| Collection | David Drummond Pantomime Collection |
| Admin history | Flora Augusta Flanagan was born on 16th August 1875 in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne. She was the daughter of Francis Lott Flanagan and Phoebe Cahill née Simmons. She also had several siblings; two half siblings from her mother’s previous marriage to Daniel James Cahill, 8 full siblings (although 4 died), and, following the breakdown of her mother’s relationship with her father Francis, had six more half siblings from her mother’s marriage to Thomas Henry Snelling Ford. There was a period of time during her upbringing when, along with her siblings, she was placed in a convent in Sydney.
She first appeared on the stage in December 1891 at a concert at the Polytechnic Music Hall in Sydney on Pitt Street, drawing from her stepfather’s surname ‘Ford’ and adopting the name Florrie Forde. Florrie secured her place performing at the Polytechnic Music Hall following an interview with the Polytechnic’s managers, who contracted her to appear there as from 19th December 1891 for £2 per week.
Prior to performing on the stage, she performed as a solo singer in public, performing to audiences on pleasure ships, such as SS Alathea in November 1891 which featured Florrie’s name on the advertisement that was circulated advertising the performance. Not long after her music hall debut, at the age of 17, Florrie married Walter Emanuel Bew a police officer at the Mariner’s Church, 100 George Street in Sydney on 2nd January 1893.
Whilst there was some resistance within Florrie’s own family about her stage career – her mother and brother Frank did not initially approve – she was soon in demand following her performance at the Polytechnic Music Hall and, as from January 1892, Florrie appeared at the Sunday afternoon Steve Adson’s promenade concerts at the Port Jackson Pavilion, Chowder Bay, in Mosman. By this point, Florrie was also making her mark and, rather than appear as part of a list of performers at the Polytechnic Music Hall, she began to be mentioned in reviews by name.
Whilst performing at Chowder Bay, Florrie began to get more stage work, having been noticed by George Rignold, and was asked to take part in performances at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Sydney between April and June 1892. Performances included: Dick Whittington, Little Jack Sheppard and Randolph the Reckless. In 1892 she was engaged by Dan Tracey and performed at the Melbourne Gaiety for a run of eight weeks.
Whilst she experienced a period of sickness, being diagnosed initially with consumption and, after re-evaluation, poisoning from a whalebone splinter, Florrie continued her rise to stardom. By 1894 Forde joined Dan Tracey's Variety Company, appearing as William in Black-Eyed Susan and Pat in The Work Girl. In 1895 she appeared in pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, and was at once invited to return the following year. By this point, Florrie had undertaken long seasons in Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney, performing in several productions and starring in pantomimes such as Jack and the Beanstalk.
Florrie was to make a long career as a Principal Boy and, after further performances in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney, she took the decision to go to Britain, travelling to London on the SS Gulf of Bothnia and arriving there on 19th May 1897. By the August bank holiday of the same year, Florrie had made her debut British appearance, performing in notable music halls, such as the London Pavilion, the Oxford, and the South London Palace.
Florrie thrived in London and was described as one of the leading artists with a rich voice, building up her reputation across the United Kingdom by travelling beyond London to other regions, including the North. A particular area that Florrie developed close associations with was the Isle of Man, where she first performed over a two-week period in 1900. Whilst she did not perform there in 1902 and between 1915 and 1918 because of restrictions on travel during the First World War, Florrie made yearly appearances at the Derby Castle in Douglas for the rest of her life.
Moreover, by the time that Florrie came to London her marriage to Walter Emanuel Bew had disintegrated. Florrie married her next husband, Laurence Barnett, on 22nd November 1905 at Paddington in London.
Florrie believed she would star in a pantomime during her first Christmas in Britain. She had even been approached by the comedian R G Knowles to appear with him in the pantomime Sleeping Beauty at the Birmingham Prince of Wales. This was not to be and it was in 1898 that she first appeared in a British pantomime, namely Cinderella at the Shakespeare in Clapham, in which Florrie was cast as the Principal Boy. Following this performance, Florrie appeared in a further 37 pantomimes in Britain.
In addition to performing in pantomime, Florrie also recorded for gramophones and cylinders. For example, she began recording phonograph cylinders for Edison Bell in 1903, with her first cylinder being released in October of that year. Florrie left Edison Bell following the departure of Russell Hunting, one of the Company’s Directors. And moved her UK cylinder output to Sterling, recording with them between 1905 and 1908. She returned to Edison in 1909, however, and had a three-year contract with them whilst, simultaneously, also having a contract with the Gramophone and Typewriter Company. By 1936, she had recorded 700 recordings on cylinders and discs.
Florrie’s musical talent is also remembered by the songs she sung that raised morale during the First World War. She was at the height of her popularity during this time and songs such as ‘Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty’, ‘Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag’, and ‘It’s A Long Way To Tipperary’, were sung by soldiers, becoming marching songs as soldiers marched on between locations across the Western Front. During the First World War, Florrie also increased her benefit work in aid of injured military personnel.
During the 1920s, Florrie continued her link with the military, performing for the occupation forces at the Scala in Cologne in May 1921, returning there in September 1923 to sing more for them. In this time, she also continued charitable work and sung at locations, such as at an auction in aid of St Bartholomew’s Hospital. Furthermore, Florrie was also one of the few women who started her producing her own revues, Flo and Co, establishing the duo of Chesney Allen and Bud Winthrop in 1928. In fact, Winthrop adopted Florrie’s birth name, ‘Flanagan’, and the double act became known as ‘Flanagan and Allen’. Other touring revues included ‘Cameos of 1923’, which was written by Reg Bolton, and ‘Here’s To You!’ in 1925.
Despite her widespread success and popularity, Florrie retired from pantomime during the early 1930s, using this decade to embark on new adventures. During the 1930s, she took on small roles in several films, such as Say It With Flowers in 1933 and My old Dutch in 1934. During the mid-thirties, she also made radio broadcasts and continued as the ‘queen’ of the hippodrome and music hall scene, appearing at events like the show in October 1935 to celebrate Goerge V’s Silver Jubilee. Florrie’s husband also died in 1934 and his funeral was held on 25th October of that same year in Willesden Cemetery in London.
Florrie Forde died at the age of 64 on 18th April 1940 at 21 Albyn Place in Aberdeen, Scotland, where she had where she had gone to entertain wounded soldiers fighting in the the Second World War in a military hospital. She was buried in Streatham Park Cemetery in London on 23rd April 1940. |
| Related Person | Barnett, Flora May Augustus (1876-1940), otherwise known as Florrie Forde the music hall entertainer and Principal Boy |