Gaiety Theatre, Anglesey

This collection contains items relating to the Gaiety Theatre at Plas Newydd, Anglesey. It includes an album of photographs featuring the Marquess of Anglesey and roles taken by him in various productions and several groups of children in costumes. It also features political figures, including two of David Lloyd George and a photograph of the Marquess' grave in Llanedwen churchyard. Also consists of Gaiety Theatre production programmes printed in silk.

The fifth Marquess of Anglesey (1875-1905) was a colourful, flamboyant character who converted the chapel at Plas Newydd into a private theatre, known as the Gaiety Theatre and brought in theatre companies to stage lavish productions of popular plays and pantomimes. Admission was free and the Marquess often took the leading roles assisted by prominent actors from London. His passion for jewellery and clothes led him to bankruptcy on his personal estate. When he died aged thirty, without issue, the estate passed to his first cousin.

Plas Newydd (also formerly known as Anglesey Castle) is situated at Llanfairpwll on the banks of the Menai Straits, on the island of Anglesey, North Wales. The original building dates from the fourteenth century and has undergone additions and remodelling over the years, most notably by James Wyatt in the late eighteenth century. Plas Newydd has been home to the Paget and Bayly families who held the title of Earl of Uxbridge and, after 1815, Marquess of Anglesey when Lord Uxbridge was given the title Marquess of Anglesey for his heroism at Waterloo. In 1976 the Marquess gave the house to the National Trust, which currently administers the property.

The material is arranged according to type and incorporated into the General Collection of Bangor Manuscripts .

Open to all users

Deposited by G.B. Owen

Description compiled by Anne Lenaghan, August 2001

Item level word processed list is available at the Department of Manuscripts at the University of Wales, Bangor. Reference numbers: General Collection of Bangor Manuscripts: 15693-15695, 26224-26226 and 26965

Usual copyright conditions apply. Reprographics are made at the discretion of the Archivist.

For information relating to details of items sold after the death of the fifth Marquess, see Special Collection: Sales Catalogues: 118, 902