Oxford Music Hall - Early History

Early History

After the success of the Canterbury Music Hall, many music halls imitating the formula opened in London. The Oxford Music Hall was designed by Messrs Finch Hill and Edward Paraire. The architecturally ambitious hall included deep balconies on three sides and a wide stage in front of an apse. It opened on 26 March 1861 as Morton's competitor to the nearby Weston's Music Hall despite Henry Weston's appeal to the magistrates that there were already too many music halls in the area. At the opening, opera singers Charles Santley and Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa performed.

The hall quickly became one of London's most popular music halls and was run by Morton and his brother in law, Frederick Stanley. The partners continued to run the Canterbury, with acts moving between the halls in coaches. Many notable performers of the day appeared at the Oxford Music Hall, including Marie Lloyd, George Robey and Arthur Roberts, and the hall was famous for its lively barmaids. The barrister Arthur Munby visited the hall in March 1862 and found that:

The great gay glaring hall & balconies were crammed in every part; there was barely standing room in the crowd, which was chiefly made up of men; business men, clerks, & others, of no very refined aspect. …

Socially speaking, the audience were a good deal higher than those I have seen in similar Halls at Islington & elsewhere. One result of this was, that the women present were whores, instead of respectable wives & sweethearts. Therefore another result was, that there was nothing wholesome or genial in the folks’ enjoyment: they drank their grog staring gloomily or lewdly grimacing; and the worthless dread of your neighbour which halfeducated respectability creates kept them silent and selfish.

The hall burned down on 11 February 1868 and again on 1 November 1872, but each time it was rebuilt by the same firm of architects; and over the years the hall was enlarged. By 1873, a square proscenium replaced the apse, and benches replaced the supper tables – with a broad promenade running where the rear balcony boxes had been – reflecting changes in the way music halls were used. The Entr'acte wrote in 1881: "As a structure, the Oxford is, in our humble opinion, the handsomest hall in London."