A. J. Mills (songwriter)
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A. J. Mills (songwriter)
Arthur John Mills (1872–1919) was an English lyricist of music hall songs, many written with Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott. Biography He was born in Richmond, Surrey. His early popular successes as a songwriter included "What-Ho! She Bumps" (1901) and "Just Like The Ivy (I'll Cling To You)" (1903), both written with Harry Castling. He then established a working partnership with Scott, setting up the Star Music Company, publishing one new song every week.Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , p.154 Their most successful songs included "By The Side Of the Zuider Zee" (with Scott, 1906), "Ship Ahoy! (All the Nice Girls Love a Sailor)" (with Scott, 1908), "Fall In and Follow Me" (with Scott, 1910), "When I Take My Morning Promenade" (with Scott, 1912), "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" (with Scott and Godfrey, 1916), and "Down Texas Way" (with Scott and Godfrey, 1917). Mills, Scott and Godfrey also provided the songs for the 1 ...
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Music Hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous ''Music Hall'' and subsequent, more respectable ''Variety'' differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Originating in saloon bars within public houses during the 1830s, music hall entertainment became increasingly popular with audiences. So much so, that during the 1850s some public houses were demolished, and specialised music hall theatres developed in their place. These theatres were designed chiefly so that people could consume food ...
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Fred Godfrey
Fred Godfrey (17 September 1880 – 22 February 1953) was the pen name of Llewellyn Williams, a World War I songwriter. He is best known for the songs "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" (1916) and "Bless 'Em All" (1917), a 1940s hit recorded by George Formby that can be found on many war films. Early life Llewellyn Williams was born on 17 September 1880 in Swansea. He was one of the sons of Robert Williams, an auctioneer, and Maria Jane Knight, a sailor's daughter. They had married in 1864 in Caernarvon. On 1 July 1901 he married Bertha Lloyd. (One of her cousins was Collie Knox, a well-known Daily Mail journalist of the 1930s and 1940s. Her older brother, Charles Ellis Lloyd was a Welsh novelist.) The wedding was in Treherbert, after which they moved to 6 Streatham Place, London. They had four children. Career Between 1900 and 1953 he wrote over 800 songs. Godfrey could write and arrange music as well as write lyrics. He also play the piano. He began selling songs aro ...
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Bennett Scott
Bennett Scott (12 October 1871 – 1 June 1930)Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.154-156 was an English writer of music hall songs. Born in London, of Jewish background, he started working in warehouses, but in 1894 advertised his services as a provider of "good songs and catchy melodies... at a guinea a time." His first major success came with "I've Made Up My Mind to Sail Away" (1902), sung by Tom Costello. He established a working partnership with fellow songwriter A. J. Mills. They set up the Star Music Company, and together wrote "By the Side of the Zuider Zee" (1906, performed by Fanny Fields); "Ship Ahoy! (All the Nice Girls Love a Sailor)" (1908, performed by Hetty King), "Fall In and Follow Me" (1910, performed by Whit Cunliffe), "When I Take My Morning Promenade" (1912, performed by Marie Lloyd), and "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" (1916, performed by Florrie Forde Flora May Augusta Flannagan ( ...
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Richmond, Surrey
Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commission for England defines it as being in South London or the South Thames sub-region, pairing it with Kingston upon Thames for the purposes of devising constituencies. However, for the purposes of the London Plan, Richmond now lies within the West London region. west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is on a meander of the River Thames, with many parks and open spaces, including Richmond Park, and many protected conservation areas, which include much of Richmond Hill. A specific Act of Parliament protects the scenic view of the River Thames from Richmond. Richmond was founded following Henry VII's building of Richmond Palace in the 16th century, from which the town derives its name. (The palace itself was named after Henry's earldom ...
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Harry Castling
Henry Castling (19 April 1865 – 26 December 1933) was an English lyricist of music hall songs. Biography Castling was born in Newington, London, the son of a street musician. He began writing songs in the 1890s, often collaborating on both comic and sentimental songs with Arthur J. Mills. They had their first success with "What-Ho! She Bumps" (1899), sung by Charles Bignall, followed by "Just Like the Ivy" (1902), performed by Marie Kendall.Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , p.152 By 1907, he had started to collaborate with another writer, Fred Godfrey, on songs such as "I’ll Tell Tilly On The Telephone" (1907), "Meet Me, Jennie, When The Sun Goes Down" (1907), "I Want You to See My Girl" (1908), and "Take Me Back to Yorkshire" (1910), which was later used by Noël Coward in his 1933 film ''Cavalcade''.
