An Afternoon with Jim Stebbings

Anteros Arts Foundation is pleased to welcome Nofolk-born author, Jim Stebbings, for a special talk exploring his recently published book, The Lost Heirs – The Rise and Fall of the D’Oyly Carte Dynasty, a compelling account of ambition, illness, and a forgotten chapter of British cultural history.

Stebbings’ book focuses on Lucas D’Oyly Carte, eldest son of the renowned theatrical impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte, who famously brought Gilbert and Sullivan together and built an entertainment empire that included the Savoy Hotel and Claridge’s. Alongside his younger brother Rupert, Lucas was expected to inherit the family business but his life took a very different path when he contracted tuberculosis.

From 1903 until his death in 1907, Lucas was a patient at Kelling Sanatorium in North Norfolk. During his four years there, he became deeply involved in the sanatorium’s development, joining its management team and designing the distinctive wooden chalets used for…