Samuel Beazley
Encyclopedia
Samuel Beazley was an English architect, novelist and playwright. He became the leading theatre architect of his time and the first notable English expert in that field.
After fighting in the Peninsular War
, Beazley returned to London and quickly became a successful architect. He combined this with writing more than a hundred theatre works, generally in a comic style. He is best remembered as a theatre architect, with two major London theatres of his still surviving, together with the well-known façade of another, but he was also an important figure in railway architecture, with many commissions in the south east of England.
Beazley's other activities included translating opera libretti into English, and writing novels and non-fictional works on architecture.
, the son of Samuel Beazley, and his wife Ann (née Frith). Both facets of Beazley's future career were displayed when he was still a boy: at school at Acton
, aged 12, he wrote a farce and constructed the stage on which he and his schoolfriends performed it. At this age he already showed "signs of considerable taste for Art and a dramatic talent", according to a tribute in the Journal of the Society of Architects. He was trained as an architect by his uncle Charles Beazley, "the architect of the much admired Church at Feversham
".
As a youth, Beazley volunteered for service in the Peninsular War
, in Spain, and experienced many adventures, which he was fond of relating in later life to his friends. Among these, according to his account, was being found unconscious and taken for dead, waking up to find himself laid out for burial. Another was his part in the daring escape to Spain of the Duchesse d'Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI
, fleeing from Napoleon
's forces in 1815. His account of the escape was published by his daughter after his death.
in two acts. In 1816 he designed a new theatre for the site, in which one of the first productions was his operetta
Is he Jealous? A reviewer wrote, "It is a translation from the French by Mr. Beazley, and a most entertaining little thing it is. We have seen nothing for a long time that has pleased us so much." For the same theatre, Beazley wrote the short operetta Fire and Water in 1817; it was revived on numerous occasions over the next three years. "The business of this piece is made up of the scheme of a petulant old man, who proposes to marry a young lady, and of the efforts of a rattle brained young lover to baffle him and to carry off the prize."
Beazley continued to write for the stage, producing more than a hundred comedies, farces, comic operas, and operettas. In 1829 he wrote The Elephant of Siam and the Fire Fiend, presenting a famous female elephant called Madame D'Jeck, showing off the tricks she could perform. The historian John Earl notes that the elephant, rather than the author, took a curtain call. Among Beazley's other works were Gretna Green, The Steward, Old Customs, The Lottery Ticket, My Uncle, Bachelors' Wives, Hints to Husbands and The Bull's Head.
Beazley also translated opera librettos, including Robert le diable
, Caterina Cornaro
and La sonnambula
. The last is said to have been adapted by Beazley to fit the English pronunciation of the opera star Maria Malibran
during a series of morning interviews with her at her bedside.
, the City of London Theatre in Norton Folgate
(both in the 1830s) and the Royalty Theatre
in 1840. Major additions to existing theatres included the Strand
front of the Adelphi Theatre
, and the Russell Street colonnade
of the Drury Lane Theatre
(1831), among many others. In 1820 he was responsible for the rebuilding of the Theatre Royal
in Birmingham
, which had been destroyed by fire. He also designed two theatres for Dublin, two for Belgium, one for Brazil, and two for different parts of India.
Beazley's biographer, G. W. Burnet, wrote in 1885, "Without presenting much artistic attraction, his theatres possessed the merit of being well adapted to their purposes." Earl added, "[Beazley's] theatre designs were invariably neo-classical and not strikingly innovative; he drew on European architectural precedents but adapted them skilfully. … His experience as a playwright and his intimate knowledge of the physical demands of dramatic presentation gave him a significant advantage over his rivals." Beazley's non-theatre work included several buildings in Leamington Spa
, Ashford
Town Hall, and Studley Castle
in Warwickshire
. His last important works were for the South-Eastern Railway Company, and include its terminus at London Bridge
, most of its stations on the North Kent line
, and the Lord Warden Hotel and Pilot House at Dover
.
In addition to his architecture and playwriting, Beazley wrote two novels, The Roué, 1828, and The Oxonians, 1830. In Burnet's view, they are cleverly constructed, but "to modern taste they seem tedious and formal." He also wrote some architectural papers and a short book published in 1812 about the enclosure of waste lands. His versatility caused him to be nicknamed "the Vanbrugh
of his time: for he has not only designed several theatres, but has written many excellent pieces to be performed in them." Earl agreed, describing Vanbrugh and Beazley as "soldiers, adventurers, playwrights, and architects."
