Francis Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920)Mackintosh, Iain. "Matcham, Frank", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, accessed 7 July 2019 was an English architect who specialised in the design of theatres and music halls. He worked extensively in London, predominantly under Moss Empires for whom he designed the Hippodrome in 1900, Hackney Empire (1901), Shepherd's Bush Empire (1903), Coliseum (1904), and Palladium (1910). His last major commission before retirement was the Victoria Palace Theatre in 1911 for the variety magnate Alfred Butt. During his 40-year career, Matcham was responsible for the design and construction of over 90 theatres and the redesign and refurbishment of a further 80 throughout the United Kingdom.
Matcham was born in Newton Abbot, Devon, where he became apprenticed at the age of 14 to the architect George Soudon Bridgman. Matcham moved to London, aged 21, where he joined the architectural practice of J. T. Robinson, who was to become his father-in-law. Under Robinson, Matcham completed his first solo design, the Elephant and Castle Theatre, which opened in June 1879. He took over the business on Robinson's death and continued the designs of various provincial theatres. He formed his own practice, Matcham & Co., in the 1880s and enlisted skilled craftsmen. His first major association came in the 1880s when he was employed to design and refurbish theatres belonging to the Revill family who owned many of the theatres throughout the United Kingdom.
Matcham's most successful period was between 1892 and 1912 when he worked extensively for Moss Empires, a theatre building business headed by Edward Moss and run by Oswald Stoll. Under them, Matcham completed 21 theatres, including five in London, with the rest being in the provinces. Also during this period, although not with Moss Empires, he completed the designs for the Tower Ballroom at Blackpool Tower, Grand Theatre, Blackpool, both in 1894, the County Arcade, Leeds, in 1900, and Buxton Opera House in 1903. The author Iain Mackintosh, writing for the Dictionary of National Biography in 1993, describes Matcham's theatre interiors to be superior when compared to the building's external designs. Matcham's use of cantilevers for the galleries allowed him to discontinue the use of columns, which would otherwise obstruct the audience's view of the stage. The auditorium decorations were often mixed with Tudor strap-work, Louis XIV detail, Anglo-Indian motifs, naval and military insignia, rococo panels, classical statuary, and baroque columns.
Matcham retired to Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, shortly before the First World War, where he died of a heart attack, brought about by a blood infection, in 1920. His biographer Brian Walker notes from the architect's personal archives that he was "a man of remarkable vigour and had an enthusiasm for life ... he possessed a tranquility of mind and a great sense of humour and fun."Walker, p. 4.
Early life
Francis Matcham was born on 22 November 1854 in Newton Abbot, Devon.Walker, p. 1. He was the second of nine children and the eldest son of Charles Matcham, a brewer, and his wife, Elizabeth ( Lancaster).Wilmore, p. 217. In 1857 Charles Matcham moved his family to Union Street, Torquay, and secured a job as a manager of a brewery and a malthouse. Frank was educated at Babbacombe School, in Babbacombe, Torquay.
Matcham showed an early interest in architecture and became apprenticed at the age of 14 to George Soudon Bridgman, a local architect.Walker, pp. 1–2. The apprenticeship lasted 18 months until Matcham was offered a job at a quantity surveyor's office in London in around 1868."Growing Up On The English Riviera" by Gorel Garlick; Wilmore, p. 40. Working in the capital allowed Matcham to study with different architectural professionals. His training under a quantity surveyor taught him how to draw up estimates of cost, interact with building contractors, and introduced him to complex calculations, something which he was unlikely to have been taught at school."Growing Up On The English Riviera" by Gorel Garlick; Wilmore, p. 42. He also learnt the importance of working to tight schedules imposed by demanding customers."Frank Matcham in Perspective" by Andrew Saint; Wilmore, p. 21.
In his spare time, Matcham visited many of London's buildings but took a particular liking to theatres and music halls. A building of special interest to him was the newly completed Gaiety Theatre in the Strand, designed by Charles J. Phipps. Matcham was impressed at Phipps's ability to build a normal-sized theatre on a small, awkward plot, and it is probable that Matcham gained inspiration from the Gaiety in some of his later buildings which were also built on restricted plots of land. It is not known how long Matcham spent in London, although it was not uncommon for an architect to take up to six years to become qualified. The theatre historian Görel Garlick estimates that Matcham spent three years in the capital during this time, which would seem probable as by 1871 Matcham was back in Torquay and again under the guidance of Bridgeman, this time as his chief assistant. Bridgeman was eager to take advantage of Matcham's experience in London and asked him to help on the redesign of the Lyceum Theatre in Torquay.Torquay Directory, 12 April 1871, p. 4.
