Thomas Tyers, Part owner 17711785
Block, Tyers & Lockman, engraved 1741
The following is an indication of the variety of skilled and unskilled labour employed at Vauxhall Gardens, based partly on historical evidence and partly on common sense. |
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Employed | |||
'Artificers', handymen | |||
Bar-maids | |||
Boardmen (who carried advertising sandwich-boards, c.1837) | |||
Book-keeper | |||
Cellarer | |||
Cleaners | |||
Chaplains | |||
Door-keepers | |||
Drawers/barmen | |||
Gardeners | |||
Joiners,carpenters and mechanics | |||
Kitchen staff: - cooks, washers-up, layers-out, carvers | |||
Lamplighters. A lamplighter also played the part of the hermit, c1840s | |||
Laundry-maids | |||
Painters & Decorators | |||
Peace-officers/Constables | |||
Watchmen (on the approach roads; off-season, two watchmen were kept on shifts) | |||
Self-employed | |||
Bakers | |||
Brewers | |||
Waiters | |||
It is likely that some of the manual employees carried out more than one function. The most important evidence for the size of the establishment of Vauxhall Gardens in the early years comes in a manuscript fragment of 1739 in the Bodleian Library's Winston collection [Gough Adds, Surrey C21-25, Vol. I, item 75.1v] | |||
Tomorrow the Master of Vauxhall Gardens will go from thence in his coach attended by 50 of his Servants to his house at Denby near Dorking where two of his Drawers are to be married to two of his Bar Maids he gives each of them their Wedding Ring and an elegant Dinner. Diary 28 June 39. | |||
This high number of servants is supported by Baron von Bielfeld, who justifies Tyers's income from admissions: | |||
. . . but when we consider how many of attendants he is obliged to maintain, the number of artificers and laborers that are necessary to keep his gardens and machinery in order, and the immens sum he must have expended in constructing them, we cannot grudge a moderate profit to a man who has been the first to provide the public with an entertainment, which has no equal, that I have ever heard, in Europe. [Letter XXVI, p.168] |
VAUXHALL GARDENS 16611859
Proprietors & Staff
OWNERS,
PROPRIETORS, LESSEES, AND EMPLOYEES OF VAUXHALL GARDENS, 16601859
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This data includes mainly 'behind-the-scenes' staff, no musicians, singers or other performers. The bulk of the evidence for the names in the 19th century appears in the archives of the Minet Library, Lambeth. Only those years for which positive evidence exists have been cited. Except where fuller evidence is available (e.g. for 1854, from which a weekly payment register sheet survives), most of the more junior staff are never named. The list is by no means comprehensive; few names of employees have survived from before the 1820s. From the earliest days of Tyers's proprietorship, a substantial number of staff were employed, besides the self-employed staff. The ownership of the site of Vauxhall Gardens was by Copyhold from the estate of the Duchy of Cornwall, as vested in the Prince of Wales, who was ground-landlord of the gardens. | |
Alsager, T.M. | Official
Assignee, during bankruptcy sale, 1841 |
Andrews, John | Co-lessee, 1841 |
Anthony | Always engaged, with Rivett, as constables on Royal Birthday nights, c.1802 |
Asquith, John | Waiter, 1785. Also at Bagnigge Wells, also known as Gillet |
