Thomas Verity (1837–1891) was an English

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 ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

during the theatre-building boom of 1885–1915. Verity began his career articled in the architecture department of the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

, assisting in the erection of the

South Kensington Museum South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

. He further assisted in the building of the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

between 1867 and 1870.Earl and Sell (2000), pp. 283 In 1870, he won an open competition to build the Criterion Theatre and Criterion Restaurant for the caterers Spiers and Pond, founding his own architectural practice. Other London theatres for which he was engaged included the

Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.

, the

Novelty Theatre The Novelty Theatre (later renamed the Great Queen Street Theatre from 1900 to 1907, and the Kingsway Theatre from 1907 to 1941) was a London theatre. It opened in 1882 at No 8 Great Queen Street. The theatre was accessed from Little Queen Str ...

, the Folly Theatre, the

Scala Theatre The Scala Theatre was a theatre in Charlotte Street, London, off Tottenham Court Road. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772; the last was demolished in 1969, after a catastrophic fire. From 1865 to 1882, the theatre was known as the ...

, and the

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

. In 1878, he was appointed consulting architect to the

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Households of the United Kingdom, Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

's office. This was initially in partnership with G. H. Hunt, but later with his son,

Frank Verity Francis Thomas Verity (1864–1937) was an English cinema architect during the cinema building boom of the years following World War I. Early life Verity was born in London, educated at Cranleigh and joined Thomas Verity, his father, in hi ...

, who received his training in his father's firm. Both Veritys bought an interest in ornate Second Empire–style architecture to their early buildings, developing this into grand Beaux Arts in their later works. Many of the surviving buildings have achieved recognition in the late 20th century, becoming listed for their architectural significance. Lord's Pavilion, with its famous Long Room, at

Lord's Cricket Ground Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

was built in 1889–1890 to Verity's designs. This historic landmark, a Grade II*-listed building, underwent an £8 million refurbishment programme in 2004–05.Verity & Beverley – Architects . Designers
/ref> Frank Verity continued the practice on his father's death, and Sam Beverley, his son-in-law, joined the practice in the 1920s, which remains active today. The company designed many cinemas, attaining a

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

bronze medal for the

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, its ...

Pavilion cinema in 1930.

References

External links

Verity & Beverley, Architects & Designers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verity, Thomas 1837 births 1891 deaths English theatre architects 19th-century English architects Architects from London

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