Edward Tyrrel Smith

Edward Tyrrel Smith (1804–1877) was a versatile British entrepreneur and showman, best known as an opera and theatrical manager.

[3] For a period of the 1840s, Smith took over the London premises of Crockford's in St James's Street, and ran a restaurant there.

Then from 1852 for ten years he had the Drury Lane Theatre, innovating with matinées and finding popularity with an adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin and pantomime.

[1] Moving into opera, Smith was tackling an area in which competition with Frederick Gye at Covent Garden was serious.

Suffering a year with heavy losses, he was still able to take on Cremorne Gardens for a period from 1861, Astley's Amphitheatre briefly in 1862, and the Royal Lyceum at the end of the decade.