The Eight Lancashire Lads was a troupe of young male
clog dancers who toured the
music halls of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
and
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Founders
They were founded by Bill Cawley and J.W. (William) Jackson (1863–1940) of
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
. As they became more successful, they recruited other members such as
Charlie Chaplin, who got his first professional break with them at the age of eleven.
Former members
*
Charlie Chaplin
*
Nat Jackley
Nat Jackley (born Nathaniel Tristram Jackley Hirsch; 16 July 1909 – 17 September 1988) was an English comic actor who starred in revue, variety, film and pantomime from the 1920s to the mid-1980s. His trademark rubber-neck dance, skeletal fr ...
* Brothers Richard, Eric and Clem White went to
Sydney, Australia in the 1910s and formed theatre companies including Edgley and Dawe. They had changed their names from White and the Australian theatrical empressarion
Michael Edgley is descended from Eric Edgley. His brother, Richard White, was for a period the choreographer of the women's chorus at the
Tivoli revue theatre in Sydney.
* Percy Joshua Norman (Pip) was in the troupe 1921.
* Gabriel Winestein was another of the lads. Born in Leeds, Gabriel joined the troupe in about 1905.
* Percy Frederick Kenyon Connor (later Percy Frederick Smith) was in the group and was a friend of Charlie Chaplin's in London. Percy went on to become a professional dancer who danced all over Europe with his wife Edith Elsie Smith (née Roy). Percy's brother-in-law was
Ernest G Roy, the film producer. When Edith died in about 1925, Percy disappeared and no further information about him is known.
*
Gordon Stretton
Gordon Stretton (5 June 1887 – 3 May 1983), born William Masters, was an English singer, dancer and musical director of mixed Irish and Jamaican descent. He became one of the first Liverpool-based musicians to gain international acclaim,Dani ...
The dancer
Josie Woods trained with the group in the 1920s.
Records
All of the Eight Lancashire Lads performances which featured Charlie Chaplin are listed in A. J. Marriot's book ''Chaplin: stage by stage'' (2005).
References
Dance companies in the United Kingdom
Culture in Lancashire
History of Lancashire
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