Howard & Wyndham Ltd was a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

owning, production and management company named after John B. Howard and Frederick W. P. Wyndham, founded in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

in 1895, and which became the largest of its type in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

. The company continued well into the 20th century. Its theatres were eventually sold in the 1960s, and the shareholding came under American control.

Founding of the company

The company was founded in 1895 by Baillie Michael Simons of

to formalise and extend an 1883 partnership between Irish-born John B. Howard (1841–1895) and Edinburgh-born Frederick W. P. Wyndham (1853–1930), son of actor-manager Robert Henry Wyndham. The partnership was originally formed to run the

Royal Lyceum Theatre The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by a ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. Both Howard and Wyndham were well-known impresarios, actors and managers in Scotland and England. The new company owned the

Theatre Royal, Glasgow The Theatre Royal is the oldest theatre in Glasgow and the longest running in Scotland. Located at 282 Hope Street, its front door was originally round the corner in Cowcaddens Street. It currently accommodates 1,541 people and is owned by Scott ...

with funding from Michael Simons, acquired the

Theatre Royal, Edinburgh The history of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh involves two sites. The first building, on Princes Street, opened 1769 and was rebuilt in 1830 by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd. The second site was on Broughton Street. History The first Theatre Royal was ...

, and leased the

Royalty Theatre, Glasgow The Royalty Theatre, Glasgow (later the Lyric Theatre) was a theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live a ...

. Howard died of a stroke only weeks after the company was formed. Howard & Wyndham presented drama, opera, pantomime, musicals and revues. From the 1930s, this included the famous Half Past Eight Shows which later became the record-breaking Five Past Eight Shows. They also tried film weeks in Glasgow and Edinburgh around 1911. They were not operators of music-halls nor presented variety, which was the forte of

Moss Empires Moss Empires was a company formed in Edinburgh in 1899, from the merger of the theatre companies owned by Sir Edward Moss, Richard Thornton and Sir Oswald Stoll. This created the largest chain of variety theatres and music halls in the United ...

20th century

In 1904 the company built and opened the

King's Theatre, Glasgow The King's Theatre is located in Glasgow, Scotland. It was built for Howard & Wyndham Ltd under its chairman Baillie Michael Simons as a sister theatre of their Theatre Royal in the city and was designed by Frank Matcham, opening in 1904. The ...

, and soon became Britain's largest company of quality theatres. Howard & Wyndham pantomimes graced British stages for over 90 years, possibly a record unequalled. Under Michael Simons, in 1912, the company took over the Robert Arthur group of six theatres (four in England - the

Theatre Royal, Newcastle The Theatre Royal is a historic theatre, a Grade I listed building situated on Grey Street in Newcastle upon Tyne. History George III authorised the founding of a theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1780s. Newcastle's original Theatre Royal o ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, the

Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word ''court'' may also be app ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, and the Royal Court in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

- and two in Scotland), in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

where Her Majesty`s Theatre was Robert Arthur`s springboard for his theatre empire, and in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. Fred Wyndham continued to run the company productions until 1928, when he retired (though retaining his seat on the board for two more years). Howard & Wyndham Ltd bought over the

King's Theatre, Edinburgh The King's Theatre is a theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland. History of the theatre The King's became famous for being a venue belonging to the theatre empire Howard & Wyndham. The theatre was originally commissioned by the Edinburgh Building Comp ...

, appointing its A. Stewart Cruikshank as managing director of the group, and also making C. B. Cochran a director. Cruikshank instituted a resident company for a time at the Lyceum, and opened a contracts office for the group in London. The company became based at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh, and its policy committed it to "the best work of modern writers, together with the classics of the past", including touring Shakespeare productions and opera alongside pantomime and musicals. Howard & Wyndham Ltd also held shares and directorships in

, London West End theatres and were the major shareholders in H.M. Tennent & Company.

Later years

On his father's death in 1949 in a road accident in Edinburgh, Stewart Cruikshank junior succeeded as managing director, and concentrated the offices and wardrobe in London while continuing the production facilities and stores in Edinburgh. Through its joint venture with Roy Thomson's

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...

at the

in the 1950s, the company became major shareholders in the new independent television franchise. In the 1960s Howard & Wyndham Ltd sold its theatres in England and Scotland to the city councils, with one exception, their British flagship out of over 20 theatres, the

Alhambra Theatre Glasgow The Alhambra Theatre, Glasgow opened on 19 December 1910 at the corner of Waterloo Street and Wellington Street, Glasgow under the direction of Sir Alfred Butt and was acknowledged as one of the best equipped theatres in Britain, planned to a ...

which Glasgow Corporation declined to take up despite the public's preference for it. It closed in 1969 to meet company debts in film and television production."Alhambra Glasgow" by Graeme Smith

External links

Howard and Wyndham Limited 1888 - 1948
See academic, refereed paper on the formative years of Howard and Wyndham, 1851 to 1894, by Paul Iles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard and Wyndham Ltd Theatre of the United Kingdom British impresarios