Atkins | Part-owner, to 1758 |
Atkinson | One of the garden constables, 1788 |
Austen, James | Theatre-Boxes, 1854 @ 15s. per week |
Banford, R. | Houseboy, errand-boy, porter, stable-boy, carter, artist's colour grinder, painter and cellarman, 1838-9 |
Barber | Billing/Posting, 1854 @ £1.15s. per week |
Barber | Theatre - Boxes, 1854 @ 15s. per week |
Barnett, Benjamin | Acting Manager, 1850; Manager, 1851 |
Barnett, Morris | Manager, 1852 |
Barnett, William | Constable, 1829 |
Barrett, Bryant (17431809) | Part owner, c.17801802. Owner 1802-1809 |
Barrett, George Rogers (1787after 1851) | Joint owner 18091825 |
Barrett, Jonathan Tyers (17841851) | Joint owner, 18091825. |
Bates | Bar, 1846 |
Bates, Miss | Housekeeper, 1845, 1846; Upper Bar, 1859 |
Ben | Jonathan Tyers's Coachman |
Benton | Bar, 1842 |
Benton, Mrs. | House Keeper, 1842 |
Bicknell, John (17161754) | Assistant butler of the wines, 1740s |
Birman | Punch, 1859 |
Bish, Thomas (17791842) | Co-lessee, 18211823 |
Blain[e], Col. Henry | Co-proprietor, 1849 |
Blakeley | ? 1854 @ 18s. per week |
Blarney, Ted | Possibly mythical Irishman named in the song Vauxhall Watch (c.1785) as one of the garden's watchmen 'full twenty years' |
Block, Mr.(?) | Possibly the 'Blockee', book-keeper, that Tyers is consulting in the Ramano print, 1741 |
Bowen | Money/Check-taker, 1854 @£1.1s. per week |
Brakewell, Mrs. | (Kitchen) 1854 @ 12s.6d. per week |
Breakwell, Miss | Upper Bar, 1859 |
Breckell | Of Drury Lane Theatre, Chief Machinist, 1845; Carpenter, 1846; Machinist, 1853 |
Brion | MD of a scheme to build the Royal South London Polytechnic Institution on the site, 1844 |
Brown, Joseph | Employed at Vauxhall in an unknown capacity, 1819. |
Brown, Samuel | Lamplighter, early C19 |
Brown | Co-lessee, 1846; Proprietor, 1847 |
Brunton | Property Master, 1847 |
Bruton, James | Booking agent for singers, c.1820 |
Bunn, Alfred | Co-lessee, 1841; Lessee and acting Manager, 1842 |
Burgess | Punch maker for upwards of 40 years [see Evans, T.H.] (c.17951835) |
Burry, E | Stout Bar, 1854 @ £1.10s. per week |
Cain, Alexander | Carpenter/Labourer, 1854 @ £9.10s. per week |
Carr | Gas lighting, 18251828 18301832 |
Chiswick, Samuel | Lamplighter, early C19 |
Clark | Bar, 1822, 1823 @ £3 per week, 1824-1830 |
Coleman | ?Treasurer, 1849 |
Coleman | Lower Bar, 1859 |
Coleman, Mrs. | Lower Bar Money, 1859 |
Collingbourne, Mr. | Constable, 1818 |
Collins, James sr and jr | Both employed at Vauxhall Gardens 1836 |
Crowley, Robert | Lamplighter, early C19 |
David, Richard | Mechanist, 1849 |
David | Bar, 1849 |
Davy, Thomas | In charge of liquor supplies, 1825 |
Doddington, George | Part-owner, to 1752 |
Honest Dripping | ?Mythical cook in Tyers's time |
Duff | Lamplighter, early C19 |
Duffell, Robert | Lighting, 1822, Illuminations & devices, 1823, 1824; oil lighting, 18251839; Illuminations Director, 18501856; and Director, 1858; Illuminations, 1859 |
Duffield, Mrs. | Bar, 1859 |
Dufour, Mrs. | Coffee Room, 1854 @ 10s.6d. per week |
Edwin | Gate staff, 1833 |
Ella, Miss | Bar, 1847 |
Ellis | Of Her Majesty's Theatre, Refreshments, 1844, 1845 |
Epps | Painter, and in charge of liquid refreshment, 1822 |
Ernest, Henry | His name on a refreshments ledger in 1853; Proprietor, 1858. Licensee 1859 (his name is over the front door in J, Findlay's watercolour) |
Evans, Henry | Of Kennington Lane, Ices and Confectionery, 1851 |
