Kate Carney (born Catherine Mary Pattinson; 15 August 1869 – 1 January 1950) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

singer and comedian who played the music halls in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Biography

She was born in Southwark, London, in 1869 as Catherine Mary Pattinson.1901 census: RG13/475 f.162 p.28 - 221 Brixton Hill, Streatham - Kate Barclay, born Southwark, London Her father worked in a double act, the Brothers Raynard, and her mother also performed on stage. Kate began singing on stage as Kate Patterson; in 1886, she married George Shea, who assumed the stage name Barclay and performed in a double act, "Barclay and Perkins, the Brewers of Mirth".Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.161-163 After a break when her first two sons were born, she reappeared in 1890 under the name Kate Carney at the Albert Music Hall in Canning Town, singing Irish ballads such as "Here's My Love to Old Ireland". She soon became popular, and gradually replaced the Irish songs in her act with

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 ...

songs, including "Three Pots a Shilling" and "Sarah, Sarah (A Donkey Cart Built for Two)". She became known as "The Cockney Queen", "The Coster Queen", or "The Coster Comedienne". Writer Roy Busby described her as "..a buxom woman, dressed in a coster dress of pearly and a large hat trimmed with enormous ostrich plumes... Her songs combined a ripe humour with the pathos of East London life...". Among her most successful songs were "Has Anyone Seen My Yiddisher Boy?", "When the Summer Comes Again", "Three Pots a Shilling", and "Are We to Part Like This, Bill?", written by

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 bo ...

and Charles Collins. Carney performed at the Empress Theatre in Brixton on its opening night in December 1898.Empress Theatre, Brixton
Layers of London website She appeared in her first Royal Variety Performance in 1912. Her husband stopped performing to act as her agent – later also managing Ted Ray, among others – and she became one of the most successful music hall performers. She established her own company of dancers to support her own stage act, and acquired enough wealth to buy a large house in Brixton as well as racehorses and expensive cars. After the

First World War 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 ...

, she restricted her appearances, re-emerging in the early 1930s when she performed with a butler accompanying her on piano, as well as her own chorus and musicians. She appeared in the 1935 and 1938 Royal Variety Performances. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, she became known for ignoring

air raid warning A civil defense siren, also known as an air-raid siren or tornado siren, is a siren used to provide an emergency population warning to the general population of approaching danger. It is sometimes sounded again to indicate the danger has pas ...

s and inviting audience members to join her on stage. After the death of her husband in 1944, she became the lessee of the Grand Theatre, Clapham Junction in her own right. Carney also appeared on

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

, and continued to perform until her last broadcast in 1949. She died on New Year's Day, 1950, at the age of 80. She had five children with her husband George Shea. She is buried with her husband, and a son who pre-deceased her, in

Putney Vale Cemetery Putney Vale Cemetery and Crematorium in southwest London is located in Putney Vale, surrounded by Putney Heath and Wimbledon Common and Richmond Park. It is located within of parkland. The cemetery was opened in 1891 and the crematorium in 1938 ...

. She was also the mother-in-law of the Canadian dancer, Gladys Mavius.

Songs

*''Are We to Part Like This, Bill'' *''Three Pots a Shilling'' *''Sarah'' *''A Donkey Cart Built for Two'' *''Here's To An English Tar'' *''Mother, I Love You'' *''Stand Up For The Rose'' *''There's A Nice Little Home A-Waiting''

References

* * *

External links

Review
of Kate Carney at Hammersmith Varieties Theatre, March, 1897 - The Era, London, Saturday, 6 March 1897, p. 18c/d at Gabrielle Ray's website

- A Guide to Popular Song 1860-1920 by Michael Kilgarriff {{DEFAULTSORT:Carney, Kate 1869 births 1950 deaths Comedians from London Singers from London English women singers English women comedians Music hall performers Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery People from Southwark