Sir Oswald Stoll
Oswald Stoll was born in Australia to Irish parents, who moved to Liverpool when he was just three months old. There, he began his journey to becoming one of the most successful theatre impresarios and film producers of all time, as well as a philanthropist who has changed the lives of thousands of vulnerable veterans.
Family History
Sir Oswald Stoll was born Oswald Gray on 20th January 1866 in Melbourne Australia. His father, Oswald James Gray was from Enniskillen and his mother Adelaide Marguerite McConnell was from Dublin, though the young couple emigrated to Australia around 1863. Oswald had an older brother, Roderick, and a younger sister, Blanche. In around 1867, the family moved to Liverpool where Adelaide’s younger sister Annie lived with them. Some reports say that the family survived a shipwreck on their journey from Australia to Liverpool.
Just a few years later in 1870 Sir Oswald’s father died. By 1879 Adelaide had remarried, this time to a Danish theatre proprietor called John George Stoll, whose surname Adelaide’s children took. John Stoll died the following year, and the family moved to Cardiff not long afterwards.
In 1892, Oswald married Harriet Lewis from Nottingham, and they had four children: Vera Adelaide, May, Oswald Patrick, and Blanche Harriet Stoll. Only May would survive to adulthood, as sadly her three siblings did not survive infancy. Between 1890 and 1899, Sir Oswald would lose not only three of his children, but his brother and sister too. In 1092, Sir Oswald’s wife Harriet died, though he remarried the following year to Cardiff born Millicent Shaw. Together they had three more children: Oswald Leslie, Lincoln Erlanger and Dennis Stoll.
Sir Oswald was knighted in 1919 and a celebratory dinner was organised for him at the Savoy by Vicount Barnham that summer, which featured a speech from Lord Chamberlain and was attended by titans of the arts, industry, media and politics.
In 1924, Sir Oswald’s mother Adelaide died. Oswald was very close to his mother, who gave him his start in the theatre business and raised him and his siblings alone for the majority of his childhood. She took the first ticket in the box office of each of his new theatres. In 1925, Sir Oswald has a bust of Adelaide erected in the box office of the London Coliseum in recognition of her service, which named her ‘the lady of the Coliseum’. He later wrote in a tribute to her: “It is to my mother that I owe everything.”
In November 1941, Sir Oswald’s home in Putney, Carlton House, was destroyed by a German bomb while he and his wife sat at the dinner table. They escaped with their lives, but their maid was killed, and it is said that Sir Oswald never fully recovered from the experience. He passed away after a short illness in Putney on the 9th January 1942 at the age of 75. He is buried close to his mother in Putney Vale Cemetery.
His wife, Lady Milicent, took over as the President of The Stoll Foundation until her death in 1962.
Personality and Pursuits
Sir Oswald was well-known for being extremely ‘proper’: teetotal, well-spoken, almost always dressed in a top hat and tails, and extremely opposed to profanity and lewd content in his theatres and music halls, instead championing a ‘family friendly’ atmosphere. He often clashed with actors and writers over his stance, most notable “Queen of Comedy” Marie Lloyd, whose act Sir Oswald considered ‘vulgar’, resulting in her being snubbed from the Royal Variety Performance line up. Another anecdote tells of Sir Oswald dragging a fire hose onto one of his stages to spray down a particularly rowdy audience who refused to settle down!
Sir Oswald was very interested in national finance, publishing six books on the topic. He was also a talented composer and arranger and often helped produce the music in his shows.
Military Connections
Although Sir Oswald himself did not serve in the military, his family had military connections. His uncle, Lieutenant Roderick Gray served with the Inniskilling Dragoons in India, before moving to New Zealand and enlisting with the 1st Waikato Militia in 1863. Sir Oswald’s grandson, Lieutenant John Hugh Hethey served with the Royal Armoured Corps and 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and was killed in Italy in August 1944 during the Second World War. Although Sir Oswald founded The War Seal Foundation when soldiers began returning from the front lines of WWI, he had previously noted and been saddened by the lack of provisions made for injured and traumatised veterans of the Crimean and Boer Wars.
Learn more:
Theatre and Film Empire
Find out more about Sir Stoll’s vast network of theatres, his many innovations and his role in the film industry.
The War Seal Foundation
The history of our charity, from its inception to present day.
Veterans’ Voices
Explore our heritage project, made possible thanks to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and find out how you can get involved.