Evans | Lower Bar, 1854 @ £1.1s. per week |
Evans | Reserved Seats, 1854 @ 15s. per week |
Evans, T.H. | Punch-maker for upwards of twenty years to the 'Royal Property' [Shaw VIII p.85, 1859] [see Burgess above] (one of the Mr Evans listed here was the father of Henry Evanion the conjuror) |
Everit, William | Waiter, 1757.Lived in St George's Parish |
Eves | Supper Room, 1854 @ £1.1s. pe rweek |
Fairbrother, B.S. | Treasurer, 1851 |
Farrance, Mr. | Supplying pastry and confectionery, 1823 |
ffoulis, J.J. | In charge of music, c.1790/91. A Fowles family was living at Vauxhall House, from 1684 until well into 18th century |
Finlayson | Machinist, Carpenter, 1851 |
Flower(s) | Acting manager, 1816. Manager, 1822 |
Fountain | Coffee Room, 1854 @ £1.4s. per week |
Fowler, Thomas | ?owner 1841; Co-lessee, 1846 |
Fowler, William | Owner, 1841, 1849 |
Frere | MC, 1848, 1854 @ £1.10s. per week, 1856, 1859 |
Fyf(f)e | Gardener, 18221827 |
Gahey ? | Waiter, killed when the starting cannon for the sailing match burst in the Cumberland Gardens, June 1791 |
Gascoigne | Lower Bar, 1854 @12s.6d. per week |
Genesie/Genesy | Assistant propertie , 1826, 1827; Head, 1830, 1834-1839 |
Ghent / Gent | Manager, 1823 @ £100 per annum |
Gilson, James | Servant 1739. Employed in an unknown capacity, 1742 |
Goldthorp, David | Constable, employed on day of opening ridotto, 7 June 1732 |
Gouriet | (of Her Majesty's Theatre) MC, 1846, 1848 ( 'the Gouriet brothers' , 1850 |
Green, Mrs. | Cigar Bar, 1854 @ 10s.6d. er week. |
Greener | ? 1854 @ £1.1s. p.w. |
Guilleford, John | Lamplighter, early C19 |
Gye, E. | Gate staff, 1833 |
Gye, Frederick (17811869) | Lessee, 18211824; Proprietor, 18251840 |
Gye II, Frederick (18091878) | Manager, 1831, 1832; lighting, 1841 @ £230 per week; ?1842 |
Hall | Property Master, 1847 |
Hall Mr. | Constable 1818, 1825 |
Harris, Nicholas (d.1789) | Cellarman to Jonathan Tyers. Later, master of the Guy's Head, Southwark |
Harrison, Joseph | Waiter in 1785 |
Henry | Bar, 1847 |
Hill, Philemon | Owner, 1717, with his wife, Hannah |
Hinson John | Lamplighter, early C19 |
Holbury | Gate staff, 1833 |
Holt, Thomas | Treasurer & Manager, 1845, 1846 |
Howard | Director of the 'Free List', 1847 |
Hughes, Henry | Manager, 18231830 |
Hughes, Richard | Lessee, 18231824; proprietor, 18251840 |
Hughes, Thomas | Gate staff, 1833 |
Hughes, William | ?W.H paid with Simpson in 1824 |
Hurwitz | Painter & decorator, 18445 |
Hutchinson | Butler of the wines, 1740s |
Jabet, R. | 15, High Street, Printer, 1815 |
Jarvis | MC, 1854 @ £1.10s. per week, 1855, 1856, 1859 |
Jenks | (Of the York Assembly Rooms) MC, 1855 |
Jennings, Mrs. | Part-owner to 1758 |
Jessup, Benjamin | Principal waiter 1823 |
Johnson | Billing/posting in 1854 @£1 1s. per week |
Johnson, William | Lamplighter, early C19 |
Jones, Mr. | Assistant firework manufacturer and worker 1820 |
Keeley & Bill | Billing/Posting, 1854 @ £9 per week |
King | ? in charge during bankruptcy case. |
Leonard, Albert | MC, 1849 |
Lewis, T.R. | Secretary, 1847, 1848, [not 1849], 1850 |
Lewis, John | MC, 1844 |
Liddle/Liddell, George | Refreshments, 1845; Proprietor, 1846 |
Lillywhite | Assistant carpenter, 1827 @ 5s. a day |
Lime, T. | Assistant carpenter, 1827 @ £2 per week |
Lloyd, Mr. | Constable with Rivett and Anthony |
Lockman, John (16981771) | Publicity and Copy-writing for Jonathan Tyers |
Longshawe, Edward Fisher |
MC, 1836 |
