Drury Lane Theatre in Regency London

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, from The Microcosm of London Vol 1 (1808)

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, was one of the two theatres with a patent to perform plays in Georgian London. The other was the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. The Haymarket Theatre could also put on plays, but only during the summer.

Early history

The first theatre (1663-72)

The first theatre on the Drury Lane site opened in 1663. It was built by Thomas Killigrew on an area known as the Riding Yard but seems to have had no particular name at this time, being variously referred to as the King’s Theatre or the King’s House or, confusingly, the Covent Garden Theatre, as it was in the neighbourhood of Covent Garden. It burnt down in 1672.

The second theatre (1674-1791)

Killigrew rebuilt the theatre on the same site and it opened in 1674 as the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane. According to Old and New London, this new theatre was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, but this claim was based on slim evidence and is now thought to be unlikely.

From 1747-76, the theatre was managed and part-owned by the actor David Garrick. During the last year of his tenure, Garrick commissioned his friend Robert Adam and his brother James to remodel the theatre and add a new façade.

On Garrick's retirement in 1776, the theatre passed into the joint ownership of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Thomas Linley and Doctor James Ford. Sheridan pulled down the theatre in 1791 in order to build a larger one, during which time the company performed at the Haymarket Theatre.

Drury Lane Theatre in 1775 from Shakespere to Sheridan by A Thaler (1922)

Sheridan’s theatre (1794-1809)

The third theatre was designed by Henry Holland. It opened for the first time on 12 March 1794 with ‘a grand selection of sacred music, from the works of Handel’1 rather than a play, because it was Lent.

The exterior of Sheridan’s theatre

The Microcosm of London described the outside of the theatre:

The buildings which surround the theatre are faced with Portland stone, but will be finished with balustrade. The theatre, which rises above them, is cased with plaister in imitation of stone, and finished with a balustrade. Through the roof rises a turret, making a large ventilator. On the summit is placed a figure of Apollo, more than ten feet high; but this is to be removed to the west front when finished, and replaced by one of Shakspeare.2 

Drury Lane Theatre burnt down in 1809
from The Beauties of England and Wales (1810)

The stage

The new theatre was much bigger than the previous one. The Microcosm of London wrote:

The accommodations for the stage are upon a much larger scale than those of any other theatre in Europe. The stage is 105 feet in length, 75 wide, and 45 feet between the stage-doors.

In the roof of the theatre is contained, besides the barrel-loft, ample room for scene-painters, and four very large reservoirs, from which water is distributed over every part of the house, for the purpose of instantly extinguishing fire in any part where such accident is possible.

Over the stage is a double range of galleries, called flies, containing machinery, and where the greatest part of the scenery is worked; but which, from the number of blocks, wheels, and ropes crossing each other in every direction, give it very much the appearance of a ship's deck.3

The Picture of London for 1809 wrote:

To facilitate the working some scenery, and light machinery, there is a stage about ten feet below the upper one, where the carpenters attend either to raise ghosts, pantomime demons, or to obey the magic wand which consigns them to oblivion. Under this second stage there is a depth of about forty feet, furnished with various mechanical engines, requisite for raising the splendid and massy pillars, temples, &c. which enrich the scenery, and contribute so essentially to the effect produced by the grand ballets and pantomimes exhibited at this theatre.4

The Microcosm of London added:

There are two green-rooms, one for the use of chorus-singers, supernumeraries, and figurants; the other for the principal performers: the latter of which is fitted up in the first style of elegance, and occasionally visited by persons of the highest distinction.5

The interior of Sheridan’s theatre

Inside Drury Lane Theatre in 1804 from Old and New London (1873)

According to The Microcosm of London:

The audience part of the theatre is formed nearly on a semi-circular plan. It contains a pit, four tiers of boxes on each side of the house, and two galleries, which command a full view of every part of the stage.6

The Picture of London for 1809 stated that there were also 'a number of private boxes, ranged on each side the pit, and constructed so as to afford a perfect view of the stage, and yet conceal the occupiers from observation.'7

The Microcosm of London continued:

The pit is 54 feet in length, 46 in breadth, has twenty-five rows of benches, and contains eight hundred persons. The benches are so well constructed, that those next the orchestra command an uninterrupted view of the whole stage, and the avenues to it are very commodious and safe.

