David Lumsden Webster was born in Dundee on 3rd
July 1903, the son of advertising agent Robert Lumsden Webster and his wife
Mary Ann Alice. In 1913 the family moved to Liverpool, taking up residence in
Wavertree at 66 Barrington Road L15. They lived at this house for many years
before moving in the late 1930’s to a somewhat grander home at 6 Sunnyside L8.
David Webster attended the Holt High School and then
Liverpool University, where he studied economics. He undertook postgraduate
studies in education at Oxford in Liverpool but chose to begin his working life
in the retail world, taking a post with the Lewis’s department store. He very
soon made his mark and by 1932 had been appointed general manager of the group’s
smaller store, the Bon Marché. On the outbreak
of the second world war he became general manager of Lewis’s.
Alongside his successful business career David Webster nurtured
a great love for the arts, first flourishing in his university days for a short
time it seemed to many that he might pursue a career on the stage. He was a
keen participant in amateur dramatics and became a leading figure in the
influential Sandon Society. He became a prominent member of the management
committee of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society and in 1940 was appointed its chairman.
In this role he resisted pressure to suspend concerts during the war and was
responsible for recruiting Malcolm Sargent as chief conductor. During his
stewardship the orchestra increased its concerts from 32 a year to 148 and it
became a permanent body for the first time.
On the recommendation of another Lewis’s executive, Lord
Woolton, Webster was seconded to the Ministry of Supply to improve productivity
and quality at ordnance factories. On successfully completing this project in
1944 he accepted the offer of a post with the Metal Box Company.
However, at this point his life took a different turn. During
the war the music publishers Boosey and Hawkes had acquired the lease of the
Covent Garden opera house with the intention of establishing opera and ballet
there. As a successful businessman and a proven arts administrator they saw
David Webster as the ideal chief executive for the new organisation and in 1944
he agreed to take on the role.
He was the stay at the helm of the Royal Opera House for 26
years and, in the face of some opposition to his appointment, was to establish
its outstanding reputation. He was the stabilising presence through numerous
financial crises and through various policy changes and changes in musical
director. He was knighted in 1960 and was appointed Knight
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1970.
Outside of the Royal Opera he was a director of Southern TV
and president of the Wagner Society. He held visiting lectureships at Bristol
and Liverpool University.
His lifelong partner was James Cleveland Belle, whom he met
while on business for Lewis’s in 1931. He retired in 1970, his departure being
the occasion for a farewell gala for which Benjamin Britten composed a fanfare.
He died in Brighton, aged 67, less than a year after his retirement.
David Webster was the subject of a portrait by the
celebrated artist David Hockney, the painting being held by the Royal opera
House. In 2020, facing desperate financial problems caused by the Covid
pandemic, they decided to sell the painting. It was auctioned by Christies for
£12,865,000.