Louis | ? 1854 @ 15s. per week |
Lowdon, John | Employed in an unknown capacity in the 1730s; servant dismissed 1739 |
Lowe, Thomas | Assistant carpenter, 1824, 1827 @ £2 per week, 18281839, 1841, 1842, 1844, 1845; Chief Machinist, 1846, 1859 |
Malcolm, John | Signed tickets for the Vittoria Fete in 1813 |
Masters, Elizabeth | Owner, 1729 |
Matthews,T. | Stage Manager, 1847 |
Matthews | Assistant Manager, 1847 |
Mills [?] | In-house parson, c.1750 |
Mitchell, John | Co-lessee, 1841 |
Mitchell, Robert | Lamplighter, 1806; indicted for stealing oil |
Morris(s) | Property, 18221828 |
Moxsy, R.W. | MC, 1849, 1858 |
Munro | Carpenter, 1852 |
Nathan, Isaac | Costumier, 1847, 18501853 |
Northcote | Box Keeper, 1854 @ 15s. per week |
Parker, B. | Treasurer, 1825 |
Parsons | Box Keeper, 1854 @ 15s. per week |
Partridge | Bar, 1845 |
Patrick, Mr. | In charge of lighting, 1786 |
Pearce, Charles Thomas | Co-proprietor, 1849 |
Pedder | Carpenter, 1852 |
Pedley, William | Lamplighter, early C19 |
Pentelow | Door-keeper, 1854 @ £1.5s. per week |
Pentleton, Abraham | A watchman in 1845 |
Penton | Theatre-Boxes, 1854 @ 15s. per week |
Perkins / Parkins | Manager, 1804, 1806. Vauxhall's 'very active and judicious Manager, Mr. Perkins' [Burn Coll. p.360] |
Phillips | Mechanist, 1823, 1849 |
Pidgeon | Billing/Posting, 1854 @ £1.1s. per week |
Plant, Elizabeth | Owner, 1694 |
Points | Money/Check-taker, 1854 @ £1.1s. per week |
Pollard, Thomas | Lamplighter, 1806; indicted for stealing oil |
Potter, John/Joe (1734/51813) | Manager, c.17621777. The Locum Tenens of old Jonathan Tyers. Still associated with VG in the 1780s |
Randle/Randall | Master Machinist & Carpenter, 1857 |
Reynall | (H. Reynell was printing for the gardens in 1786) Mortgagee, 1826f; agent for owner (Wm Fowler), 1841f |
Rivett |
Always engaged, with Anthony, as constables on Royal Birthday nights, c.1802 |
'Robert' | The boy, 1841 |
Robins, James | Labourer, 1854 @ 18s. per week |
Robson, Mr. | Tutor to Jonathan Tyers's sons |
Rogers, Margaret (17241786) | Jonathan Tyers's daughter. Part owner, 17711785 |
Rooks, Henry | ? c.18541859 |
Ross, Mrs. Margarit (c.17701834) | Housekeeper, 18111834 (1822 @ £100 per annum 1823 @ £150 per annum). Mrs. Ross was a permanent employee, also in charge of the Bars, and kept one female assistant throughout the year |
Rouse | Treasurer, 1822, 1823 @ £500 per annum, 1824. Mr. Rouse was a permanent employee, but had to pay his own servant if he stayed in the house out of season |
Rutland | Money/Check-taker, 1854 @ £1.1s. per week |
Rutt | Theatre - Boxes, 1854 @ 15s. per week |
Ryan, John | Acting Manager, 1847, 1848 |
Ryan | ? 1854 @ 18s.pw |
Rye, S. | Assistant carpenter, 1827 @ £2 per week |
Sartam | Gate staff, 1833 |
Saul | Architect and Machinist, [possibly William Saul of Norwich] 1823; carpenter, 1825, 1826, Head Carpenter, 1827 |
Scott | Billing/Posting, 1854 @ £2 per week |
Sharp | Gate staff, 1833 |
Shaw | Head Carpenter and Machinist, ex CG, 1822, 1823 |
Simpkins | Bar Assistant, 1854 @ 15s. per week |
Simpson, C.H. | Master of Ceremonies 17971835 (1823 @ £34 per season) |
Simpson | Money/Check-taker, 1854 @ £1.1s. per week |
Sladden, James | Lamplighter, 1806; indicted for stealing oil |
Smith, Dick (d.1782) | Master of the tap-house |
Smith, Edward Tyrrel (18041877) | Co-manager, 1855 (involved from c.1845) |
