Charles Richard Whittle (14 August 1874 – 27 November 1947) was an English

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 Bri ...

singer and one of the last '' lions comiques''. He was born in

Manningham, Bradford Manningham is an historically industrial workers area as well as a council ward of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The population of the 2011 Census for the Manningham Ward was 19,983. History Manningham holds a wealth of industrial hi ...

, and worked in an

ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...

before taking to the stage. After finding success at home in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, he moved to London and became successful with songs such as "We All Go the Same Way Home", and " Let’s All Go Down the Strand" - both written by

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 ...

and

C. W. Murphy Charles William Murphy (14 February 1870 – 18 June 1913) was a prolific British composer of music hall and musical theatre tunes. Biography He was born William Murphy in Manchester, England.Lamb, Andrew. "C. W. Murphy, Edwardian Song Compo ...

- and "Billy Muggins", written by Charles Ridgwell and popular among soldiers in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson, ''British Music Hall: A story in pictures'', Studio Vista, 1965, p.129 Historian

W. J. MacQueen-Pope Walter James MacQueen-Pope (11 April 1888 – 27 June 1960), known familiarly as Popie, was an English theatre historian and publicist. From a theatrical family which could be traced back to contemporaries of Shakespeare, he was in management for ...

wrote that Whittle was "the sort of man everyone knew, the real sort of man to be a star of that entertainment which was for the people, of the people and by the people. His mastery of an audience was complete; all felt he was their friend, all knew him the moment he walked on. He knew all about singing songs, he had some of the best to sing and he sang them quietly but with all the proper emphasis." "Charles R. Whittle (1874–1947)", ''Fred Godfrey Songs''
Retrieved 29 September 2020 Though Whittle recorded some songs for

Zonophone Records Zonophone (early on also rendered as Zon-O-Phone) was a record label founded in 1899 in Camden, New Jersey, by Frank Seaman. The Zonophone name was not that of the company but was applied to records and machines sold by Seaman's Universal Talki ...

in 1913, they were not released. He continued to perform into the 1920s, but then retired before making a brief comeback in 1938. He died in Bradford in 1947, aged 73.

References

1874 births 1947 deaths Music hall performers {{UK-singer-stub