Built in 1791 by William Taylor to replace the theatre burnt down in 1789 during evening rehearsals. The first public performance was in 1793 and the theatre was then the largest in England. The theatre was renamed Her Majesty’s in 1837 when Victoria came to the throne.
From The Face of London by Howard Clunn.
Archive of posts tagged Westminster
Royal Aquarium, c1880
Covent Garden Theatre, 1858
The third theatre on the site (the previous ones burned down in 1808 and 1856). Designed by Edward Middleton Barry and built by the Lucas brothers. The theatre opened on May 15 with a performance of Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots and became the Royal Opera House in 1892.
From the Illustrated London News, May 15, 1858.
St James’s Royal Hotel, 1820
At number 76 [Jermyn Street] stood until 1940 Hammum’s Hotel and Turkish Baths, opened about 1860 as the London and Provincial Turkish Bath Company. Hammum’s occupied the site of the former St James’s Hotel, and here Sir Walter Scott lodged for some time after his return from the continent in 1832, setting out on 7 July for Abbotsford, where he died on 21 September.
From The Face of London by Howard Clunn
