Baylis, Lilian Mary (1874-1937), became manager of the Royal Victoria Hall in London in 1912. She made the Old Vic, as it came to be called, a theater that specialized in Shakespearean performances. In 1931, she bought and rebuilt the Sadler’s Wells Theatre, where she formed the Sadler’s Wells opera company (now the English National Opera).
Baylis was born on May 9, 1874, in London. As a child, she was a fine musician. When she was only 16, she went to South Africa to teach music. She returned to England eight years later to help her aunt Emma Cons manage the Old Vic. Baylis died on Nov. 25, 1937.
