Maud Carpenter was born in Toxteth Park, Liverpool on the 19th of March 1892, the daughter of George Carpenter, a bricklayer, and his wife Mary Jane. She began working with her older sister in the box-office of Kelly's Theatre in Paradise Street, Liverpool before joining the Liverpool Playhouse in its first experimental season in 1911. Initially working in the box office, she showed such an aptitude for accountancy and admin. that she became a secretary, as well as an assistant manager, and became its Administrator in 1922. By this juncture she had married Dr David Farrington in 1919. She was then appointed its business manager and licensee in 1923, a year after William Armstrong was appointed the theatre's director, and they formed a successful partnership until his retirement in 1944. Maude was held in such high esteem that she became the first woman to join the Board in 1945, with the Board of Directors mainly composed of university people, including Lord Cohen of Birkenhead, and she would remain in the role of vice president until her death.
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| Renamed the Liverpool Repertory Theatre, before in 1916 the Liverpool Playhouse |
When she was 34 years old she was the Founder President of Soroptimist International of Liverpool at its inauguration on 25th February 1927. During her years of office the Club campaigned vigorously to raise funds for the new Women's Hospital, which was then being built in Liverpool. During the Second World War she was heavily involved in the establishment of a Club, the Angel Club in Liverpool, staffed by Soroptimists and their friends, providing accommodation for members of H.M. Forces passing through the city, with 350,000 service personnel using this facility during the war. A powerful influence on the theatre scene in Liverpool, even though she reportedly knew little about theatre, and often got confused with the titles of plays, her enthusiasm and promotion of the theatre was well known locally, earning her the nickname "the Lady Mayoress of Liverpool". She was quite a character and has been compared to an amalgam of Hyacinth Bucket and Mrs Malaprop, once claiming she had sailed around the Venetian canal system in a Lagonda. During The Blitz of World War II she volunteered for night time fire watching and would reputedly stand on the roof of the Playhouse yelling "Don't bomb my theatre. Don't bomb my theatre." She was always seen at the curtain by the entrance acknowledging patrons, mainly with a smile, as they arrived. A strict disciplinarian, she exercised a rod of iron and was an actor/manager of the old school and had a catalogue of dazzling stars, including Diane Winyard, Michael Redgrave, Robert Donat and Richard Todd. The image of the theatre was important to her and she once scolded Anthony Hopkins when he turned up at the theatre wearing jeans and an open neck shirt, instead of dressing formally. Her whole existence was dedicated to the preservation and smooth running of the theatre and the comfort and entertainment of its audiences. Sheila Hancock has described Maude as a 'local powerhouse' and during her life she was awarded an OBE and an honorary degree from Liverpool University.
In the Daily Post in 1962 she was quoted as saying, "No one person can make a theatre. The vital thing is teamwork - from the call boys and cleaners upwards." Maude passed away on the 18th of June 1967 and was buried in Allerton cemetery.
see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/08/a-liverpool-exemplar-sir-patrick.html
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