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Grand Order Of Water Rats
The Grand Order of Water Rats is a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation based in London. Founded in 1889 by the music hall comedians Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, the order is known for its high-profile membership and benevolent works (primarily within the performing industries). Origin In 1889, two British music hall performers, Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, owned a trotting pony called "Magpie". As the pony was a regular race winner, its owners decided that they would use the profits to help performers who were less fortunate than themselves.Charlie Chester, ''The Grand Order of Water Rats: A Legend of Laughter'' – W.H. Allen, London (1984) pg 12 One day, as Elvin was driving the pony back to its stables in the pouring rain, a passing bus driver called out, "Wot yer got there, mate?" "Our trotting pony!" replied Elvin. Observing the bedraggled, soaked condition of the pony, the driver shouted back, "Trotting pony? Looks more like a bleedin' water r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gray's Inn Road
Gray's Inn Road (or Grays Inn Road) is an important road in the Bloomsbury district of Central London, in the London Borough of Camden. The road begins at the City of London boundary, where it bisects High Holborn, and ends at King's Cross and St. Pancras Station. As the home of the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, one of England's four Inns of Court, Gray's Inn Road is known as a hub for law and legal professions in London. Similarly, given Bloomsbury's status as the university and scholarly center of London, Gray's Inn Road is home to multiple scholarly institutes, including University College London's Eastman Dental Institute, a world-leading oral health institution, Westminster Kingsway College, and the City University of London's Inns of Court School of Law. Name The thoroughfare is first recorded as ''Purtepol Street'' in the 13th century, when the area formed part of Portpool Manor. After Reginald de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Wilton purchased the area, his name soo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prince Philip, Duke Of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from Elizabeth's accession as queen on 6 February 1952 until his death in 2021, making him the longest-serving royal consort in history. Philip was born in Greece, into the Greek and Danish royal families; his family was exiled from the country when he was eighteen months old. After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the Royal Navy in 1939, when he was 18 years old. In July 1939, he began corresponding with the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth, the elder daughter and heir presumptive of King George VI. Philip had first met her in 1934. During the Second World War, he served with distinction in the British Mediterranean and Pacific fleets. In the summer of 1946, the King granted Philip permission to marry El ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lew Lake
Lew Lake (born Louis Charles Polack; 10 January 1875 – 5 November 1939) was an English comic actor, writer, producer, and theatre manager. Life and career He was born in Shoreditch, London, the son of a Dutch-born cigar maker. Around 1900, he started performing in music halls as a comedian, and soon formed a double act with Bob Morris (1866–1945). They performed a two-act comedy sketch called "The Bloomsbury Burglars", written by Lake, in which Lake (as "Nobbler") and Morris (as "Jerry") played window cleaners who broke into a house to recover some incriminating letters, but were chased over rooftops and eventually caught by the police.Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson, ''British Music Hall: A story in pictures'', Studio Vista, 1965, p.141"Bob Morris & Lew Lake", ''Wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Bankier
William Bankier (10 December 1870 – 4 September 1949) billed as 'Apollo, the Scottish Hercules', was a strongman stage performer who in 1915 and 1919 was also 'King Rat' of the showbusiness charity the Grand Order of Water Rats. Early years Born in Banff in Scotland, the eldest of four sons of William Bankier (1845–1900), a hand loom weaver, and his wife Mary Ann (née Clark) (1844– 1901), as a child he became fascinated by the idea of being a circus performer, and aged 12 he ran away from home and joined a circus as a labourer. Soon after his father discovered his whereabouts and collected him, but a few months later Bankier ran away to sea, joining a ship's crew. After being shipwrecked he found himself in Montreal in Canada where he worked as a farm labourer. Aged 14 he joined Porgie O'Brien's Road Show where one of the acts was a strongman; Bankier studied his act and learned his routine. Strongman career When the road show's original strongman could not perform his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Austin (comedian)
Charles Austin (born Charles Reynolds; 4 April 1878 – 14 January 1942) was an English music hall comedian. He was born in London, and started performing in music halls in 1896, initially as one half of a double act, Lytton and Austin. Inspired by the sight of a redundant police station, he developed a solo act in the character of an inept policeman, "Parker, P.C.", which he first performed at Collins' Music Hall in Islington in 1908. ''Radio Times'', Issue 522, 1 October 1933 Retrieved 8 February 2021 Austin came to be described as "The King of Cockney Humour", and, starting in 1910, he recorded a number of es as Parker P.C. With f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harry Tate
Ronald Macdonald Hutchison (4 July 1872 – 14 February 1940), professionally known as Harry Tate, was an English comedian, who performed in the music halls, in variety shows, and in films. Career Born in Lambeth, the son of a Scottish tea merchant, he worked as a clerk for the sugar refiners, Henry Tate & Sons, and also performed at evening smoking concerts. At Marie Lloyd's suggestion, he took his stage name from that of the company for which he worked. He made his professional stage debut at the Oxford Music Hall in 1895, and at first was known for his mimicry of performers such as Dan Leno, R. G. Knowles, George Robey, and Eugene Stratton.Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , p.240-242 Greater success came with his comedy sketch, "Motoring", which he introduced in 1902 and in which he played the part of a new car owner trying to repair it. He soon decided to abandon mimicry and concentrate on sketches, most of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Tich
