The Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden was a place of amusement in

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, 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 Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

on Tothill Street. The building was designed by Alfred Bedborough in an ornamental style faced with

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

. 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 also houses an art gallery, a restaur ...

now occupies the site.

History

The Royal Aquarium opened on 22 January 1876. Its board of directors included Henry Labouchère, the financier and journalist; William Whiteley 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, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around ...

.''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 is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, 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 Theatre was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built 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, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

. 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 London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

, and she was traced by Inspector Jarvis of the Metropolitan police. He identified the missing major as the serial killer Thomas Neill Cream. 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 ...

. Turner refused to identify Cream for fear of having to appear at the trial and have her own respectability questioned.

Entertainments at the Aquarium

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 most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

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 William Leonard Hunt (June 10, 1838 – January 17, 1929), also known by the stage name The Great Farini, was a well-known nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Canadian funambulist, entertainment promoter and inventor, as well as the first know ...

programmed many of these beginning in 1877. One of the most famous was the young female human cannonball, 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 singer and '' Lion comique'' style entertainer in British music halls during the 19th century who, for much of his career, was known by the title of one of his songs, " Champagne Char ...

popularised a song about the Aquarium that parodied

Alfred Vance Alfred Glanville Vance (born Alfred Peck Stevens; 1839 – 26 December 1888), often known as The Great Vance, was an English music hall singer, regarded as "one of the most important of the early music-hall performers". Biography Vance was born ...

'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 is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

, 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 Bicameralism, 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 ...

. 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. The Rink Galop score

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. ImperialTheatLondon

'' The School for Scandal'' 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 fam ...

's adaptation of ''Great Expectations''. Samuel Phelps 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' Stratagem ''The Beaux' Stratagem'' is a comedy by George Farquhar, first produced at the Theatre Royal, now the site of Her Majesty's Theatre, in the Haymarket, London, on 8 March 1707. In the play, Archer and Aimwell, two young gentlemen who have falle ...

'' 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 t ...

, '' She Stoops to Conquer'' 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 Shakespearean comedy, 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 Wil ...

'' 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" composed by Edward Solomon, with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens. The piece was first produced at the Imperial Theatre, London, Imperial Theatre in London on 30 Oct ...

'', composed by Edward Solomon, with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens. ''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 isla ...

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), ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literatu ...

'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, 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 hi ...

for

, 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 and history The term ''everyman'' was used ...

'' in 1902 and '' When We Dead Awaken'' by

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

in January 1903.

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

'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 town in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, north of the Royal Victoria Dock. Its urbanisation was largely due to the creation of the dock. The area was part of the ancient parish and County Borough of West Ham, ...

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 theatrePostcard of the AquariumPlaybill advertising a series of entertainments at the Royal Aquarium 12 December 1885Posters 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 Buildings and structures completed in 1876 1907 disestablishments in England Event venues established in 1876 1876 establishments in England