The Story Of Leicester Square

by John Hollingshead

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108 pages, Hardcover

First published August 13, 2015

About the author

The son of Henry Randall Hollingshead, he was educated at Homerton.

He first worked as a bookkeeper for a soft goods company in London in the early 1850s while publishing political essays on finance and social reform.

He soon entered into a partnership as a clothing merchant. During this time, Hollingshead and his friend Moy Thomas began publishing a penny paper called 'The Mail' that proved unsuccessful.

In 1854, he decided to close his clothing business and begin working as a writer full-time. He his journalism career under the tutelage of Charles Dickens at 'Household Words' magazine and then under W. M. Thackeray at 'Cornhill Magazine'.

By 1855, he was married with two children.

In 1861, he acted as the special correspondent for 'The Morning Post' during the London famine. He also wrote essays, short stories and dramatic criticism.[

In the 1860s, he also turned to theatre management. He helped establish the Alhambra Theatre and was the stage manager there from 1865 to 1868, in addition to producing musical pieces and ballets there.

In 1868, he took over the Gaiety Theatre, which had been a large music hall. The auditorium was rebuilt and, under his management, it became a venue primarily for musical burlesque, variety, continental operetta, including several operettas by Jacques Offenbach, and light comedy.

He died in London on 9 October 1904 at the age of 77.