Ernest Worton David (17 October 1872 – 15 November 1940) was an English songwriter and music publisher.

Biography

Worton David was born in

Rawmarsh Rawmarsh (locally ) is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-northeast from Rotherham town centre and south-southwest of Swinton. ...

, near

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

in the

West Riding The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

of Yorkshire; Worton was his mother's

maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also used ...

. At first he worked in a solicitor's office, but wrote stories and soon joined the staff of the ''

Leeds Mercury The ''Leeds Mercury'' was a newspaper published in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was published from 1718 to 1755 and again from 1767. Initially it consisted of 12 pages and cost three halfpennies. In 1794 it had a circulation of about 3,00 ...

'' newspaper. He was also a

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

, and one of his jobs was to draw

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...

s of performers at the Leeds Empire theatre. He started to write songs, and persuaded some of the performers he met to use them. As a result, he then decided to try his luck as a songwriter in London.Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.153-154 His first successful song, "Bobbing Up and Down Like This", was published in 1899. By 1909, he had teamed up with composer

George Arthurs George Arthurs (13 April 1875 – 14 March 1944) was an English songwriter, playwright, composer, author and screenwriter who contributed lyrics to several successful musical comedies such as ''The Belle of Mayfair'' (1906), ''Havana'' (190 ...

. In 1910 they wrote the successful parody "I want to sing in opera". In 1912 they wrote "Piccadilly Trot", with the then-fashionable

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

rhythm, for

Marie Lloyd Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as " T ...

; and, the following year, "Hold Your Hand Out, Naughty Boy!" for

Florrie Forde Flora May Augusta Flannagan ( Flannagan; 16 August 187518 April 1940), known professionally as Florrie Forde, was an Australian popular singer and music hall entertainer. From 1897 she lived and worked in the United Kingdom. She was one of the ...

. He also had one of his biggest and longest-lasting successes in 1913, with " Hello! Hello! Who's Your Lady Friend?" written with

Bert Lee William Herbert Lee (11 June 1880 – 23 January 1946) was an English songwriter. He wrote for music hall and the musical stage, often in partnership with R. P. Weston. Life and career Lee was born in Ravensthorpe, Yorkshire, England.Richard A ...

and

Harry Fragson Harry Fragson (2 July 1869 – 31 December 1913), born Léon Philippe Pot, was a British music hall singer, songwriter and comedian. Born in London of French parentage, he moved to Paris, where he developed an act imitating French music hall pe ...

, and performed by Fragson,

Mark Sheridan Mark Sheridan (11 September 1864 – 15 January 1918), born Frederick Shaw, was an English music hall comedian and singer. He became a popular performer of lusty seaside songs and originated the J. Glover-Kind classic, " I Do Like to Be Beside ...

, and many others. "Hello! Hello! Who's Your Lady Friend?", ''Lyrics Playground''
Retrieved 18 November 2020 In 1914, he began working with composer and

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

Lawrence Wright Lawrence Wright (born August 2, 1947) is an American writer and journalist, who is a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law. Wright is best known as th ...

, producing the popular marching song "Are We Downhearted? No!" (1914) and "That Old-Fashioned Mother of Mine" (1919), which became the signature song of

Talbot O'Farrell Talbot O'Farrell (born William Parrot; 27 July 1878 – 2 September 1952) was an English music hall singer (a tenor, whose repertoire included both sentimental and comic songs) and film actor. Biography He was born in the north of England ...

. He also co-founded the

Performing Right Society PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertakes ...

in 1914. However, his partnership with Wright ended when David objected to Wright's copious use of American songs, and Wright bought out David's share of the songs they had written together. After severing his ties with Wright, David started his own publishing firm in the 1920s, and unlike many songwriters became financially successful. "Worton David", ''Fred Godfrey Songs''
Retrieved 19 November 2020 He signed up established songwriters

Fred Godfrey Fred Godfrey (17 September 1880 – 22 February 1953) was the pen name of Llewellyn Williams, a World War I songwriter. He is best known for the songs "Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty" (1916) and "Bless 'Em All" (1917), a 1940s hit record ...

and

Harry Castling Henry Castling (19 April 1865 – 26 December 1933) was an English lyricist of music hall songs. Biography Castling was born in Newington, London, the son of a street musician. He began writing songs in the 1890s, often collaborating on both ...

, as well as his own son, Hubert W. "Micky" David (1904-1999), who also became a successful composer; he wrote the hit song "Felix Kept On Walking", was associated with

Twickenham Studios Twickenham Studios (formerly known as Twickenham Film Studios) is a film studio in St Margarets, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, that is used by various motion picture and television companies. It was established in 1913 by Ralph ...

, and wrote the theme music to

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

's ''

Come Dancing ''Come Dancing'' is a British ballroom dancing competition show that ran on and off on the BBC from 1949 to 1998. Unlike its follow-up show, ''Strictly Come Dancing'', contestants were not celebrities. The show was created by Eric Morley, the ...

''.Elizabeth Moore and Brian Willey, "Obituary: Hubert W. David", ''The Independent'', 30 April 1999
Retrieved 19 November 2020 Worton David died in

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, in 1940, aged 68.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:David, Worton 1872 births 1940 deaths English male songwriters British music publishers (people)