Fanny and Florrie Robina
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The Robinas' Parents
Newman
and Mortimer were George John Cooper and Margaret Jones
who were married at Castlemaine in the gold-fields of Victoria on the
31st of December 1855. George gave his age as 24 and Margaret 21.
(Probably because the 18 year old was unable to produce the required
written consent from her parents in Liverpool) At the peak of the gold rush in the 1850s, Castlemaine was home to almost 30,000 miners and was considered to be the richest goldfield in the world with over 100,000 Kgs extracted. George was baptised at Chatham, Kent in 1826, the illegitimate son of Ann Cooper (1796). (See the Chatham Coopers)
He may, like many young men of the time, been drawn to the gold-fields with the hope of 'striking it rich.' In the five years 1852-7, during which the rush to the diggings was at its height, 100,000 Englishmen, 60,000 Irish, 50,000 Scots, 4000 Welsh, 8000 Germans, 1500 French, 3000 Americans, and no less than 25,000 Chinese — not to speak of the other nationalities of the world, all of whom were represented — landed on the shores of Port Phillip.
On the marriage certificate George gave his occupation as 'ship-builder' (shipwright). He was probably the 24 year old George Cooper from Kent, living at Poplar, Middlesex, (the East India Docks area of London) with a cousin (William & Martha Jenkins) and recorded on the 1851 census as a 'shipwright'. George's step-father William Taylor was employed at Chatham dockyard as a ships-rigger. * Shipwright - A person who designs, builds and repairs ships, especially wooden ones.
We do not at present know the date of his arrival in Australia. There is a George Cooper recorded arriving at Port Phillip on the 'Roxburgh Castle ' in July 1853. His mother's brother, Benjamin Charlton Cooper (1800), arrived in New South Wales with his family on the Lloyds in 1855, a few months before George's marriage at Castlemaine. We have no idea whether there was any contact with those relations who had also lived in the Tower Hamlets area of London, prior to their migration.
George's mother, Ann, later married ship's rigger William Taylor (1800) and the couple lived at Ordnance Row, Chatham. Fanny (Robina) Cooper was born there in December 1862 and her older brother George Cooper (Willie Newman) was recorded staying at the Chatham home in 1871.
Margaret Jones
was baptised at Liverpool in 1837, the daughter of
engineer Samuel Jones and Sarah Pate. We have not proved
her entry date into Australia but a 16 year old Margaret Jones did
arrive at Melbourne from Liverpool on the 'Delta ' 19th of October 1852.
One
of Shaun's Rootsweb contacts, Sarra, passed the following: (This
raises the possibility that she was on board as a nanny for Edward Gee's
family. T.B)
M The reason Margaret mentioned working there was because England and Australia at that time was buzzing with news from the Tichborne trial where Wagga Wagga butcher Arthur Orton, who had arrived from Australia claiming to be the long lost heir to the Tichborne fortune, was charged with perjury. Margaret told her audience she had come to know Orton when serving him with drinks in the Ship Inn at Port Melbourne. Whilst on bail, the Tichborne claimant began to do the round of the music halls, travelling by rail and addressing huge crowds. Photographs of Orton and his family, and of the Tichbornes were collected by many people in much the same way as football cards are today, and those show the claimant posing as a man of substance and fashion. Even during the criminal trial, he was a popular guest at dinners and parties and received ‘fan mail’ from ladies who found him particularly attractive.