Isaac Singer, the American businessman, moved from France to Devon in late 1871. His intention was to buy a large property in the English countryside for his family. His attempt at buying Isambard Kingdom Brunel's estate was unsuccessful and instead, he purchased the Fernham Estate, in Torbay, on which Oldway Mansion was eventually built."Tenders", The Builder, 1 March 1873, p. 176. Singer commissioned Bridgeman's office to undertake the design and instructed that a theatre be built within the house, long since demolished.Oldway Mansion, Historic England, accessed 7 July 2019. Garlick considers it entirely possible that Matcham was given responsibility for the design of the theatre because of his educational experiences in London. Singer spared no cost in terms of Oldway Mansion's construction; he sourced the finest materials from around the world and instructed Bridgeman to design the interior in an exuberant French style. Garlick notes that it was highly likely that Singer's exuberance would have influenced someone as architecturally impressionable as Matcham whose later theatres also used extravagant decoration."Growing Up On The English Riviera" by Gorel Garlick; Wilmore, pp. 44–49.
Entry into the Robinson family business In around 1875, soon after the completion of Singer's house, Matcham secured a job with J. T. Robinson's office in London."Growing Up On The English Riviera" by Gorel Garlick; Wilmore, p. 49. The employment allowed Matcham to become more familiar with what Matcham's biographer Brian Mercer Walker calls, "theatre design of a high order". Matcham's time under Robinson was brief; Robinson died unexpectedly at the family home in Bloomsbury Square, London, in 1877, shortly after Matcham's marriage to Robinson's daughter, Maria, on 9 July. Matcham was entrusted by the family to continue with Robinson's designs which included the refurbishment of the Elephant and Castle Theatre, as well as the modifications to the Cambridge Music Hall in Shoreditch.Walker, p. 3.
By the mid-1870s around 137 theatre fires had been reported in the United Kingdom which prompted parliament to create the Metropolis Management and Building Acts Amendment Act 1878 which established safety rules for developers to adhere to. Matcham found the rules to be problematic; because of them, the Elephant and Castle Theatre project had to be extended by six months.Walker, pp. 5–6.
In 1882 Matcham took on the redesign of the Grand Theatre, Islington. It was an important project for him: it was the first to be designed using unobstructed sightlines to the stage and was notable for its holding capacity, and prompt construction, something for which he latterly became known in architectural circles. The Grand was revolutionary in its design; it was used as an educational showpiece to amateur architects and it was often visited and commented on by architectural critics and journalists.Walker, p. 6. In one of the three volumes, entitled Modern Opera Houses and Theatres, which were published between 1896 and 1898, the author Edwin Sachs made reference to the Grand's "good sighting and acoustics of the auditorium, economy of space and cost, and rapidity of execution".Walker, pp. 6–7. Matcham's improvement of sightlines were a result of his use of cantilevered steel. This new design allowed for the balconies to protrude into the auditorium without the use of the supporting pillars which increased seating capacity and gave the audience better views of the stage. It was a design that Matcham patented and incorporated into all his future theatrical designs.Walker, p. 10.
The Paragon in Mile End, East London, in 1882, was Matcham's next major project. The design was one of importance, according to Walker, as it showed a great emphasis on the ventilation system—the first of its kind—which used a sun burner in the roof and warm air ducts, above ground level, which emitted draughts.Walker, p. 7. The builders of the theatre, Crowder and Payne, advertised the venue as being "the best-ventilated theatre in London".Walker, p. 68. It opened in May the following year to much praise for its achievements in audience comfort.Walker, p. 85. The success of the Paragon allowed Matcham to open up his own office in Belfast in 1884.
Work under the Revills
Outside of London, and prior to 1886, Matcham only had two designs commissioned, both in Glasgow: Hengler's Grand Cirque and the Royalty Theatre."Matcham's Revills'" by Michael Sell; Wilmore, p. 52. In 1879 he started work on the redesign of the Royalty,"Royalty Theatre, Glasgow", Scottish Theatre Archive, University of Glasgow, accessed 20 September 2017. a playhouse originally designed by James Thomson and one that had been built on the first floor of a four-storey building. The layout was problematic and Matcham had to make a series of adjustments. To compensate, he designed a ventilation system which involved the installation of an exhaust duct over the auditorium gas light which caused the heat from the burners to rise up and create a movement of air through the theatre. It was a design that he also used on the Gaiety, Matcham's second Glaswegian theatre. The Royalty took just four weeks to complete and was relatively inexpensive, two factors that helped enhance his reputation.
Matcham met the actor and theatrical manager James Elliston in 1886. Elliston, a native of Edinburgh, had heard of the architect through his work in Glasgow and commissioned him to reconstruct the side boxes and gallery and to improve the acoustics and ventilation system at his theatre, the Theatre Royal, Blackburn. Through Elliston, Matcham was introduced to William J. Revill, the proprietor of the People's Temperance Hall in Stockport."Matcham's Revills'" by Michael Sell; Wilmore, pp. 52–53. The Revill family were influential in theatrical circles with their connection to the stage going back to the 18th century."Matcham's Revills'" by Michael Sell; Wilmore, pp. 61–62.