Harry Relph (21 July 186710 February 1928),Russell, Dav"Relph, Harry (1867–1928)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2013 professionally known as Little Tich, was a English music hall comedian and dancer during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was best known for his acrobatic and comedic "Big-Boot Dance", which he performed in Europe and for which he wore boots with soles long. Aside from his music hall appearances, he was also a popular performer in Christmas pantomimes and appeared in them annually at theatres throughout the English provinces. He repeated this success in London, where he appeared in three pantomimes at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, between 1891 and 1893 alongside Dan Leno and Marie Lloyd. Born in Cudham, Kent, Little Tich began performing aged ten when he developed a dance and tin-whistle act which he showcased at public houses in Sevenoaks. In the early 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Russell (ventriloquist)
Thomas Frederick Parnell OBE (29 September 1862 – 14 October 1957), known professionally as Fred Russell, was an English ventriloquist. Usually credited as being the first to use a knee-sitting figure, he is known as "The Father of Modern Ventriloquism". Biography Russell was born in London, and began his career as a journalist, but from 1882 began performing his hobby of ventriloquism in public. In 1896, when he was editor of the '' Hackney and Kingsland Gazette'', he was offered a professional engagement at London's Palace Theatre and took up his stage career permanently. His act, based on the cheeky-boy dummy "Coster Joe", broke from the prevailing format of a family of dummies, establishing a precedent for performers such as Edgar Bergen and Paul Winchell. According to ''The Times'' obituary, he changed his name because of the political flavour of " Parnell". In 1910, Russell published a book on his craft entitled ''Ventriloquism and Kindred Arts''. His act remained ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe O'Gorman (senior)
Joseph O'Gorman (24 May 1863–1 August 1937) was an Irish-born comedian. He formed a popular and innovative double act in British music halls with Joe Tennyson, Tennyson and O'Gorman, in the 1880s and 1890s, before becoming a solo performer. He was also an organiser of theatrical artistes, and was the father of Joe and Dave O'Gorman, "The O'Gorman Brothers". Life and career He was born in Dublin, developed skills as a dancer and singer, and came to England in 1879. He formed a duo with Horace Wheatley, "Joe O'Gorman", ''Music Hall Guild'' Retrieved 1 February 2021 and then, from 1881, with Joseph Tennyson (born in , 12 July 1861–5 September 1926). As Tennyson and O'Go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugene Stratton
Eugene Augustus Rühlmann (May 8, 1861 – September 15, 1918) was an American-born dancer and singer. Born in Buffalo, New York, he adopted the stage name Eugene Stratton and spent most of his career in British music halls. Stratton was a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats. Biography Stratton first performed at the age of 10 in an acrobatic act called the ''Two Welsleys''. He appeared as a dancer in 1873 under the name of ''Master Jean''. He spent some time in a circus before joining a minstrel group. He went to England in 1880 and was by this time using the name of Stratton. In England, he worked his way up to the main song & dance man in the Moore & Burgess Minstrel Show, and in 1883 he married Moore's daughter, Annie Matilda Moore. He left the minstrels to go on the music hall circuit in 1887, first as a double act, then solo. Although at one time he used an Irish voice, he mainly appeared as a "black-faced" singer. He also performed in pantomime, for the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wal Pink
Walter Augustus Pink (10 May 1862—27 October 1922) was an English music hall performer, writer and theatre producer. Wal Pink was born in Paddington, London, and started his career as a singer in smoking concerts, before appearing on the music hall stage. He became a popular performer, as well as a lyricist of songs and monologues for other performers. His usual co-writers included Frank Aylmer and George Le Brunn, and he wrote for such artists as Charles Godfrey ("The Seventh Royal Fusiliers", written with Le Brunn, 1891), James Fawn, Vesta Tilley, Harry Tate, and Marie Lloyd. He was one of the founding members of the Grand Order of Water Rats charitable organization in 1889, became its first Secretary ("Scribe Rat") and was responsible for writing the group's governing principles, as well as their theme song. There are conflicting accounts of the reason for adopting the name "Water Rats"; according to Wee Georgie Wood it was adopted at Pink's suggestion, "rats" being a r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dan Leno
George Wild Galvin (20 December 1860 – 31 October 1904), better known by the stage name Dan Leno, was a leading English music hall comedian and musical theatre actor during the late Victorian era. He was best known, aside from his music hall act, for his dame roles in the annual pantomimes that were popular at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, from 1888 to 1904. Leno was born in St Pancras, London, and began to entertain as a child. In 1864, he joined his parents on stage in their music hall act, and he made his first solo appearance, aged nine, at the Britannia Music Hall in Coventry. As a youth, he was famous for his clog dancing, and in his teen years, he became the star of his family's act. He adopted the stage name Dan Leno and, in 1884, made his first performance under that name in London. As a solo artist, he became increasingly popular during the late 1880s and 1890s, when he was one of the highest-paid comedians in the world. He developed a music hall act of talkin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
