Thomas Barrasford (1859–1910) was a 19th-century British entrepreneur and entertainment
impresario
An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer.
Hist ...
, who operated and built a number of theatres across Britain, mainly under the Barrasford Halls brand.
Early career
Born in
South Shields
South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...
,
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
, he attended the Royal Scotch Arms pub, and noticed its transformation under his later competitors
Moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...
and Thornton into the Empire Music Hall in 1890. In 1895, in partnership with a man named Varah, Barrasford took over the wooden circus on the Ormond Street,
Jarrow
Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. It is home to the southern portal of the Tyne ...
, turning it into a music hall, known as the
Jarrow Palace of Varieties.
Expanding his empire quickly from 189o, he acquired the Leeds Tivoli theatre, renaming it the
Leeds Hippodrome on 20 March 1899.
[ This was his first encounter with fellow impresarios Edward Moss and ]Sir Oswald Stoll
Sir Oswald Stoll (20 January 1866 – 9 January 1942) was an Australian-born British theatre manager and the co-founder of the Stoll Moss Group theatre company. He also owned Cricklewood Studios and film production company Stoll Pictures, wh ...
, whose chain had just opened the Leed Empire theatre, whose features and scale had, less than two months later, brought about the failure of the lessor and resultant sale of the Tivoli to Barrasford. Barrasford noticed that fellow impresario Frank MacNaughten in Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
had countered the opening of the Stoll Bradford Empire in January 1899, by using an idea pioneered by George "Champagne Charlie" Laybourne in 1870 in his Wear
Wear is the damaging, gradual removal or deformation of material at solid surfaces. Causes of wear can be mechanical (e.g., erosion) or chemical (e.g., corrosion). The study of wear and related processes is referred to as tribology.
Wear in m ...
music hall, offering a "twice nightly" performance schedule. The formula proved so successful at not only countering the drop in attendance figures normally experienced in existing theatres facing competition from a new Stoll theatre, but actually increased revenues. Barrasford borrowed MacNaughten's Bradford theatre manager to replicate the system in Leeds, with the choice proving so successful and lucrative, that Barrasford moved his home and the operational headquarters of his business to Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
.[
]
Rivalry with Sir Edward Moss and Sir Oswald Stoll
The form of entertainment contract at the time was called a "tour," whereby an impresario would book an act to tour all of his venues. Barrasford had noticed that Stoll would try to run his theatres cheaply, by booking foreign acts on a one-week trial contract to fill-in for his headline British acts: if they were a success then they got a tour, if not their contract would terminate at the end of the week. Barrasford hence started to attend Stoll's theatres in competition to his on a Monday, and if the act proved a success would then find them and sign them to a tour of his theatres. This skull dugery as far as Stoll was concerned was immoral, and after he banned Barrasford and his employees from the entire Stoll empire, so began a long term battle between the two impresarios.[
]
Building the tour
Barrasford in return set about competing by resolving to build his theatres bigger and better than the Moss and Stoll empires. In 1900 he co-leased the short-lived Tivoli Theatre, Edinburgh and moved to Glasgow, opening three theatres there in 1902–04, including the
Glasgow Pavilion. In 1901 he acquired the Birmingham Hippodrome
The Birmingham Hippodrome is a theatre situated on Hurst Street in the Chinese Quarter of Birmingham, England.
Although best known as the home stage of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, it also hosts a wide variety of other performances including vi ...
(renamed from the Tower theatre), and then 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 ...
, Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...
.[ In 1902 he acquired the Glasgow Hippodrome, but his most important theatre in his business opened that year, the ]Bank Holiday
A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...
opening of the brand new 4,000 seat Bertie Crewe
William Robert 'Bertie' Crewe (1860 – 10 January 1937) was one of the leading English theatre architects in the boom of 1885 to 1915.
Biography
Born in Essex and partly trained by Frank Matcham, Crewe and his contemporaries W.G.R. Sprague an ...
designed Liverpool Royal Hippodrome, with prices at rock bottom.[ Although the now combined Moss-Stoll consortia already had a theatre in the city, they specifically built the ]Liverpool Olympia
The Eventim Olympia (originally the Liverpool Olympia) is a venue in Liverpool, England, situated on West Derby Road next to The Grafton Ballroom.
History
The Liverpool Olympia was built in 1905 For Moss Empires Ltd by architect Frank Matcham ...
close by. Opened with a production of '' Tally Ho!'' direct from the London Hippodrome
The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Cranbourn Street and Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survi ...
, it never paid its way thanks to the pulling power of the scale, extravagance and "twice-nightly" format of the Barrasford Hall.[
Barrasford followed this success with the 1903 opening of the brand new Newcastle Pavilion in Westgate Road, with a bill topped by Tyneside ]contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...
Madame Belle Cole. Barrasford in competition to Moss-Stoll added two further existing theatres to his tour in Liverpool: the Lyric Theatre in Everton Valley (opened Easter Monday, 1903); and the St Helens Hippodrome (previously the St Helens Empire), which opened with Fred Karno
Frederick John Westcott (26 March 1866 – 17 September 1941), best known by his stage name Fred Karno, was an English theatre impresario of the British music hall. As a comedian of slapstick he is credited with popularising the custard-p ...
's comedy company in a production of ''Jail Birds.''[ Barrasford also added the Grand Theatre, Manchester and the Regent Theatre in ]Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
, neither of which proved financially successful and where hence quickly disposed of.[
In 1904, the second new Barrasford Hall opened 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 ...
