Richmond Theatre: Unveiling the stormy past of the historic Georgian theatre

Samuel Butler, who founded Richmond’s Georgian Theatre Royal, signed in 1789 the document to agree to pay his neighbour Thomas Simpson six pence per year for “encroachment and trespass” after Mr Butler laid timber upon the wall of Mr Simpson’s stable granary and replaced his roof with materials of “inferior value.”

The document shines a tantalising light on the day-to-day life of Mr Butler, who was responsible for building and running eight theatres across the North of England.

The Georgian Theatre Royal is the only one remaining of the eight. Others were in Beverley, Harrogate, Kendal, Northallerton, Ripon, Ulverston and Whitby. and Mr Butler would walk his actors between the venues sometimes covering distances of up to 48 miles a day.

It counts Dame Judi Dench as its president and King Charles and the Queen Consort as patrons.

The document was found in the stronghold of the old offices of the solicitors Hudsons, Hart & Borrows on Queens Road in Richmond.

It has now been donated by the family of the late Alan Meehan, who worked at the firm, to the Theatre’s archive.

Jim Brown, trustee at the theatre, said: “It is because we have so little information about Butler that this document is so important.

“The handwriting in itself is beautiful and the document provides a fascinating insight into the day-to-day business practicalities that he must have been involved with, alongside acting and managing his troupe of players.

“It is remarkable that it has survived over the centuries and was residing just a stone’s throw away from the Theatre building.

“We are incredibly grateful to the Meehan family for donating it to our archive where it can be preserved as part of the Theatre’s unique history.”

The document lists 13 dates where payments were made between September 10 1791 and September 7 1803, and these dates may indicate occasions when Butler was in Richmond, co-inciding with race days - where the theatre would open to take advantage of the town’s extra footfall

Celia Meehan said: “The family is pleased to be able to pass on a document of such great significance to the theatre and therefore to the history of Richmond. Alan was a solicitor in Richmond at Hudsons, Hart & Borrows for 50 years and this is a fitting legacy to his long-standing involvement with the town and its people.”

The Georgian Theatre Royal is Britain’s oldest working theatre still in its original form.

Every year it welcomes thousands of visitors not just to its productions but to its history tours.

It was built by Mr Butler in 1788 and is now Grade I-listed ‘as a building of special architectural or historical interest.’