Beazley died suddenly at his home, Tonbridge Castle
, Kent, on 13 October, 1851, aged 65. He was buried at Bermondsey Old Church, London. Many years earlier he had composed his own epitaph:
He was remembered by the playwright J. R. Planché
as "Dear, good-tempered, clever, generous, eccentric Sam Beazley."
After fighting in the Peninsular War
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, Beazley returned to London and quickly became a successful architect. He combined this with writing more than a hundred theatre works, generally in a comic style. He is best remembered as a theatre architect, with two major London theatres of his still surviving, together with the well-known façade of another, but he was also an important figure in railway architecture, with many commissions in the south east of England.
Beazley's other activities included translating opera libretti into English, and writing novels and non-fictional works on architecture.
Early years
Beazley was born in WestminsterWestminster
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...
, the son of Samuel Beazley, and his wife Ann (née Frith). Both facets of Beazley's future career were displayed when he was still a boy: at school at Acton
Acton, London
Acton is a district of west London, England, located in the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross.At the time of the 2001 census, Acton, comprising the wards of East Acton, Acton Central, South Acton and Southfield, had a population of 53,689 people...
, aged 12, he wrote a farce and constructed the stage on which he and his schoolfriends performed it. At this age he already showed "signs of considerable taste for Art and a dramatic talent", according to a tribute in the Journal of the Society of Architects. He was trained as an architect by his uncle Charles Beazley, "the architect of the much admired Church at Feversham
Faversham
Faversham is a market town and civil parish in the Swale borough of Kent, England. The parish of Faversham grew up around an ancient sea port on Faversham Creek and was the birthplace of the explosives industry in England.-History:...
".
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
, in Spain, and experienced many adventures, which he was fond of relating in later life to his friends. Among these, according to his account, was being found unconscious and taken for dead, waking up to find himself laid out for burial. Another was his part in the daring escape to Spain of the Duchesse d'Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
, fleeing from Napoleon
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
's forces in 1815. His account of the escape was published by his daughter after his death.
Architect and playwright
After returning to London, Beazley practised as an architect and, at the same time, wrote plays. He had already had a work professionally produced at the Theatre Royal English Opera, Lyceum in 1811: The Boarding House; or, Five Hours at Brighton, a musical farceFarce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
in two acts. In 1816 he designed a new theatre for the site, in which one of the first productions was his operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
Is he Jealous? A reviewer wrote, "It is a translation from the French by Mr. Beazley, and a most entertaining little thing it is. We have seen nothing for a long time that has pleased us so much." For the same theatre, Beazley wrote the short operetta Fire and Water in 1817; it was revived on numerous occasions over the next three years. "The business of this piece is made up of the scheme of a petulant old man, who proposes to marry a young lady, and of the efforts of a rattle brained young lover to baffle him and to carry off the prize."
Beazley continued to write for the stage, producing more than a hundred comedies, farces, comic operas, and operettas. In 1829 he wrote The Elephant of Siam and the Fire Fiend, presenting a famous female elephant called Madame D'Jeck, showing off the tricks she could perform. The historian John Earl notes that the elephant, rather than the author, took a curtain call. Among Beazley's other works were Gretna Green, The Steward, Old Customs, The Lottery Ticket, My Uncle, Bachelors' Wives, Hints to Husbands and The Bull's Head.
Beazley also translated opera librettos, including Robert le diable
Robert le diable (opera)
Robert le diable is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, often regarded as the first grand opera. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Casimir Delavigne and has little connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil. Originally planned as a three-act opéra comique, "Meyerbeer persuaded...
, Caterina Cornaro
Caterina Cornaro (opera)
Caterina Cornaro ossia La Regina di Cipro is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in a prologue and two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Giacomo Sacchèro wrote the Italian libretto after Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges' libretto for Halévy's La reine de Chypre...
and La sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
. The last is said to have been adapted by Beazley to fit the English pronunciation of the opera star Maria Malibran
Maria Malibran
The mezzo-soprano Maria Malibran , was one of the most famous opera singers of the 19th century. Malibran was known for her stormy personality and dramatic intensity, becoming a legendary figure after her death at age 28...
during a series of morning interviews with her at her bedside.
London theatres and other work
Beazley designed the Lyceum Theatre twice. His 1816 building, then known as the English Opera House, was destroyed by fire in 1830, and Beazley provided the designs for its replacement, which opened in 1834. He also designed the St James's TheatreSt James's Theatre
The St James's Theatre was a 1,200-seat theatre located in King Street, at Duke Street, St James's, London. The elaborate theatre was designed with a neo-classical exterior and a Louis XIV style interior by Samuel Beazley and built by the partnership of Peto & Grissell for the tenor and theatre...
