Vesta Victoria (born Victoria Lawrence, 26 November 1873 – 7 April 1951) was an English music hall singer and comedian. She was famous for her performances of songs such as "

Waiting at the Church "Waiting at the Church" is a popular British music hall song written by Fred W. Leigh (words) and Henry E. Pether (music) for Vesta Victoria, and copyrighted in 1906. It is sung by a bride-to-be who has given her fiancé, Obadiah Binks, al ...

" and "

Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow "Daddy Wouldn’t Buy Me a Bow Wow" is a song written in 1892 by prolific English songwriter Joseph Tabrar. It was written for, and first performed in 1892 by, Vesta Victoria at the South London Palace, holding a kitten. The same year it was re ...

", both of which were written specially for her. Vesta's comic laments delivered in deadpan style were even more popular in the USA: she was, at the beginning of the twentieth century, one of the most successful British entertainers in America.

Life and career

Vesta Victoria was born Victoria Lawrence at 8 Ebenezer Place in Holbeck,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, on 26 November 1873. Her parents, Joe and Emma (née Thompson), were themselves entertainers, and she made her stage debut aged six weeks in one of her father's sketches. Billed as "Baby Victoria" until nearly ten years of age, she was "Little Victoria" by her first London appearance in 1883. The painter

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

(1860–1942) made a portrait of her performing – ''Vesta Victoria at the Old Bedford'' – in about 1890. Though Yorkshire-born, Vesta assumed a

Cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...

stage persona. Her singing career escalated in 1892 when "

" became a huge hit. She sang it first at South London Palace, a music hall in Lambeth, and to high success on her first trip to the United States in 1892, when she appeared for eight weeks at

Tony Pastor Antonio Pastor (May 28, 1837 – August 26, 1908) was an American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner who became one of the founding forces behind American vaudeville in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. He was sometimes referr ...

's theatre in New York City. Vesta married twice, both marriages producing a daughter. She was married to music hall manager Frederick Wallace McAvoy from 1894 to 1904. They had a daughter, Irene. The marriage ended in divorce, owing to the fact that McAvoy was a cruel, abusive and adulterous husband. In 1912, Vesta announced in New York that she was married to William Terry. In 1913, the couple had a daughter, Iris. But the 1912 "marriage" may have been invented, as English records show that Vesta and William Terry were married in

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan The London Plan is the statutory spatial development strategy for the Gre ...

in 1920. In any event, the marriage ended in 1926, when Vesta filed for divorce on the grounds of "Ill-usage and association with other women". One of the most highly paid

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

stars, Vesta bought a considerable amount of property in America. By the 1920s, she is estimated to have been worth around £3.25 million – the equivalent in 2014 of around £975 million. She retired after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, but re-recorded many of her hits in 1931 in a series of Old-Time Medleys, and performed at the

Royal Variety Show The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal f ...

of 1932. She also appeared in a number of films in the 1930s. Unlike younger music hall contemporaries

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

and

Stan Laurel Stan Laurel (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson; 16 June 1890 – 23 February 1965) was an English comic actor, writer, and film director who was one half of the comedy double act, duo Laurel and Hardy. He appeared with his comedy partner Oliver Ha ...

, Victoria remained principally a live performer in England instead of becoming a full-time film performer in the USA; next to nothing remains of what film work she did. Vesta Victoria at the Old Bedford MET DP806033

Vesta Victoria at the Old Bedford MET DP806033

Vesta died of breast cancer in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, north London, on 7 April 1951.England & Wales Deaths 1837–2007 Vol. 5C page 735 She did not leave a will, and at

probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...

her estate was valued at £15,631.17s. 5d. The large fortune she amassed by the 1920s is thought to have been lost in the interim partly to the scheming of handsome young men, and partly as a result of the news-making robbery of her famous jewellery collection. She was

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

, where a lilac tree (no longer in existence) was planted in her memory.

Legacy

Dr Carol Morley argues that Vesta's

characterisation Characterization or characterisation is the representation of persons (or other beings or creatures) in narrative and dramatic works. The term character development is sometimes used as a synonym. This representation may include direct method ...

s of downtrodden women laughing off problems were, in their time, an influence on the development of the emerging musical form of the

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

. By 1906, Vesta's fame in America was then such that one of San Francisco's main roads was renamed ''Vesta Victoria Avenue'' in her honour; the city was grateful that she performed numerous

benefit concert A benefit concert or charity concert is a type of musical benefit performance (e.g., concert, show, or gala) featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate hu ...

s for the relief of sufferers in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Actress Helen Fraser toured her one-woman show ''Vesta'', based on Vesta Victoria's life and work, in the 1990s, playing over 90 performances in the UK and across America.

References

External links

*
Text collection of Vesta Victoria song lyrics Medley: Waiting At The Church, He Calls Me His Own Grace Darling, It's All Right In The Summertime, Now I Have To Call Him Father, Poor John, Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me A Bow-WowVesta Victoria: ''Waiting at the Church'' a.k.a. ''My Wife Won't Let Me'', 1907Vesta Victoria: ''Waiting at the Church'' + Medley, 1931Vesta Victoria: ''Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow''Vesta Victoria: ''It's All Right in the Summertime''Vesta Victoria: ''Poor John''Vesta Victoria: ''Now I Have to Call Him Father''
**
Vesta Victoria: ''It Ain't All Honey And It Ain't All Jam'', 1907Vesta Victoria: ''Riding on a Motorcar'', 1907Vesta Victoria: ''It Didn't Take Long to Come Off''Vesta Victoria: ''Look What Percy's Picked Up in the Park''Vesta Victoria: ''Man, Man, Man'', 1907Vesta Victoria: ''Summer Blouses'', 1907Vesta Victoria: ''The Turkey Girl''Vesta Victoria: ''The Next Horse I Ride On''Vesta Victoria performing (silent)
**
Vesta Victoria cylinder recordings
from the

UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive The Cylinder Audio Archive is a free digital collection maintained by the University of California, Santa Barbara Library with streaming and downloadable versions of over 10,000 phonograph cylinders manufactured between 1893 and the mid-1920s. The ...

at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Victoria, Vesta 1873 births 1951 deaths Music hall performers Vaudeville performers English women singers English women comedians English stage actresses 20th-century English comedians Victor Records artists Pioneer recording artists Golders Green Crematorium Musicians from Leeds Actresses from Leeds Comedians from Yorkshire 20th-century English women 20th-century English people