Royal Aquarium
Encyclopedia
The Royal Aquarium and Winter Garden was a Westminster
, London
place of amusement opened in 1876. The building was demolished in 1903. It was located immediately to the west of Westminster Abbey
on Tothill Street. The building was designed by Alfred Bedborough in a highly ornamental style faced with Portland stone. At the west end of the building was the Aquarium Theatre – in 1879 named the Imperial Theatre. Westminster Central Hall
is now located on the site.
, the financier and journalist; William Whiteley
of Westbourne Grove; and Arthur Sullivan
, the composer. It was intended to offer art exhibitions, concerts and plays, among other intellectual entertainments, like The Crystal Palace
.
The main hall was 340 feet (104 m) long by 160 feet (49 m) wide. It was covered with a roof of glass and iron and 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. Around the main hall were rooms for eating, smoking, reading and playing chess, as well as an art gallery, a skating rink and a theatre. The Aquarium adopted an expensive system of supplying fresh and sea-water from four cisterns, sunk into the foundations. This quickly ran into operating problems. The large tanks for fish contained none and became a standing joke; but the directors did display a dead whale in 1877.
By the 1890s, the Aquarium was acquiring a risqué reputation, with unaccompanied ladies promenading through the hall in search of male companionship. Emily Turner, a visitor from Montreal
, 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
, promising to set her up in rooms in Lambeth
. The major disappeared after providing her with 'gelatin capsules' for a cough. The pills made her ill, and she stopped taking them. The leftover pills were passed to Scotland Yard
, and she was traced by Inspector Jarvis of the Metropolitan police
, who identified the missing major as the serial killer, Thomas Neill Cream
. The pills were eventually analysed and found to contain only quinine. Turner refused to identify Cream for fear of having to appear at the trial - and have her own respectability questioned.
The building, known as "the Tank," lost its popularity and was sold to the Wesleyan Methodist
s in 1903. The Methodist Westminster Central Hall
was built on the site in 1912.
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
, 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
popularised a song about the Aquarium that parodied Alfred Vance
's song "Walking in the Zoo":
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
made his first professional appearance at the Aquarium in 1891. Located across the street from the Houses of Parliament
, the Aquarium was popular with members of the House of Commons. The comedian Arthur Roberts also sang a song about the Aquarium:
The School for Scandal
played at the theatre in 1877, as did a revival of W. S. Gilbert
'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 Strategem by George Farquhar
, She Stoops to Conquer
by Goldsmith and The Poor Gentleman all played at the theatre that year. Shakespeare's As You Like It
and Anne Mie, by Roster Faasen, played at the theatre in 1880, as did the comic opera
Billee Taylor
, composed by Edward Solomon
, with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens
. Good-Natured Man played in 1881. In 1882, Lillie Langtry
appeared at the theatre in Tom Taylor
'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
for Lillie Langtry
, who took over the theatre in 1900. Its capacity was reduced to 1,150, with a stage width of 62 feet (19 m) and depth of 40 feet (12 m). Langtry reopened the theatre in 1901 with Berton's A Royal Necklace. The theatre presented Everyman
in 1902 and When We Dead Awaken
by Henrik Ibsen
in January 1903. George Bernard Shaw
'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. 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
in 1909.
Westminster
Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
place of amusement opened in 1876. The building was demolished in 1903. It was located immediately to the west of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
on Tothill Street. The building was designed by Alfred Bedborough in a highly ornamental style faced with Portland stone. At the west end of the building was the Aquarium Theatre – in 1879 named the Imperial Theatre. Westminster Central Hall
Westminster Central Hall
The Westminster Central Hall or Methodist Central Hall is a Methodist church in the City of Westminster. It occupies the corner of Tothill Street and Storeys Gate just off Victoria Street in London, near the junction with The Sanctuary next to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and facing...
is now located on the site.
History
The Royal Aquarium opened on 22 January 1876. The board of directors included Henry LabouchèreHenry Labouchere
Henry Du Pré Labouchère was an English politician, writer, publisher and theatre owner in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. He married the actress Henrietta Hodson....
, the financier and journalist; William Whiteley
William Whiteley
William Whiteley was a British entrepreneur of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the founder of Whiteleys department store.-Early life:...
of Westbourne Grove; and Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
, the composer. It was intended to offer art exhibitions, concerts and plays, among other intellectual entertainments, like The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
.
The main hall was 340 feet (104 m) long by 160 feet (49 m) wide. It was covered with a roof of glass and iron and 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. Around the main hall were rooms for eating, smoking, reading and playing chess, as well as an art gallery, a skating rink and a theatre. The Aquarium adopted an expensive system of supplying fresh and sea-water from four cisterns, sunk into the foundations. This quickly ran into operating problems. The large tanks for fish contained none and became a standing joke; but the directors did display a dead whale in 1877.
By the 1890s, the Aquarium was acquiring a risqué reputation, with unaccompanied ladies promenading through the hall in search of male companionship. Emily Turner, a visitor from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, 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
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 years and reopened as the Alhambra. The building was...
, promising to set her up in rooms in Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
. The major disappeared after providing her with 'gelatin capsules' for a cough. The pills made her ill, and she stopped taking them. The leftover pills were passed to Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
, and she was traced by Inspector Jarvis of the Metropolitan police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
, who identified the missing major as the serial killer, Thomas Neill Cream
Thomas Neill Cream
Dr. Thomas Neill Cream , also known as the Lambeth Poisoner, was a Scottish-born serial killer, who claimed his first proven victims in the United States and the rest in England, and possibly others in Canada and Scotland...
