Walter Laburnum
Born
George Walter Davis

(1847-06-15)15 June 1847
Hendon, Middlesex, England
Died28 March 1902(1902-03-28) (aged 54)
London, England
OccupationComic entertainer
Years active1870s–c.1900

Walter Laburnum (born George Walter Davis; 15 June 1847 – 28 March 1902) was an English music hall performer.

Biography

Born in Hendon, Laburnum worked as a beer and wine seller before becoming a professional performer in the 1870s. He became well known as a singer of "coster songs",[1] and for parodying the style of popular lions comiques, in particular George Leybourne, with songs such as "Fashionable Fred".[2] Leybourne was known for driving around the capital in a carriage drawn by four white ponies; Laburnum used a cart drawn by four donkeys. Laburnum also sang "Dr. De Jongh's Cod Liver Oil", mocking the use of fashionable new medical remedies.[3] He was known as "The Star of the East", a reference to the East End of London.[4]

Also billed as "The Royal Comic", Laburnum toured with his concert party in later years.[3] He died in London in 1902, aged 54, and was buried at Abney Park Cemetery.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Harold Scott, The Early Doors: Origins of the Music Hall, Nicholson & Watson, 1946, p.214
  2. ↑ "Fashionable Fred", Monologues.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2021
  3. 1 2 "Cod Liver Oil", Folk Song and Music Hall. Retrieved 7 March 2021
  4. ↑ Michael Kilgarriff, Grace, Beauty and Banjos: Peculiar Lives and Strange Times of Music Hall and Variety Artistes, Oberon Books, 1998, ISBN 1-84002-116-0, p.151
  5. ↑ "Music Hall Artistes In Abney Park Cemetery", Spitalfields Life, 10 June 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2021


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