Thomas Hudson (April 1791 – June 1844) was an English writer and performer of

comic song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...

s who was one of the earliest credited songwriters in the music hall tradition.

Biography

Tom Hudson was born in Mount Street, Lambeth, in 1791, the son of John Hudson who worked at the Stamp Office in Somerset House. He set up in business as a grocer, but by about 1818 had begun writing and performing his own songs in private parties and for the proprietors of

Vauxhall Gardens Vauxhall Gardens is a public park in Kennington in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, on the south bank of the River Thames. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, it is believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660, being ...

. A prolific comic singer and songwriter, he published collections of his songs every year between 1818 and 1831."The Late Mr. Thomas Hudson", ''Illustrated London News'', 27 July 1844, p.56 He performed regularly in "

song and supper room A song and supper room was a dining club in mid-nineteenth century Victorian England in which entertainment and good food were provided. They provided an alternative to formal theatre and music hall with a convivial atmosphere in which the custo ...

s" such as the Cyder Cellars in

Maiden Lane, Covent Garden Maiden Lane is a street in Covent Garden, London, that runs from Bedford Street in the west to Southampton Street in the east. The painter J. M. W. Turner was born in the street in 1775. History The street is based on an ancient track that r ...

, which opened in the mid-1820s and had a very broad clientele ranging from tradesmen and apprentices to members of parliament; and the Coal Hole, near the Strand.Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.13-14 His most popular songs included "I Never Says Nothing to Nobody" (1825), "Barney Brallaghan's Courtship" (c.1830), and "The Spider and the Fly" (1830).

Walter Thornbury George Walter Thornbury (13 November 1828 – 11 June 1876) was an English author. He was the first biographer of J. M. W. Turner. Early life George Thornbury was born on 13 November 1828, the son of a London solicitor, reared by his aunt and e ...

described Hudson as "the writer of half the comic songs that once amused festive London"."Maiden Lane and the Cyder Cellars", ''Radio Days'', 5 June 2016
Retrieved 26 August 2020 He was considered to be "a man of considerable literary ability", and his songs were described as "lively and really witty". The music hall historian Harold Scott said of Hudson's songs that they contain "a reliance on the commonplace and intimate occurrences of everyday life. A different class angle is visible; in Hudson the lower middle class became articulate."Harold Scott, ''The Early Doors: Origins of the Music Hall'', Nicholson & Watson, 1946, p.48 The ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

'' said of him:

Though well known in the convivial circles of the metropolis, Hudson was not a dissipated man, for his habits were the reverse of intemperance: his talents impromptu were very great; he has often caught some incident which occurred at the table, or availed himself of the unexpected appearance of some public character, to produce appropriate joke or compliment, which never failed to tell upon the company.... ewas by no means an Apollo in voice; but the new song, composed by the singer, excused his defects or vocal execution. His more studied efforts were characterised by great humor and knowledge of life, and an abundant stock of those grotesque images which give the finish to a comic picture.

Hudson died "in straitened circumstances" in 1844, aged 53, leaving a wife and children. He was buried at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

on 29 June 1844.London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: DL/T/041/012 A benefit concert was arranged at the Princess' Theatre to raise funds for his family, under the patronage of the

Duke of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male de ...

, the Lord Mayor, T. S. Duncombe M.P., and others.

References

External links

''Comic Songs''
by Thomas Hudson, published 1818 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Tom 1791 births 1844 deaths 19th-century English singers Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Music hall performers