James Baylis was a theatre entrepreneur and entertainment provider in 19th century

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 ...

, where he originated

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

s and theatres from the 1840s until his death in 1870. One of his major developments was 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 ...

which continues today and is owned by

Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish Op ...

. Baylis was born in Ireland, the son of a bandmaster in the army, and settled in Glasgow with his wife Christina Ferguson Baylis. He worked as a book keeper in a brewery and in evenings and weekends in the late 1840s was the manager of Sloan's Oddfellows Singing Saloon,

Saltmarket The Saltmarket is a thoroughfare in the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is a southward continuation of the High Street, Glasgow, High Street, running south from Glasgow Cross to the junction with Clyde Street and Crown Street by the River Clyde. I ...

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, owned by his brother-in-law (husband of his sister, Mary McBirnie Baylis). He was helped in his variety developments by his brother Sam Baylis who became the noted owner of the Baylis Marionnette Company, most active in England and Ireland.''The Theatre Royal: Entertaining a Nation'', by Graeme Smith, published 2008 James Baylis determined to have his own music halls and theatres. The first was the Milton Colosseum, in the Milton Arcade,

Cowcaddens Cowcaddens (; , )
is an area of the city of

Cross in 1858, which he ran on "popular prices, good companies, and temperance refreshments".'' The Era'', 8 January 1898. page 22, on the death of Mrs Christina Baylis His second opened in 1862 after he bought land in Stockwell Street near Howard Street and built the Scotia Music Hall, also named the Scotia Variety Theatre. Its architect was Robert Black and the Scotia was promoted as the first and largest purpose built music hall for variety in Scotland, and the only one which remained open all year round. Mr and Mrs Baylis set high standards for variety entertainment. In 1875 it was rebuilt, after a fire, to new designs by architects Campbell Douglas and

James Sellars James Sellars (2 December 1843 – 9 October 1888) was a Scotland, Scottish architect who was heavily influenced by the work of Alexander Greek Thomson. Life Sellars was born in the Gorbals in Glasgow, son of James Sellars, house factor a ...

. When Christina Baylis died in 1898 it was bought by

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 ...

, created by Edward Moss, and later renamed as The Metropole Theatre. His third major project was in 1867 when the theatre complex now known as the

opened in Cowcaddens at the corner of Hope Street. It contained the Royal Colosseum & Opera House, where Baylis presented plays,

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

s and

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

; and shops, with the smaller Alexandra Music Hall above. Before his death in 1870 he leased the Royal Colosseum to William Glover who had run the older Theatre Royal in Dunlop Street. The Baylis Trust sold their interest a decade later, and subsequent owners were Howard & Wyndham and

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baylis, James Year of birth missing Place of birth missing 1870 deaths British impresarios Irish theatre directors English musical theatre directors