in coll ...
. ''Good-Natured Man'' played in 1881. In 1882, Lillie Langtry
Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer.
Born on the isl ...
appeared at the theatre in Tom Taylor
Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language a ...
's ''An Unequal Match''. ''Good as Gold'' by Matthews Mone, ''Camille'' (an English adaptation of Dumas' play) and ''Auld Robin Gray'' by George Roy played here in 1883, as did ''Aurora Floyd'', by J. B. Ashley and Cyril Melton, in 1885. ''A Fast Life'' by Hubert O'Grady played in 1898.
In 1898, extensive alterations were made to the theatre by Walter Emden
Walter Lawrence Emden (1847 – 1913) was one of the leading English theatre and music hall architects in the building boom of 1885 to 1915.
Biography
Emden was the second son of William S. Emden, lessee of London's Olympic Theatre, and was ...
, and in 1901 it was rebuilt by Frank Verity
Francis Thomas Verity (1864–1937) was an English cinema architect during the cinema building boom of the years following World War I.
Early life
Verity was born in London, educated at Cranleigh and joined Thomas Verity, his father, in his ...
for Lillie Langtry
Emilie Charlotte, Lady de Bathe (née Le Breton, formerly Langtry; 13 October 1853 – 12 February 1929), known as Lillie (or Lily) Langtry and nicknamed "The Jersey Lily", was a British socialite, stage actress and producer.
Born on the isl ...
, who took over the theatre in 1900. Its capacity was reduced to 1,150, with a stage width of and depth of .[ Langtry reopened the theatre in 1901 with Berton's ''A Royal Necklace''. The theatre presented '']Everyman
The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them.
Origin
The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...
'' in 1902 and ''When We Dead Awaken
''When We Dead Awaken'' ( no, Når vi døde vågner) is the last Play (theatre), play written by Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen. Published in December 1899, Ibsen wrote the play between February and November of that year. The first performance wa ...
'' by Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...
in January 1903. George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
's ''The Admirable Bashville'' also played here in 1903. Despite the high standard of her productions, the theatre was not successful, and Langtry withdrew in 1903.[Hartnoll, Phyllis and Peter Found, "Imperial Theatre", ''The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre'', Oxford University Press] The theatre hosted ''His Majesty's Servant'' in 1904 and ''The Perfect Lover'' in 1905.
After the Royal Aquarium was demolished in 1903, the Imperial Theatre continued to stand on the site until it finally closed in 1907 and was pulled down. The interior of the theatre was saved and re-erected as the Imperial Palace in Canning Town
Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...
in 1909.[
]
Notes
References
*Adams, William Davenport (1904).
''A Dictionary of the Drama''
Chatto & Windus
*Clunn, Harold P. (1956). ''The Face Of London''.
*Howard, Diana. ''London Theatres and Music Halls - 1850-1950.''
*Mander, Raymond and Joe Mitchenson (1968). ''Lost Theatres of London'', Hart Davis Macgibbon.
*McLaren, Angus. ''A Prescription for Murder'', University of Chicago Press (1995)
*Munro, John Murchison (1971). ''The Royal Aquarium: failure of a Victorian compromise'', American University of Beirut
External links
List of managers and other people associated with the theatre
Postcard of the Aquarium
Playbill advertising a series of entertainments at the Royal Aquarium 12 December 1885
Posters advertising Zazel's act
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures demolished in 1903
Former theatres in London
Former buildings and structures in the City of Westminster
Former music hall venues in the United Kingdom
Cultural infrastructure completed in 1876
1907 disestablishments in England
Event venues established in 1876
1876 establishments in England