A. E. Pickard

Albert Ernest Pickard (1874-1964) was a showman and eccentric. He was responsible for saving the flagging Britannia Music Hall in Glasgow by turning it into the Britannia Panopticon (known as the Pots and Pans locally[1]).

Pickard was born in Bradford, England. He moved to Glasgow, Scotland in 1904 purchasing The Gaiety Theatre in nearby Clydebank.[2][3] He also purchased Fell's Waxwork. Eventually buying the Britannia Music Hall, on the upper floors of the same building, too. After renovating the old music hall Pickard renamed it the Britannia Panopticon and welcomed new amateur acts. Most notably a sixteen year old Arthur Stanley Jefferson also known as Stan Laurel.

Among Pickard's many properties was Formakin House (purchased ~1940).[4]

  1. ↑ "Britannia Panopticon, The Worlds Oldest Surviving Music Hall - History". www.britanniapanopticon.org. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
  2. ↑ "Panopticon Music Hall - Glasgow". www.monklands.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
  3. ↑ "Theatres in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland". www.arthurlloyd.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
  4. ↑ "Secret Scotland - Formakin House". www.secretscotland.org.uk. Retrieved 2016-09-21.
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