The prevailing colours of the boxes are blue and white, relieved with richly fancied embellishments of decorative ornament. The compartments into which the front of each tier is divided, have centrally a highly finished cameo, the ground of cornelian-stone colour, with exquisitely drawn figures, raised in white; the subjects are chiefly from Ovid, and painted by Rebecca. The stage-boxes project about two feet, and have a rich silver lattice-work, of excellent taste and workmanship. The boxes are supported by cast-iron candalabras, fluted and silver-lackered, resting on elegantly executed feet; from the top of each pillar a branch projects three feet, from which is suspended a brilliant cut-glass chandelier. A circular mirror, about five feet diameter, is placed at each end of the dress-boxes, next the stage, that produces a pleasing reflected view of the audience.8

The Royal Box

On the nights when this theatre is honoured with their Majesties presence, the partitions of the stage-box are taken down, and it is brought forward nearly two feet, a canopy is erected superbly decorated with crimson velvet, richly embroidered with gold, and adjoining them sit the princesses. Their box is usually lined with light blue satin, fancifully festooned and elegantly decorated with silver fringe and rich tassels.9

The entrance

Front of Old Drury Lane Theatre from
Old and New London (1873)

There are three entrances to the boxes, two to the pit and galleries. The one in Brydges-street leads to a saloon 75 feet by 21, called the Egyptian Hall. Sixteen pillars, of the Doric order, beautifully painted, in imitation of porphyry, are at once a splendid ornament, and support the back boxes, to which a flight of stairs at each end leads.

At the back of the front boxes there is a semi-circular saloon 41 feet long, containing, at a proper elevation, a handsome statue of Garrick, between the tragic and comic muse. In this place proper persons attend with refreshments. Over this there is a smaller one for the same purpose.10

There are also large saloons on the north and south sides of the theatre, and handsome square rooms, one of which is intended for the use of his Majesty, and the other for the Prince of Wales.11

Visiting the theatre

The seating capacity was around 3,950 in total. The Picture of London for 1809 stated the capacities and prices as follows:

The 1,960 people in the boxes included the free list, but excluded private boxes.

The Microcosm of London stated the capacities somewhat differently – 675 in the two-shilling gallery and 308 in the one-shilling gallery, with 3,611 spectators in total.

The doors opened at 5.30 pm and the performances started promptly at 6.30 pm. Half-price tickets were available for entry after the third act of the play, usually around 8 o’clock. Boxes could be reserved by paying a shilling to the box office on the morning of the performance.

A sad end to Sheridan's theatre

The Microcosm of London claimed that:

This magnificent structure unites a splendid combination of taste, grandeur, and elegance, which renders it a monument of fame to Mr. Holland, the architect, and when its exterior is completely finished, it will be a national ornament.12

Alas! The theatre never was completely finished. Despite its elaborate fire precautions, this theatre burnt down on 24 February 1809, less than 6 months after its rival at Covent Garden had suffered the same fate. The fire ruined Sheridan who had borrowed heavily to finance his new theatre. The ownership passed into the hands of a committee headed up by the brewer, Samuel Whitbread, who forbade Sheridan to take any part in the management going forward.

Whilst the theatre was, yet again, being rebuilt, the Drury Lane Company performed at the Opera House and then at the Lyceum.

The Regency theatre (1812-present)

Drury Lane Theatre from Leigh's New Picture of London (1827)

The fourth Drury Lane Theatre was designed by Benjamin Wyatt and opened on Saturday 10 October 1812 with a production of Hamlet and an address written by Lord Byron.