George
and Margaret Cooper appear to have had eight children, three in Australia and five in England,
four of whom survived. Their eldest, Margaret Anne Cooper (Annie) was born at
Dunolly in the Ballarat goldfields in 1856. Her brother George John
Cooper started life at Sandridge, Port Melbourne in 1857 but only lived
9 months. Newspaper adverts show that he was appearing as a solo comic vocalist, and calling himself George Newman, in the Colony from 1855. The
couple teamed up as music hall duo Mr
and Mrs Newman and performed in Melbourne, Geelong, and the goldfield
towns between 1857 and 1861. He was billed as a comic vocalist, and
Margaret 'a much admired soprano'. In
1861, still using their adopted Newman surname, they left Australia for the UK with their five year old daughter
Margaret Ann. The couple sailed on the clipper 'Marco Polo ' known
at that time as the 'fastest ship in the world' due to its ability to
carry out the voyage from Liverpool to Australia and return to its home
port within 6 months. Unfortunately
things did not go so well on that voyage. The 'Marco Polo ' with its
cargo of 6000 ounces of gold and 200 passengers, struck an iceberg when
south of Cape Horn, seriously damaging its hull and rigging. The leaking
vessel crawled into Valparaiso, Chile, on April 2nd for repairs and did
not return to Liverpool until the 26th of August, some six months after
leaving Melbourne. It cannot have been a pleasant experience for
Margaret Cooper. She was heavily pregnant and gave birth to George
William on the 24th of March, only 9 days before the leaking ship
arrived at Valparaiso.
The
episode does not appear to have left any long-term aversion to sea
travel with baby George. At the turn of the century, then known as
theatre manager William G Newman, he was Commodore of a New York yacht
club and sailing his own vessel 'the Ada'.
They seem to have laid roots down in the Lambeth/Newington area of London. That is where their eldest daughter Annie (Margaret) was living in 1871 and two of her siblings were born there. Maud Lucy Cooper being born at Newington on the 26th of July 1868. She died at Chatham after only surviving a few months and Robert Jones Cooper, (Newington 29th of July 1869), died at Liverpool a year later. Fanny Cooper came into the world at George's mother's home in Ordnance Row, Chatham on the 22nd of December 1862, and Florrie Cooper at 20 Nursery Street, Liverpool on the 17th of July 1866. As
early as December 1861 the couple were billed at Wilton's New Music Hall
in Whitechapel, London as 'the celebrated Comic Duet Vocalists, Mr
Newman and Miss Mortimer, from Australia', and for the next nine years
toured the British music hall circuit. What
we now know is that, from the age of four, Fanny was performing with her
parents. A notice in the Era of the 24th of November 1867 had announced:
'Mr George Newman and Miss Mortimer the Great Australian
Duettists, in conjunction with Little Fanny, the Infant Wonder, aged
four Years, are about to make their Third Tour of the United Kingdom'. Fanny's 1893 interview informs us that she first performed as a variety artiste in sketches with her parents when only two years and nine months old. The
Birmingham Concert Hall on the 14th of November 1870 advertised them as
'Mr G. Newman, Miss Fanny Mortimer and Miss Jenny Newman, who have won
renown in Australia as vocalists'
Their
details were George Newman (40) vocalist, birthplace Chatham, and
Margaret Newman (30) vocalist, birthplace Liverpool. George
Newman (George John Cooper) died on the 2nd of November 1871 at 92
Lancaster Street, Newington, Surrey. Margaret announced in the 'Era' on
Sunday 19th of November 1871 that 'she does not intend appearing in
public until Christmas when she will appear at the South London Palace
and Collins's Music Hall.' The Era reported : 'Death and Funeral of Mr. George Newman. In our last we announced the sudden decease of this Music Hall artiste, whose name in connection with that of Miss Mortimer has been before the public for many years. His death, which took place on Friday the 23rd last, at his residence, 92 Lancaster Street, Southwark, was caused by inflammation of the bowels. The deceased vocalist was buried on the 4th inst. at Brompton Cemetery, his remains being followed to the grave by his widow and children (four in number), by his two brothers-in-law, officers in the Royal Navy, and by Nat Ogden, comic vocalist. Mr Newman, at the time of his death, was only forty-eight years of age.'
For
the next two years Margaret appeared with her daughter Fanny. On the
29th of March 1874 a notice inserted by some friends appeared in the
'Era' stating that 'Miss Mortimer is confined to her bed and requires
assistance' She died at Newington in December 1874. Her notice in the 'Era' read : 'Miss Mortimer, well known some years since in the Music Hall Profession (Newman and Mortimer), died on Thursday last. We understand that the child actress and vocalist, Miss Fanny Mortimer, has been engaged by Mr J.A Cave for the forthcoming Pantomime at the Marylebone Theatre. Fanny joined her sister Florrie as part of Robina Anderson's Robina Quartette in 1875 and from that time was usually known as Fanny Robina.