, the Bertie Crewe designed Glasgow Pavilion on 29 February 1904.[ Barrasford also expanded south at this time, adding the Bristol Empire and the ]Brighton Hippodrome
Brighton Hippodrome is an entertainment venue in the ancient centre of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It has been empty and out of use since 2007, when its use as a Bingo (Commonwealth), bingo hall ceased.
From its const ...
. He also took over the lease on the Britannia Theatre, Hoxton, letting Crewe refurbish it, but handed the lease over to Frank MacNaughten after nine months.[
The St Helens Hippodrome was the fourteenth music hall added to the Tour in four years, with the empire spanning the following:][ Palace, Jarrow; Tivoli, Leeds; Tivoli, Edinburgh and Tivoli, Birmingham; Alhambra, Hull; Empire, Bristol; Lyric, Everton; Grand, Manchester, and Regent, Salford. The Britannia Theatre, Hoxton, together with the Hippodromes at Liverpool, Glasgow and Brighton and St. Helens.
Barrasford now expanded the physical footprint of his theatres further afield. Registering Barrasford Circuit as a limited company at Leicester Place, off ]Leicester Square
Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester ...
, London, Barrasford was listed as managing director, and Hugh Astley ex-manager of the London Pavilion
The London Pavilion is a building on the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Coventry Street on the north-east side of Piccadilly Circus in London. It is currently a shopping arcade and part of the Trocadero Centre.
Early history
The first buildi ...
as chairman. They then purchased the Newcastle Pavilion, and after the closure of the Hoxton venture, took on Stoll in a direct race to open in the Westend. Barrasford bought the old Lyceum Theatre, just off The Strand, which he commissioned Bertie Crewe to refurbish. Although Stoll's Empire won the opening race (Christmas Eve, 1904), the Lyceum opened on Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...
.[
But much of Barrasford's financial success had been based on alcohol sales, and London County Council refused a license on principle for the Lyceum. Although the Lyceum attracted royal patronage before the Empire, with the first production of the ballet ''Excelsior'' seen by the Prince and Princess of Wales, afterwards ]King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
and Queen Mary.[
By mid-1905, Barrasford Halls were facing a mini-financial crisis. Barrasford, in trying to outpace Stoll and Moss by trialling acts in Europe, had opened Alhambra-themed halls in ]Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. However, the former lost money, while the Paris paid for itself. and the London Lyceum lost money. With no possibility of a liquor license, Barrasford ended his lease of the Lyceum.
Consolidation
Barrasford moved the centre of his business operations to Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
. Having turned the ice rink into the Brighton Hippodrome
Brighton Hippodrome is an entertainment venue in the ancient centre of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It has been empty and out of use since 2007, when its use as a Bingo (Commonwealth), bingo hall ceased.
From its const ...
in 1902, he acquired an old music hall in New Road and refurbished it as the Brighton Coliseum. Barrasford himself lived in a converted warehouse next to the Hippodrome, called Hippodrome House.[
There now followed a period of consolidation around the business. The Tivoli, Leeds, was refurbished and renamed the New Hippodrome, opening in 1906. The Hull Alhambra was refurbished as the New Hippodrome, but on completion of works the lease was handed to its manager Alfred Graham. The opening of the Coventry Hippodrome on 31 December 1906, also coincided with disposal of the loss-making theatres in Manchester.][
On 23 December 1907, the Crewe designed Sheffield Hippodrome opened, followed the following year in the opening of the last Barrasford Hall, the Crewe designed Nottingham Hippodrome, opening on 28 September 1908.][
]
Other interests
Barrasford was an enthusiastic race horse
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...
owner, and after becoming a prominent figure at the Jockey Club
The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs and both the Rowley Mile and July Course in Newmarket, amo ...
, inventing the starting device the "Barrasford Gate."[ On an occasion of being assured that his horse would win at ]Pontefract Racecourse
Pontefract Racecourse is a thoroughbred horse racing venue located in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England.
Layout
The track is left-handed undulating course with a sharp bend into the home straight. Horses drawn low (i.e. on the inside of the ...
, he placed a five-shilling bet on behalf of every member of his staff at the Leed's Tivoli. After it won, the performances that night were cancelled at the Tivoli, as the entire staff spent the night celebrating.[
]
Cinema, and retirement
Barrasford was an early adopter of the new moving pictures invention, creating the Barrascope system for cinematograph
Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the Cin ...
projection. Holding a patent with Leeds photographer Owen Brooks, with assistance from an engineer named Borland, they first put the machine into the Leeds Tivoli from 1902. He later adapted a number of his theatres to use it, including the Brighton Coliseum in 1909.[
By now, Barrasford was suffering from persistent ill health from ]Bright's Disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...
, and impresarios in USA and Britain expressed interest in taking over his entire tour. Sir Alfred Butt
Sir Alfred Butt, 1st Baronet (20 March 1878 – 8 December 1962) was a British theatre impresario, Conservative politician and racehorse owner and breeder. During a fourteen-year tenure as manager of London's Palace Theatre, beginning in 1904, ...
succeeded, in association with the Orpheum Circuit of America, and developed a new British circuit which rivalled the Moss-Stoll combine. Barrasford died at his home in Brighton on 1 February 1910.[ His second wife was former music hall singer Maud D'Almayne, with whom he had three sons, all of whom worked in the theatre business. His funeral was one of the largest ever held in Brighton.][
]
References
Bibliography
*
External links
* https://web.archive.org/web/20060506124332/http://pages.britishlibrary.net/mikepymm/barrasfo.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrasford, Thomas
People from Newcastle upon Tyne
English theatre managers and producers
Impresarios
1859 births
1910 deaths
People from South Shields
Businesspeople from Tyne and Wear
19th-century English businesspeople