The Green Room at Drury Lane (1822) by G Cruikshank
from Life in Regency and Early Victorian Times by EB Chancellor (1926)

The Picture of London for 1813 stated:

The stage is about thirty-three feet wide, the proscenium nineteen and a half. The part usually appropriated to doors, is judiciously occupied by two magnificent lamps, with tripods on triangular pedestals. This theatre is altogether a master-piece of art, and an ornament of the metropolis. Its coup d’oeil is delightful beyond the power of description.

The grand entrance to this theatre is from Brydges-street, through a spacious hall, leading to the boxes and pit. Three large doors lead from this hall into the house, and into a rotunda of great beauty and elegance. On each side of the rotunda are passages to the great stairs, which are peculiarly grand and spacious.

The grand saloon is eighty-six feet long, circular at each extremity, and separated from the box-corridors by the rotunda and grand staircase. The ceiling is arched, and the general effect of two massy Corinthian columns of verd antique at each end, with ten corresponding pilasters on each side, is grand and pleasing. The rooms for coffee and refreshments at the ends of the saloon are convenient.

The body of the theatre presents nearly three-fourths of a circle from the stage. The color of the interior is gold upon green, and the relief of the boxes is by a rich crimson. There are three circles of boxes, each containing twenty-four boxes.13 

Some alterations were later made to the design. The Picture of London for 1818 stated that there were 26 boxes in each circle and complained that the grand saloon had been 'converted into what is called a Chinese temple, with two holes for staircases from the hall below. It is impossible to say whether the man who planned this ridiculous alteration, or the architect who executed it, has shewn most want of taste.'14

Kean as King Richard; Royalty in the box (1823) by W Heath
from Life in Regency and Early Victorian Times by EB Chancellor (1926)

 Visiting the theatre

The seating capacity of this theatre was around 2,810 – still large, but some 1,000 seats less than the 1794 theatre that it replaced. The Picture of London for 1813 stated the terms and capacities as follows:

In 1813, the season was advertised to run from September to June; in 1818, it was advertised to run until July. Around 1818, the performances moved from a start time of 6.30 pm to 7 pm in order to accommodate later dinner hours.

Behind the scenes

The Picture of London for 1818 stated:

The details of the business of this Theatre present a system worthy of imitation in all similar concerns, of which a competent judgment can alone be formed by persons, who on formal application, for the purpose, obtain permission to see the vast interior in the day-time. The wardrobe, the painting rooms, the machinery above and below the stage, the provisions for preventing and extinguishing fire, all excite the just admiration of those who have the opportunity of beholding them.15

After the Regency

Drury Lane Theatre (2017)

The Drury Lane Theatre today is still the 1812 building, though various alterations and renovations have been made over the years. The Doric portico in Catherine Street was added in 1820, and ‘the interior of the house … was entirely rebuilt in 1822.’16 The colonnade along the side of the building in Little Russell Street was added in 1831.

Drury Lane Theatre (2015)

The colonnade, Drury Lane Theatre (2017)

In 2013, the theatre underwent major renovations and the front of house areas were returned, as far as possible, to their original 1812 design. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane continues to be a thriving part of the West End theatre scene.

Rachel Knowles writes clean/Christian Regency era romance and historical non-fiction. She has been sharing her research on this blog since 2011. Rachel lives in the beautiful Georgian seaside town of Weymouth, Dorset, on the south coast of England, with her husband, Andrew.

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Notes

1. From The Times, 12 March 1794, The Times Digital Archive. The Microcosm of London stated that the new theatre opened on 13 March 1793 but The Times Digital Archive advertised its opening on 12 March 1794.