* * Much of this information has been supplied by Shaun Jones who, like Margaret Cooper, is descended from Samuel Jones and Sarah Pate.
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Their oldest child - Margaret (Annie) Cooper
Margaret Annie Cooper (1856-1900) was born at Dunolly in the gold-fields of Australia in 1856. The town began during the Victorian Gold Rush, and has produced more nuggets than any other goldfield in Australia. It was first known as Goldborough and the Post Office opened under that name on 1 March 1856 but it was later renamed Dunolly in 1859. The
legendary "Welcome Stranger", one of the largest natural gold
nuggets ever, was discovered in nearby Moliagul. Always known as Annie, she travelled with her concert hall performing parents 'Mr and Mrs Newman' around Melbourne and the gold-fields until their departure for Liverpool, UK on the clipper Marco Polo in early 1861. The only record we have of her ever performing on stage is at Manchester in January 1870 in what was advertised as her first appearance. On the same bill as her parents George Newman and Miss Mortimer, she was advertised as Miss Annie Newman, serio-comic, Vocalist and Dancer. She probably did not show the same inclination or aptitude as her little sister Fanny (the Infant Wonder) and possibly for that reason we hear no more of her as a performer. Significantly she is recorded on the 1871 Lambeth census as a 'scholar' and may have been the only family member receiving normal schooling.
By 1876 both her parents had died and her 15 year old brother, George Cooper (William Newman), had moved to New York. Her sisters Fanny and Florrie were on tour in Europe and the UK with the Robina Quartette.
On November 1st 1876, the 20 year old was on the Rock of Gibraltar getting married to a 24 year old soldier in the Royal Artillery. He was Nottinghamshire born Henry Warrener and had been in the Army from the age of 16. Henry had arrived at Gibraltar in October 1874 and probably met Annie earlier or when on leave in London.
The couple remained in Gibraltar till 1880 and their first child Henry George Warrener was born there in 1877. They were posted to Bermuda from 1880 to 1883 and that's where Robert William arrived in 1881. Their next three children were born in Sunderland, Clifford Charles 1885, Ellen Robina 1887, and Frances Florence 1889. Their final posting was to Stoke Damerel in Devon. Daisy Beatrice was born there in 1891 but only lived until 1893. Henry left the Army in 1894 having served over 23 years and the family moved to New Cross in the London area. Annie Warrener was only 44 years old when she died of consumption at Brixton in November 1900.
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Fanny and Florrie Robina's brother - William George Newman (George William Cooper) 1861- 1924
William was born on board the Liverpool bound clipper Marco Polo as it was rounding Cape Horn in March 1861 shortly after the ship had collided with an iceberg. He spent the first weeks of his life in Chile while the ship was being repaired. Tragically,
he was only ten, and staying at his grand-parents' Chatham home, when his father, comic artiste George Newman (George
John Cooper), died in 1871, and thirteen when his 37 year old mother,
vocalist and dancer, Miss Mortimer (Margaret Cooper) passed away at
Newington, London in December 1874.
One of his earliest known appearances was as a twelve year old at the London Music Hall, Birmingham on the 7th of September 1873 when he 'blacked up' and joined Derbyshire born Mr & Mrs John Whittingham in a Negro artiste trio. "Mr and Mrs Whittingham, the Negro artistes, who are without exception two of the most talented persons who ever performed at this Hall in their line, the former in addition to being a very clever Negro, plays some sweet solos on a very small violin, and the latter has a very sweet voice indeed. Spennymore Times June 20th 1873. 'The Manager of the Museum congratulates J.W on the accession to their party of the clever little Newman. He has a beautiful voice, and his Burleque efforts are a great acquisition to their popular Negro Entertainments.'