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Ship Ahoy! (All The Nice Girls Love A Sailor)
"Ship Ahoy! (All the Nice Girls Love a Sailor)" is an English music hall song from 1908, written by Bennett Scott and A. J. Mills of the Star music publishing company in London. Some sources credit Scott alone; others additionally credit their colleague Fred Godfrey. The song was first performed by male impersonator Hetty King. She later said that she first sang it at the Liverpool Empire in 1908, but it did not become successful until 1909, when it became popular and, towards the end of the year, was described as the greatest pantomime hit for four years. The song stayed in King's repertoire for the rest of her life, and has remained popular.Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', pp.154-155 It was first recorded in 1910, by Ella Retford. The words of the chorus are:
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Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty
"Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" is a music hall song written by Arthur J. Mills, Fred Godfrey and Bennett Scott in 1916. It was popular during the First World War, and tells a story of three fictional soldiers on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front suffering from homesickness and their longing to return to "Blighty" - a slang term for United Kingdom, Britain. Composition Fred Godfrey wrote the song with Bennett Scott and A.J. Mills after passing a music hall in Oxford where a show called ''Blighty'' was showing. He recounts: "One of us suddenly said “What an idea for a song!” Four hours later it was all finished, and the whole country was singing it soon afterwards. I got — not very much." The chorus lyric "Take me back to dear old Blighty/Put me on the train for London town" was included in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations''. Recordings Recordings by Florrie Forde and Ella Retford are the most commonly heard versions, though Dorothy Ward first sang it. ...
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Westcliff-on-Sea
Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 miles (55 km) east of London. Geography The cliffs formed by erosion of the local quaternary geology give views over the Thames Estuary towards the Kent coastline to the south. The coastline has been transformed into sandy beaches through the use of groynes and imported sand. The estuary at this point has extensive mud flats. At low tide, the water typically retreats some 600 m from the beach, leaving the mud flats exposed. History The southern area of what is now known as Westcliff, south of the London Road, was known as Milton or Milton Hamlet until the period 1860-1880 when the Milton Estate and surrounding land was sold to speculators who preferred the name Westcliff-on-Sea. By the time the station opened in 1895 it was named ...
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Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Greater London to the south and south-west. There are three cities in Essex: Southend, Colchester and Chelmsford, in order of population. For the purposes of government statistics, Essex is placed in the East of England region. There are four definitions of the extent of Essex, the widest being the ancient county. Next, the largest is the former postal county, followed by the ceremonial county, with the smallest being the administrative county—the area administered by the County Council, which excludes the two unitary authorities of Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea. The ceremonial county occupies the eastern part of what was, during the Early Middle Ages, the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Essex. As well as rural areas and urban areas, it forms ...
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1872 Births
Year 187 ( CLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Quintius and Aelianus (or, less frequently, year 940 '' Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 187 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Septimius Severus marries Julia Domna (age 17), a Syrian princess, at Lugdunum (modern-day Lyon). She is the youngest daughter of high-priest Julius Bassianus – a descendant of the Royal House of Emesa. Her elder sister is Julia Maesa. * Clodius Albinus defeats the Chatti, a highly organized German tribe that controlled the area that includes the Black Forest. By topic Religion * Olympianus succeeds Pertinax as bishop of Byzantium (until 198). Births * Cao Pi, Chinese emperor of the Cao Wei state (d. 226) * G ...
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1919 Deaths
Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the coast of the Hebrides; 201 people, mostly servicemen returning home to Lewis and Harris, are killed. * January 2– 22 – Russian Civil War: The Red Army's Caspian-Caucasian Front begins the Northern Caucasus Operation against the White Army, but fails to make progress. * January 3 – The Faisal–Weizmann Agreement is signed by Emir Faisal (representing the Arab Kingdom of Hejaz) and Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann, for Arab–Jewish cooperation in the development of a Jewish homeland in Palestine, and an Arab nation in a large part of the Middle East. * January 5 – In Germany: ** Spartacist uprising in Berlin: The Marxist Spartacus League, with the newly formed Communist Party of Germany and the Independent Social Democ ...
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