. The pills were eventually analysed and found to contain only quinine. Turner refused to identify Cream for fear of having to appear at the trial - and have her own respectability questioned.
The building, known as "the Tank," lost its popularity and was sold to the Wesleyan Methodist
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...
s in 1903. The Methodist Westminster Central Hall
Westminster Central Hall
The Westminster Central Hall or Methodist Central Hall is a Methodist church in the City of Westminster. It occupies the corner of Tothill Street and Storeys Gate just off Victoria Street in London, near the junction with The Sanctuary next to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre and facing...
was built on the site in 1912.
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 hallMusic hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
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
William Leonard Hunt , 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 known white man to cross the Kalahari Desert on foot and survive.-Early life:Hunt, the second...
programmed many of these beginning in 1877. One of the most famous was the young female human cannonball
Human cannonball
The human cannonball is a performance in which a person is ejected from a specially designed cannon. The impetus is provided not by gunpowder, but by either a spring or jet of compressed air...
, 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.
George Leybourne
Joe Sanders , better known as George Leybourne, was an English music hall performer. Often nicknamed "Champagne Charlie", Leybourne is best-remembered as the lyricist for The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze....
popularised a song about the Aquarium that parodied Alfred Vance
Alfred Vance
Alfred Peek Stevens , best known by his stage name Alfred Vance, was an English singer in the 19th Century music halls.-Early life and family:Vance was born in London in 1839...
'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
George Robey
Sir George Edward Wade , better known by his stage name, George Robey, was an English music hall comedian and star. He was marketed as the "Prime Minister of Mirth".-Early life:...
made his first professional appearance at the Aquarium in 1891. Located across the street from the Houses of Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, the Aquarium was popular with members of the House of Commons. 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 play written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on May 8, 1777.The prologue, written by David Garrick, commends the play, its subject, and its author to the audience...
played at the theatre in 1877, as did a revival of W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
's adaptation of Great Expectations. Samuel Phelps
Samuel Phelps
Samuel Phelps was an English actor and theatre manager...
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
George Farquhar was an Irish dramatist. He is noted for his contributions to late Restoration comedy, particularly for his plays The Recruiting Officer and The Beaux' Stratagem .-Early life:...
, She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer is a comedy by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, son of an Anglo-Irish vicar, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a great favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in Britain and the United States. 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
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
and Anne Mie, by Roster Faasen, played at the theatre in 1880, as did the comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
Billee Taylor
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 as Sir Mincing Lane and Frederick Rivers as Billee. It...
, composed by Edward Solomon
Edward Solomon
Edward Solomon was a prolific English composer, as well as a conductor, orchestrator and pianist. Though he died before his fortieth birthday, he wrote dozens of works produced for the stage, including several for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, such as The Nautch Girl, among others.-Early...
, with a libretto by Henry Pottinger Stephens
Henry Pottinger Stephens
Henry Pottinger Stephens, also known as Henry Beauchamp , was an English dramatist and journalist. With a variety of partners, he wrote burlesques, comic operas and musical comedies that briefly rivalled the Savoy Operas in popular esteem.-Life and career:"Pot" Stephens was born in Barrow-on-Soar,...
. Good-Natured Man played in 1881. In 1882, Lillie Langtry
Lillie Langtry
Lillie Langtry , usually spelled Lily Langtry when she was in the U.S., born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton, was a British actress born on the island of Jersey...
appeared at the theatre in Tom Taylor
Tom Taylor
Tom Taylor was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of Punch magazine...
'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 Emden
Walter Lawrence Emden was one of the leading English theatre and music hall architects in the building boom of 1885 to 1915.-Biography:...
, and in 1901 it was rebuilt by Frank Verity
Frank Verity
Francis Thomas Verity was an English cinema architect during the cinema building boom of the post-war years.Verity was born in London, educated at Cranleigh and joined Thomas Verity, his father, in his architectural practice, which specialised in theatre building.Both Veritys bought an interest...
for Lillie Langtry
Lillie Langtry
Lillie Langtry , usually spelled Lily Langtry when she was in the U.S., born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton, was a British actress born on the island of Jersey...
, who took over the theatre in 1900. Its capacity was reduced to 1,150, with a stage width of 62 feet (19 m) and depth of 40 feet (12 m). Langtry reopened the theatre in 1901 with Berton's A Royal Necklace. The theatre presented Everyman
Everyman
In literature and drama, the term everyman has come to mean an ordinary individual, with whom the audience or reader is supposed to be able to identify easily, and who is often placed in extraordinary circumstances...
in 1902 and When We Dead Awaken
When We Dead Awaken
When We Dead Awaken is the last 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 was at the Haymarket Theatre in London, a day or two before publication.-Plot summary:The first act...
by Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
in January 1903. George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
'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. 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
Canning Town is an area of east London, England. It is part of the London Borough of Newham and is situated in the area of the former London docks on the north side of the River Thames. It is the location of Rathbone Market...
in 1909.
External links
- 2010 article on the Royal Acquarium
- List of managers and other people associated with the theatre
- Drawing of the theatre
- Postcard of the Aquarium
- Playbill advertising a series of entertainments at the Royal Aquarium 12 December 1885
- 1877 photo of Zazel, the human cannon ball, at the Aquarium
- Posters advertising Zazel's act