The Liverpool Mercury in April 1874 reported ' An "Infant Wonder" in the person of a boy (Master Newman) justifies by his performance the title given him. On January 5th 1875 the Oldham Express was reporting : "For the present week Mr Jefferye has added to his company Mr and Mrs Whittingham and Master Newman, from the London Music Halls. Combining many qualifications, natural and acquired, these artistes are new in every scene. As American comedians there are few who can approach them; Master Newman taking his part with all the facility of a more matured performer. Perhaps the prettiest part of the performance last evening was the beautiful rendering by Mrs Whittingham of the song 'Close the shutters, Willie's dead.' Never was there sweeter singing at this Hall." (the references to 'Negro' and 'American' refer to a style of burnt-cork performing - TB)
The trio toured the UK as a 'Negro' act until the latter half of 1875. Around that time they moved to New York to take up an engagement with Tony Pastor's Company. The Whittingham's leaving their two children Emma aged four, and John Thomas only one, behind with their Mills grandparents in County Durham. Tony Pastor (1837 – 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. Although referred to as the father of vaudeville, Pastor preferred the term variety to describe the entertainment his theatres offered, and his aim was to present shows that would appeal to a family audience. A typical variety show might include comedy sketches, singers, clowns, dancers, and even boxers. When
the burnt cork -smeared face was coming into vogue, Tony Pastor
immediately became a part of that aspect of show business, which served
him well for many years. He sought out acts from Europe that he thought would appeal to his New York audiences and would often pay their fares to the United States when engaging them. The strongest elements of his entertainments were an almost jingoistic brand of United States patriotism and a strong commitment to attracting a mixed-gender audience, the latter being something revolutionary in the male-oriented variety halls of the mid-century.
Yorkshire born Mary (Marie) Whittingham (1854-1925) and William (Master Newman) continued to perform with Tony Pastor's company.
I assume that Willie Newman was not a very well-built lad at thirteen being variously advertised as a boy tenor, infant prodigy, and only seven years old. As an eighteen year old he was still performing with Tony Pastor’s Company. He appeared in a burlesque version of HMS Pinafore in early 1879 and his stature probably helped when later that year he joined the young cast of Haverly's Juvenile HMS Pinafore, apparently, according to later reminiscences, playing the part of the Admiral.
By
1881 his life had taken a different turn. He was then recorded as That job may not have materialised because William was still in New York in October 1882 when he advertised using the columns of the 'Era' in an attempt to contact his sisters. "Fanny and Florence Mortimer with Robina Quartette. By writing to the address below you can communicate with your brother George Mortimer Newman. Box Office, Niblo's Garden Theatre, New York City. If any friendly Professional, knowing them, will call their attention to this, will greatly oblige their brother."
William became a naturalized American in October 1884, and married British born Ada Ruth Jones (born 1863) in 1887. He appears to have remained in theatre management for the rest of his career, becoming treasurer of the New York Academy of Music during 1888-1900 and manager of the Garrick in the early years of the 20th century. For some years he was manager of the Empire Theatre, New York.
His
leisure time seems mainly to have involved his love of yachting.
In
1887, W. Newman of Bayside and a group of about twenty kindred spirits,
including pioneers like J.P. Morgan, J.G. Bennett, and Thomas Lipton,
organized the Douglaston Yacht Club. During the following year these men
met at the Hotel Brunswick in New York, with some more enthusiasts
added, and raised enough money to buy an old scow, and put a house on it
with a piano and a bar. The dues were modest: $5.00 a year. The scow was
berthed along the shore of Little Neck Bay, where members held races,
ran aground frequently and, as Commodore Newman put it, "with
renewed recklessness and daring crossed the start and finish lines in
mud and water (according to the state of the tide)." The Manhasset Bay Yacht Club was the outgrowth of this club on Little Neck Bay, for before long some of its most earnest sailors decided to break away and seek better sailing conditions elsewhere. They found them on Manhasset Bay to the eastward, and leased land at Port Washington on the eastern shore of the Bay somewhat to the south of their present site. From an old Scow with a house on it to the present luxurious headquarters of the M.B.Y.C. is a long way. But that is the way with some of the leading Sound yacht clubs. The Manhasset Bay Yacht Club was organized under that name in 1891 and incorporated in 1892. William Newman, who had headed up the Douglaston Yacht Club, became the first Commodore of the new organization. The New York Times reporting the Douglaston Annual Regatta in June 1899 stated that 'many theatrical men were owners of the competing yachts'. The New York 1920 census for Woodside, Queens, New York shows the couple with no children. Her English parents George and Martha Jones, and her brother, electrician Charles Jones (born UK in 1874) were living with them.