2. From The Microcosm of London Volume I.

3. From The Microcosm of London Volume I.

4. From The Picture of London for 1809.

5. From The Microcosm of London Volume I.

6. From The Microcosm of London Volume I.

7. From The Picture of London for 1809.

8. From The Microcosm of London Volume I.

9. From The Microcosm of London Volume I.

10. From The Microcosm of London Volume I.

11. From The Microcosm of London Volume I.

12. From The Microcosm of London Volume I.

13. From The Picture of London for 1813.

14. From The Picture of London for 1818.

15. From The Picture of London for 1818.

16. From Leigh’s New Picture of London (1830).

Sources used include:

Ackermann, Rudolph, and Pyne, William Henry, The Microcosm of London or London in miniature Volume 1 (Rudolph Ackermann 1808-1810, reprinted 1904)

Brayley, Edward Wedlake, Nightingale, J and Brewer, J, et al, The Beauties of England and Wales(1810-16)
Feltham, John, The Picture of London for 1807 (1807)

Feltham, John, The Picture of London for 1809 (1809)

Feltham, John, The Picture of London for 1813 (1813)

Feltham, John, The Picture of London for 1818 (1818)
Leigh, Samuel, Leigh's New Picture of London (1827)

Leigh, Samuel, Leigh's New Picture of London (1830)

The Gentleman’s Magazine (1809)

Walford, Edward, Old and New London: A narrative of its history, its people, and its places (Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1873, London) Vol 3

Photographs © RegencyHistory.net
Updated 27/6/19

The life and career of Horatio Nelson

Admiral Lord Nelson after the painting by John Hoppner
in Miller's edition of Robert Southey's Life of Nelson (1896)

Profile

Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson (29 September 1758 – 21 October 1805) is probably the most well-known of all the heroes of late Georgian England. He can’t match Mr Darcy in popularity, but Nelson did have the benefit of being a real person!

Nelson’s early naval career 1771-1792

Born in 1758, the sixth of eleven children living in Norfolk, his father was a rector and his mother died when he was age nine. Three years later he decided to join the navy having read of his uncle taking command of a sixty-four gun warship.

He joined his uncle’s ship, the Raisonnable, at Chatham in 1771, as a midshipman. Keen to give the boy more experience, his uncle arranged for him to serve on other ships, taking him to North America and to India. In 1777 the 18-year-old Nelson applied for, and was given, promotion to Lieutenant.

For the next few years, Nelson spent much of his time in and around the Caribbean. Promoted again to Post-Captain, he was given his first command, HMS Badger, in late 1778. He took part in several military engagements, both at sea and on land. 

Nelson's marriage 1787

On 11 March 1787, on the Caribbean island of Nevis, he married 29-year-old Frances Nisbet, a widow with a young son. The bride was given away by Prince William (later William IV), at that time a junior officer in the navy and a friend of Nelson. 

Lady Nelson © National Maritime Museum

In a letter to Captain William Locker dated 21 March 1787, 10 days after his marriage to Frances Nisbet, Nelson wrote:

I am married to an amiable woman, that far makes amends for everything: indeed till I married her I never knew happiness. And I am morally certain she will continue to make me a happy man for the rest of my days.1

Later that year the couple returned to England and as the nation was enjoying a period of peace, Nelson’s services were no longer required by the navy. He was put on half-pay and spent the next few years badgering to be given a new command.

Mediterranean service 1793-1797

Peace did not last long. Revolutionary France was threatening war and in January 1793 Nelson was given command of the sixty-four gun HMS Agamemnon. Within weeks, the French declared war and Nelson began a long period of service in the Mediterranean.

In late 1793 he arrived in Naples, where he met Sir William Hamilton, the British ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples. He also met Hamilton’s attractive young wife, Emma. 

Sir William Hamilton from Horatio Nelson and 
the Naval Supremacy of England by W Clark (1890)

He was soon engaged in military action against the French, including an assault on the island of Corsica. It was during this, in 1794, that his right eye was permanently damaged by flying debris.

In 1796 Nelson was promoted to Commodore, as he continued to conduct operations against the French and their allies. A year later he was made a Knight of the Bath for his contribution to the victory during the Battle of Cape St Vincent on 14 February 1797. This action won him recognition for his unorthodox tactics, and he became a hero in the eyes of the public. A week later he was promoted again, to Rear Admiral.