, the City of London Theatre in Norton Folgate
Norton Folgate
Norton Folgate is a short length of street in London, connecting Bishopsgate with Shoreditch High Street on the northern edge of its financial district, the City of London. It constitutes a very small section of the A10, the former Roman Ermine Street...
(both in the 1830s) and the Royalty Theatre
Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho and opened on 25 May 1840 as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. The architect was Samuel Beazley, a resident in Soho Square, who also designed St James's Theatre, among...
in 1840. Major additions to existing theatres included the Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
front of the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
, and the Russell Street colonnade
Colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
of the Drury Lane Theatre
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
(1831), among many others. In 1820 he was responsible for the rebuilding of the Theatre Royal
Theatre Royal, Birmingham
The Theatre Royal, originally the New Theatre, was a theatre located on New Street in Birmingham, England between 1774 and 1956.-Bibliography and further reading:**...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, which had been destroyed by fire. He also designed two theatres for Dublin, two for Belgium, one for Brazil, and two for different parts of India.
Beazley's biographer, G. W. Burnet, wrote in 1885, "Without presenting much artistic attraction, his theatres possessed the merit of being well adapted to their purposes." Earl added, "[Beazley's] theatre designs were invariably neo-classical and not strikingly innovative; he drew on European architectural precedents but adapted them skilfully. … His experience as a playwright and his intimate knowledge of the physical demands of dramatic presentation gave him a significant advantage over his rivals." Beazley's non-theatre work included several buildings in Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
, Ashford
Ashford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...
Town Hall, and Studley Castle
Studley Castle
Studley Castle is a 19th century country house at Studley , Warwickshire which is now occupied as a hotel. It is a Grade II* listed building.The manor of Studley was owned by the Lyttleton family and was bequeathed by Philip Lyttleton to his niece Dorothy, who married Francis Holyoake...
in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. His last important works were for the South-Eastern Railway Company, and include its terminus at London Bridge
London Bridge station
London Bridge railway station is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex in the London Borough of Southwark, occupying a large area on two levels immediately south-east of London Bridge and 1.6 miles east of Charing Cross. It is one of the oldest railway stations in the...
, most of its stations on the North Kent line
North Kent Line
The North Kent Line is a railway line which connects central and south east London with Dartford and Medway.-Construction:The North Kent Line was the means by which the South Eastern Railway were able to connect its system to London at London Bridge...
, and the Lord Warden Hotel and Pilot House at Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
.
In addition to his architecture and playwriting, Beazley wrote two novels, The Roué, 1828, and The Oxonians, 1830. In Burnet's view, they are cleverly constructed, but "to modern taste they seem tedious and formal." He also wrote some architectural papers and a short book published in 1812 about the enclosure of waste lands. His versatility caused him to be nicknamed "the Vanbrugh
John Vanbrugh
Sir John Vanbrugh – 26 March 1726) was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife , which have become enduring stage favourites...
of his time: for he has not only designed several theatres, but has written many excellent pieces to be performed in them." Earl agreed, describing Vanbrugh and Beazley as "soldiers, adventurers, playwrights, and architects."
Personal life
Beazley was married three times: first in 1809 to Eliza Richardson, second in 1824 to Frances Conway, and third in the late 1840s to Marianne Joseph. His first two marriages ended in divorce. In his will, Beazley divided the bulk of his considerable fortune between his third wife, Marianne, and his sister Emily Beazley. He made further bequests to the children of his sister Nancy, wife of Edward Tribe. In codicils, he also made provision for children in the care of several different women.Beazley died suddenly at his home, Tonbridge Castle
Tonbridge Castle
Tonbridge Castle is situated in the town of the same name, Kent, England.-Early history:Following the Norman Conquest, Richard Fitz Gilbert was granted land in Kent to guard the crossing of the River Medway. He erected a simple Motte-and-bailey castle on the site. To dig the moat and erect the...
, Kent, on 13 October, 1851, aged 65. He was buried at Bermondsey Old Church, London. Many years earlier he had composed his own epitaph:
Here lies Samuel Beazley,
Who lived hard and died easily
He was remembered by the playwright J. R. Planché
James Planche
James Robinson Planché was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including extravaganza, farce, comedy, burletta, melodrama and opera...
as "Dear, good-tempered, clever, generous, eccentric Sam Beazley."