Smith, Thomas | 'Many years Moneytaker and book keeper to Jonathan Tyers Esq. of Vauxhall' [inscr. on rev. of drwg.], late18th century |
Spooner | Assistant carpenter, 1827 @ 5s. a day |
Stevens, George | Assistant Gardener, 1824, 1827; Head Gardener, 1828, (and gas lighting for one year only) 1829, 1830-1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1844, 1845, 1846, 1849; Lessee and Director, 1859 |
Stevens, Mrs. | Lower Bar, 1854 @15s .pw, 1859 |
Stevens, Miss | Coffee Room, 1859 |
Stokes | American Bar, 1854 @ £1.1s. per week |
Taylor, Charles | Director, 1814, 1822 |
Taylor, John C. | Licensee, 1859 |
Thomas | Reserved Seats, 1854 @ 15s. per week |
Thompson, T. | Stage and Equestrian Director, 1850 |
Tilt, Henry (d.26 March 1754) | Master of the Tap |
Townsend, John (17601832) | Bow Street Runner, employed at VG (DNB) |
Trippet | Waiter in 1769 |
Twist | Cook, 1859 |
Tyers, Elizabeth (17001771) | Jonathan Tyers's widow. Owner, 17671771 |
Tyers, Jonathan (17021767) | Lessee, 17291752; Part owner 17521758; Owner, 17581767 |
Tyers, Jonathan jr (1728/91792) | Part owner 17711792 |
Tyers, Thomas (17261787) | Part owner 17711785 |
Waller | Assistant carpenter, 1827 @ 5s. a day |
Tyler, Willy | ?Tyers's first gardener, 1732 [Minet Doc] |
Wardell, R. | Manager, 1844; Lessee, 1845 @ £850 pa, 1846; Lessee and Director, 1847; Director and Sole Lessee, 1848, 18501854; (also looked after Gallery @ £1.1s. per week), 1856 |
Wardell, J. | Billing/Posting, 1854 @ £1.10s. per week |
Watling | Co-manager and Refreshments, 1855 |
Wiberg/Weber | Manager, 1849 |
Weber, Madam | Housekeeper, 1849 |
Widdicomb, Henry (18131868) | Master of Ceremonies, 1842, 1845, 1846 |
Wild | Equestrian Director, 1851 |
Wilkinson | Money/Check-taker, 1854 @ £1.1s. per week |
Wilks | Door-keeper, 1854 @ £1.5s. per week |
Williams, Charles | Gardener and porter 1836 |
Winsland, Thomas | Gas Fitter, 1850, and Manufacturer of the Chandeliers, 18511854 @ £5 per week, 1855, 1856, 1858, 1859 |
Winsland, Mrs. | Lower Bar, 1859 |
Wood, Elizabeth | (17271802) Jonathan Tyers's daughter. Part owner, 1771 1802 |
Wood | Coffee Room, 1859 |
KEY |
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1st perf. | First year of performing as a soloist at Vauxhall |
Burney Memoirs | Slava Klima, Garry Bowers, and Kerry S. Grant, Memoirs of Dr. Charles Burney 1726-.1769 (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1988 ) |
CG | Covent Garden |
DL. | Drury Lane |
KT | King's Theatre |
Last Night | The night Vauxhall closed for ever on Monday 25 July, 1859 |
Manning & Bray | Manning, Revd. Owen, and Bray, William, The History and Antiquities of the County of Surrey, Vol. III of 3 (London: White, Cochrane & Co.,180414), p.489f. |
MG | Marylebone Gardens |
Minet | The Vauxhall Gardens archive at the Minet Library in Lambeth |
Parke... | William Thomas Parke, Musical Memoirs, 2 vols. London 1830 |
PS | Philharmonic Society |
RG | Ranelagh Gardens |
Vauxhall Papers | Bunn, Alfred [ed], The Vauxhall Papers, 17 Parts (London: John Andrews & John .Mitchell, JulyAugust 1841) Illustrated by Alfred Forrester (pseud. Crowquill) |
VG | .Vauxhall Gardens |
Walford | Walford, Edward, Old and New London: A .Narrative of its History, its People and its Places .Vol. IV (London: Cassell Petter & Galpin, .n.d. 18738), pp.447467 |
Much
additional information from: S. Sadie [ed], The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, 4 Vols. (London,Macmillan, 1992) |