Colonel John Drinkwater Bethune was an eye witness at the battle of St Vincent and discussed it with Nelson afterwards. This is part of his published account of the action:

The Commodore’s [Nelson] impatience would not permit him to remain an inactive spectator of the event. He knew the attempt was hazardous; and his presence, he thought, might contribute to its success. He therefore accompanied the party in this attack, passing from the fore chains of his own ship into the enemy’s quarter gallery, and thence through the cabin to the quarter-deck, where he arrived in time to receive the sword of the dying commander, who was mortally wounded by the boarders … But this labor was no sooner achieved, than he found himself involved in another and more arduous one … the undaunted Commodore headed himself the assailants in this new attack, and success crowned the enterprise. Such, indeed, was the panic occasioned by his preceding conduct, that the British no sooner appeared on the quarter-deck of their new opponent, than the Commandant advanced, and asking for the British commanding officer, dropped on one knee, and presented to him his sword; making, at the same time, an excuse for the Spanish Admiral’s not appearing, as he was dangerously wounded.2

Later that year, on 22-25 July 1797, Nelson led a failed attempt to capture Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. During the attack his right arm was injured and subsequently amputated. He returned to England to recuperate.

Victory, fame and Emma Hamilton 1798-1799

Within a few months, Nelson’s reputation as a national hero was cemented by the dramatic defeat of the French at the Battle of the Nile, 1-3 August 1798. 

The French had just delivered Napoleon and his army to Egypt and they felt secure, having more guns than the British. Having spent months searching for the French, and despite discovering them late in the afternoon, Nelson ordered an immediate attack. The result was a naval battle at night, which included the spectacular explosion of the French flagship Orient. 

The Battle of the Nile from Horatio Nelson and 
the Naval Supremacy of England by W Clark (1890)

Nelson’s victory stranded Napoleon in Egypt and won him huge recognition in Britain, where the public celebrated enthusiastically once the news arrived. Nelson was made Baron Nelson of the Nile.

His victory was also celebrated in the Kingdom of Naples, where he received a particularly enthusiastic reception from Emma Hamilton, wife of the British ambassador. Nelson and Emma became lovers.

Emma Hamilton from Horatio Nelson and 
the Naval Supremacy of England by W Clark (1890)

The Kingdom of Naples declared war on France, and his army got as far as capturing Rome before being driven back. By late 1798 the French were threatening Naples itself, and Nelson oversaw the evacuation of the Neapolitan royal family, along with William and Emma Hamilton.

The following year saw the French driven from Naples, which Nelson had blockaded. He then oversaw the imprisonment and execution of many supporters of the French. For his support of the Neapolitan monarchy, Nelson was given the Dukedom of Bronte.

Return to England and another victory 1800-1801

Lord Nelson KB after a painting by AW Devis from Horatio 
Nelson and the Naval Supremacy of England by W Clark (1890)

With both Nelson and Sir William Hamilton being recalled to England, they chose to travel home together, along with Emma, now pregnant by Nelson. The four-month journey was overland, via Florence, Prague and Hamburg. They arrived in Great Yarmouth on 6 November 1800.

Nelson received a hero’s welcome, but there was more than a whiff of scandal around his relationship with Lady Hamilton. Meetings with his wife, Frances, were frosty and soon Nelson made it clear his commitment was to his lover.

Nelson wrote to Emma:

You need not fear all the women in this world; for all others, except yourself, are pests to me. I know but one; for, who can be like my Emma? I am confident, you will do nothing which can hurt my feelings; and I will die by torture, sooner than do any thing which could offend you.3

On 29 January 1801, Emma gave birth to Horatia, Nelson’s daughter. In the same month, he was promoted to Vice Admiral, and went on to lead an attack on Denmark. Victory at the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801 saw him made Viscount Nelson of the Nile and Commander-in-Chief of the Baltic fleet.

