Fifty Bristol residents agreed to contribute £50 each towards the creation of a theatre on King Street in 1766. Each supporter (only 49 paid in the end) was given a share in the theatre for which they received regular dividends and a numbered silver token that gave them a Sight. of every performance in the Main House.
The whereabouts of the tokens now is mostly unknown except for a few held in collections: The Theatre Collection, The Bristol Records Office, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, The Museum of Bristol, The Bristol Savages and Bristol Old Vic itself. The Theatre holds two of the originals, numbered 12 and 49. There hasn't been one presented at the box office for many years.
Bristol Old Vic holds a list of the original 49 contributors. From that list you can identify at least 12 Merchants, 2 Surgeons, 6 Mayors (2 who became MPs), several founders of the Bristol Bank, Blaise Castle and Ashton Court Estates and 3 Women. We owe an immense debt to these forward thinking individuals at a time when theatres were seen as places of immorality likely to encourage idleness, indolence and debauchery. Without their foresight and generosity this beautiful old theatre wouldn't exist for the people of Bristol.
Appearing this month in 1914
Title: Cupid Author: J Sackville Martin