Richard Corney Grain (26 October 1844 – 16 March 1895), known by his stage name Corney Grain, was an entertainer and songwriter of the late
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
.
Biography
Born at
Teversham in
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...
, Grain was the youngest son of John Grain, a farmer, and his wife, Mary Anne. His sister, Harriet Ann, was the mother of the
barrister and judge Sir
Travers Humphreys
Sir Richard Somers Travers Christmas Humphreys (4 August 1867 – 20 February 1956) was a noted British barrister and judge who, during a sixty-year legal career, was involved in the cases of Oscar Wilde and the murderers Hawley Harvey Crippen, ...
. Grain received what he referred to as "an average middle-class education". In 1858, at the age of 14, he attended school in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
[Corney Grain, Richard. ''Corney Grain, by Himself'', John Murray, London. (1888)] Returning to
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
with an interest in the
Law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
, he enrolled as a student of the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...
on 27 April 1863, and was called to the
Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
on 30 April 1866. For a while he practised law on the Western Circuit. However, he had theatrical leanings, and sang and acted in private.
Career
Deciding to give up a legal career and try his hand on the stage, on 16 May 1870 Grain joined what was known as the
German Reed Entertainments
The German Reed Entertainments were founded in 1855 and operated by Thomas German Reed (1817–1888) together with his wife, Priscilla German Reed (née Horton) (1818–1895). At a time when the theatre in London was seen as a disreputa ...
, at the
Gallery of Illustration, appearing in a sketch of his own called ''The School-Feast''.
[Watson, M. "Alfred German Reed and Corney Grain", ''The Theatre'', 4th series, No. 25 (1895), 221–23] At the same time, Grain entertained privately, performing his comic musical sketches at the piano for fashionable parties and other venues.
[
Grain remained with the German Reeds until the end of his life and, after the death of another German Reed stalwart, ]John Orlando Parry
John Orlando Parry (3 January 1810 – 20 February 1879) was an English actor, pianist, artist, comedian, songwriter and singer.
Biography Early career
Parry, the only son of Welsh musician John Parry (known as ''Bardd Alaw''), was born in L ...
, Grain became the company's principal comedian and sketch artist. He moved with the company to St George's Hall, toured with it in the provinces, and in 1877, after the retirement of Priscilla German Reed, became the partner of the German Reeds' son, Alfred German Reed (1847-1895), who shared the management of the company with his mother from 1871. Over twenty-five years, Grain wrote between fifty and sixty entertainments for the company, consisting of social sketches and songs with piano accompaniment. His songs included "The Masher King of Piccadilly" and "The Four-Horse Sharrybang". His private performances of comic sketches also remained fashionable throughout his career. His last sketch was ''Music à la mode''.[
Grain was a large man with exceptionally large and expressive hands. On occasion he took part in comediettas or other dramatic performances, but he claimed that he did not enjoy acting and was not very good at it.][ ]W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...
disagreed, asking him to perform in his absurdist comedy with the German Reeds, '' Happy Arcadia'', as "the handsomest man in the world", because of Grain's comical appearance. Similarly in Gilbert's ''A Sensation Novel
''A Sensation Novel'' is a comic musical play in three acts (or volumes) written by the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, with music composed by Thomas German Reed. It was first performed on 31 January 1871 at the Royal Gallery of Illustration. Only f ...
'', he played the "spirit of romance".[Walters, p. 16] He also played in Gilbert's ''Our Island Home
''Our Island Home'' is a one-act musical entertainment with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Thomas German Reed that premiered on 20 June 1870 at the Royal Gallery of Illustration. The piece has five characters and is "biographical", i ...
'', ''Ages Ago
''Ages Ago'', sometimes stylised as ''Ages Ago!'' or ''Ages Ago!!'', is a musical entertainment with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Frederic Clay that premiered on 22 November 1869 at the Royal Gallery of Illustration. It marked the ...
'' and ''Eyes and No Eyes
''Eyes and No Eyes, or The Art of Seeing'' is a one-act musical entertainment with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music originally by Thomas German Reed. The story concerns two sisters who love flirtatious twin brothers (though it is not cert ...
'' (amusingly, as Pierrot
Pierrot ( , , ) is a stock character of pantomime and '' commedia dell'arte'', whose origins are in the late seventeenth-century Italian troupe of players performing in Paris and known as the Comédie-Italienne. The name is a diminutive of ''Pi ...
). Grain was a great friend and rival of Gilbert and Sullivan performer and fellow sketch-artist, George Grossmith
George Grossmith (9 December 1847 – 1 March 1912) was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades. As a writer and composer, he created 18 comic operas, nearly 100 musical ...
.
His autobiography, ''Corney Grain, by Himself'', first appeared in ''Murray's Magazine
''Murray's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine published by the John Murray publishing house. Sixty issues were published, from January 1887 through to December 1891.
It was priced at 1/- (one shilling).
The magazine included limited amounts of f ...
'' and was later issued as a book in 1888. He died of "epidemic influenza" on 16 March 1895, at his home in Marylebone, London. His death, six days after that of Alfred German Reed, ended the German Reed Entertainments
The German Reed Entertainments were founded in 1855 and operated by Thomas German Reed (1817–1888) together with his wife, Priscilla German Reed (née Horton) (1818–1895). At a time when the theatre in London was seen as a disreputa ...
, which had been popular for forty years.["St George's Hall, Langham Place, Regent Street, London"]
at the ArthurLloyd theatres website
Notes
References
*
* Walters, Michael "A Brief Overview of the Life of Rutland Barrington" in ''The Gilbert & Sullivan News'', vol. II, no. 13, pp. 16–21 (Autumn/Winter 1998; The Gilbert and Sullivan Society).
External links
Portraits of Corney Grain
at the National Portrait Gallery
Full text of ''Corney Grain, by Himself''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grain, Richard Corney
1844 births
1895 deaths
English entertainers
English male stage actors
People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan
English composers
19th-century British male singers
English humorists
19th-century British composers
19th-century English male actors