James Mackey Glover (18 June 1861 – 8 September 1931), originally James Mackey, and known as Jimmy Glover, was an Irish composer, conductor, music critic, and journalist, most notable as Director of Music and conductor at the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...
, from 1893 to 1923.
Born in
Kingstown
Kingstown is the capital, chief port, and main commercial centre of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 12,909 (2012), Kingstown is the most populous settlement in the country. It is the island's agricultural industry centre ...
, Dublin, he was the son of James Mackey, of
Templemore
Templemore () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty. It is part of the parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly.
The 2011 Censu ...
, County Tipperary,Sir Francis Cowley Burnand, ''The Catholic Who's Who and Yearbook'', Volume 34 (Burns & Oates, 1924), p. 195 a commercial traveller, and of Mary Jane Glover, of
Carlow
Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272.
The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...
,"Glover, James Mackey", in ''
Who's Who
''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...
'' (London: A. & C. Black, 1919), p. 964 and a grandson of John William Glover (1815–1899), one of the editors of
Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...
's ''Irish Melodies''. Educated at the
Catholic University School
Catholic University School ''(C.U.S.)'' is a private (voluntary) secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1867 by Bartholomew Woodlock as a preparatory school for the Catholic University of Ireland, the predecess ...
and
Belvedere College
Belvedere College S.J. (sometimes St Francis Xavier's College) is a voluntary secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school has numerous alumni in the arts, politics, sports, science, and business.
History
Belvedere owes its origin ...
, he was then apprenticed to a Dublin
druggist
A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...
, Cornelius Mannin, but in 1879 Jimmy travelled to France with his grandfather, spent three months in a monastery at
Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Lycée de Caen), then learnt to play the violin under a master in Paris, while also acting as unpaid Paris correspondent of an illustrated London paper called ''The Entr'acte''. In that capacity, he obtained an interview with
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
. He adopted the name of Glover and followed in his grandfather's footsteps, becoming a composer and conductor. In February 1880 he arrived in London and gained his first position as Musical Director in Charles Colette's
burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.
company. By 1893 he was at the height of his career as Director of Music at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Over a 30-year period Glover worked alongside Arthur Collins and arranged the music for most of his productions, including the
Drury Lane pantomime
Drury Lane pantomime is a long tradition at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, dating from the early 18th century. In every Christmas season, a pantomime is produced which has a leading place among the many other pantomimes of the capital. Other pantom ...
s, and became a significant figure in London's West End. He formed friendships with many leading actors and musical theatre performers and wrote books of memoirs which captured this side of his life. He was also Mayor of
Bexhill-on-Sea
Bexhill-on-Sea (often shortened to Bexhill) is a seaside town and civil parish situated in the county of East Sussex in South East England. An ancient town and part of the local government district of Rother, Bexhill is home to a number of arc ...
in 1906–07 and managing director of the
Theatre Royal, Plymouth
Theatre Royal, Plymouth, is a theatre venue in Plymouth, Devon. It consists of a 1,300-seat main auditorium, The Lyric, which regularly hosts large-scale musicals, opera and ballet; a 200-seat studio, The Drum; and a 50-seat studio, The Lab. ...
, between 1912 and 1918.
Glover was a friend of the novelist
George Augustus Moore
George Augustus Moore (24 February 1852 – 21 January 1933) was an Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist. Moore came from a Roman Catholic landed family who lived at Moore Hall in Carra, County Mayo. He ...
. According to
Arnold Bennett
Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...
, Glover told Bennett in 1930 that he was the original of Montgomery in Moore's novel ''A Mummer's Wife'' (1885).
His first wife was Alba Fricker, of Buckingham. On 27 August 1910, at
Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster.
The site on which the cathedral stands in the City of ...
, Glover married secondly Kathleen Collins, a daughter of R. Graatz Collins, of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
. In 1924, his address was 19, Sackville Street, W1, and he was a member of the
National Liberal
National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism).
A seri ...
and
Eccentric
Eccentricity or eccentric may refer to:
* Eccentricity (behavior), odd behavior on the part of a person, as opposed to being "normal"
Mathematics, science and technology Mathematics
* Off-center, in geometry
* Eccentricity (graph theory) of a v ...
Clubs
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises
...
.
According to one account, Glover considered the height of his career was being commanded by
King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
to arrange a performance in May 1911 of
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 180318 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secret ...
's play ''
Money
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
'', in honour of a visit to England by the
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
and
Empress
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
of Germany.
Glover's second wife died in November 1929. In retirement alone, Glover lived at the Albany Hotel, Robertson Terrace,
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
, and he died on 8 September 1931, having been visited on his death bed by a brother, described as "Mr. M. J. Glover Mackey, of Liverpool". He left an estate valued at £247."Glover, James Mackey", in Probate Index for 1931 at probatesearch.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2016
Selected publications
*''The Poet and the Puppets'' (London: Mitchell, 1892), with
Charles Brookfield
Charles Hallam Elton Brookfield (19 May 1857 – 20 October 1913) was a British actor, author, playwright and journalist, including for '' The Saturday Review''. His most famous work for the theatre was ''The Belle of Mayfair'' (1906).
Brookfiel ...
*''Jimmy Glover, His Book'' (London: Methuen & Co., 1912)
*''Jimmy Glover and his friends'' (London: Chatto & Windus, 1913)
*''Hims Ancient and Modern, being the Third Book of Jimmy Glover'' (London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1926)
archive.org
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...