George Washington "Pony" Moore (February 22, 1820 – October 1, 1909) was a New York-born British music hall

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. His ...

. Moore was born in New York, February 22, 1820,BROWN, Col. T. Allston, ''Early Days of Negro Minstrelsy'' according to his own account the son of a bass drummer who had served under

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

,''The Times'', Saturday, Oct 02, 1909; pg. 13; Issue 39080; col C for whom he was named. He allegedly acquired his nickname 'Pony' as a boy because of his small size; another source attributes it to his having been employed in several circuses as a driver, managing up to forty horses at one timeRICE, Edward L.,''Monarchs of Minstrelsy'',1910 Having first run away to the circus at age 16 he debuted in blackface in 1841 with Welch and Delevan at the Broadway Circus in New York. Moore eventually joined the Virginia Serenaders in 1844, appearing with them as a negro minstrel at the Halfway House theatre,

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, and later in the same capacity with other troupes. While struggling to establish himself fully in his stage career he worked as a

cabinet maker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves and/or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (so ...

and also appeared in a knife-throwing act. On June 11, 1859 Moore sailed to England, where minstrelsy had become widely popular, and there joined the Christy Minstrels before in 1864 founding a Christy Minstrels company of his own. He was a member of the St. James's Hall Minstrels and, in 1871, founded the Moore and Burgess Minstrels with his partner Frederick Burgess. In 1873 in London his daughter, the actress Martha Isabella 'Bella' Moore (1854-1913), married the actor and dancer

Fred Vokes Frederick Motimer Vokes (22 January 1846 – 3 June 1888) was a British music hall, pantomime and burlesque dancer and actor of the 19th-century and a member of the Vokes Family troupe of entertainers. For more than ten years they were the c ...

; the marriage proved to be a tumultuous one and she was petitioning for divorce at the time of her husband's death in 1888. He died in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England on October 1, 1909.Register Office, (England and Wales): Deaths registered in October, November ,and December 1909: “MOORE, George Washington...89...Marylebone: 1a 355”

References

External links

Col. T. Allston Brown, ''Early Days of Negro Minstrelsy''
1820 births 1909 deaths 19th-century British male singers American emigrants to the United Kingdom {{UK-singer-stub