In October 1801 Nelson and the Hamiltons toured central England and parts of Wales, where they were met by enthusiastic crowds and numerous accolades.

Nelson’s final years and the Battle of Trafalgar 1802-1805

Merton Place in Surrey
in The Seats of the Nobility and Gentry by W Angus (c1801)

Anxious to settle down with Emma, effectively as a married couple, Nelson bought Merton Place in 1802. But as war was again brewing, he was soon called to serve with the fleet. For much of 1803 and 1804 he took part in the naval blockade of Toulon.

Never was any commander more beloved. He governed men by their reason and their affections; they knew that he was incapable of caprice or tyranny and they obeyed him with alacrity and joy, because he possessed their confidence as well as their love. “Our Nel,” they used to say, “is as brave as a lion and as gentle as a lamb.” Severe discipline he detested, though he had been bred in a severe school. He never inflicted corporal punishment if it were possible to avoid it; and when compelled to enforce it, he, who was familiar with wounds and death, suffered like a woman. In his whole life, Nelson was never known to act unkindly towards an officer. If he was asked to prosecute one for ill behaviour, he used to answer, “That there was no occasion for him to ruin a poor devil who was sufficiently his own enemy to ruin himself.”4

Early 1805 brought the news of a major French fleet setting sail into the Atlantic. Nelson was anxious to engage them in a major battle and spent months searching for them. He returned to London in the summer, frustrated at not discovering them, but in September, news arrived of the French and Spanish fleets having combined, and being anchored at Cadiz.

On 14 September 1805 Nelson left Portsmouth for the last time, aboard his flagship, HMS Victory. On 21 October Nelson raised his famous signal “England expects that every man will his duty” and engaged the enemy fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, using novel tactics he had devised.

Nelson's signal at Trafalgar from Horatio Nelson
 and the Naval Supremacy of England by W Clark (1890)

In the early afternoon, as he stood on the deck of the Victory, Nelson was struck by a musket ball. He was taken below deck and remained conscious for some time, giving instructions for the fleet and asking for his possessions to be given to Lady Hamilton. He died around three hours after being hit.

Death of Nelson from the painting by Ernest Slingeneyer from Horatio 
Nelson  and the Naval Supremacy of England by W Clark (1890)

The British fleet won a decisive victory at Trafalgar. 

The Battle of Trafalgar from Horatio Nelson and the 
Naval Supremacy of England by W Clark (1890)

Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson was given a hero’s funeral and lies entombed in St Paul’s Cathedral, London. A number of monuments were erected to remember him, including the landmark Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London.

Monument erected in St Paul's Cathedral to
the memory of Nelson from the European
 Magazine and London Review (1818)

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London

Detail from frieze on Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London

Notes

(1) From Nelson, Horatio, Dispatches and letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson vol 1, 1777-1794 (1814, London)

(2) From Bethune, Colonel Drinkwater, A narrative of the battle of St Vincent with anecdotes of Nelson (1840, London)

(3) In a letter to Emma Hamilton from Nelson, July 1 1801, in Nelson, Horatio, The Letters of Lord Nelson to Lady Hamilton vol 1 (1814)

(4) From Southey, Robert, The life of Horatio Lord Nelson vol 2 (1814)

Sources used include:

Bethune, Colonel Drinkwater, A narrative of the battle of St Vincent with anecdotes of Nelson (1840, London)

Hibbert, Christopher, Nelson, A Personal History (1994)

Miller, Edwin L, Robert Southey's Life of Nelson (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1896)

Nelson, Horatio, Dispatches and letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson vol 1, 1777-1794 (1814, London)

Nelson, Horatio, The Letters of Lord Nelson to Lady Hamilton vol 1 (1814)

Southey, Robert, The life of Horatio Lord Nelson vol 1 (1813) vol 2 (1814)

All photographs © RegencyHistory.net