William George Newman died at Chicago in March 1924 and brought back to New York to be buried at Weedside.
My thanks to family historian Shaun Jones for carrying out most of this research.
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These two posters were supplied by Vincent Reed. The undated one on the left from a British music hall shows 'Master Newman the Wonderful Musical Prodigy, only 7 years old, composer and vocalist. He was not really seven, as that would have meant that Mrs Whittingham (1854-1925), would have been only 14! That on the right is from Tony Pastor's on Broadway from some time after John Whittingham's death in 1875. |
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Robina Anderson (1846-1900) started her career in the ballet at the Amphitheatre (later named the Royal Court Theatre) in Liverpool. She was described as a coryphée: a ballet dancer who dances in a small group rather than the corps de ballet or as a soloist. Among
the group she danced with was the ill-fated Rose Massey (1851-1883) who
followed Harry Montague to America. Robina
also travelled with dancer Madame Cerite, the wife of Charles Buckingham
and mother of Patty Rose the celebrated American actress. After
leaving Madame Cerito she accepted an engagement at Pilney Weston's in
Bolton during the 1860s to train children for a production of The
Gathering of the Clans and it was there that she first came to know
Jenny Rochester (later Nellie Metcalfe) and her sister Topsy Robina
(Sarah Jane Burns). Topsy
was one of her first pupils and others to follow were Gaiety actress
Lilian Cavalier, Lilian Hope, Florrie West's sister Lily, Carrie Roberts
of Roberts & Golding, Ada McGregor, and in later years Nellie
Farrell the daughter of Irish comic Pat Carney and the deceased 'Star of
Erin', Nellie Farrell. Florrie Robina was only five when her parents left her with Miss Anderson in 1870 while they went on tour with her older sister Fanny, 'the Infant Wonder'. Previously 'The Era ' of the 24th of November 1867 had announced: 'Mr George Newman and Miss Mortimer the Great Australian Duettists, in conjunction with Little Fanny, the Infant Wonder, aged Four Years, are about to make their Third Tour of the United Kingdom. In Robina Anderson's obituary, probably written from Florrie's recollections, it was recalled that it was her who taught Florrie the 'ABC of her art' 'but not Fanny as she had been singing ballads with her mother'. The sisters were tragically orphaned in December 1874 when their mother Margaret died. George Newman had passed away in December 1871. It seems that Robina Anderson was now nine year old Florrie's guardian and after a short period Fanny joined them. Around that time Miss Anderson gathered her pupils, including Topsy Rochester and the two Newman sisters, and formed the Robina Quartette. 'The entertainment given by these clever children was of a most refined character, and consisted of operatic selections and dances.' Robina Anderson's last pupil was Nellie Farrell's daughter. A year before her death she went to live with Florrie Robina's family (Mr & Mrs Theo Reed). After six months she was taken ill with a hemorrhage of the lungs and died on the 6th of January 1900 at the age of 54. Present at the graveside was Florrie Robina, Florrie's husband Theo Reed (Pinaud), Mrs Annie Warrener (Florrie's sister), and two of Florrie's children. Among those sending wreaths were Fanny Robina, Topsy Robina, Mr & Mrs Peter Conroy (the Musical Director of the Canterbury - his wife Lily West was another of Robina's pupils) and the Water Rats. The funeral was arranged by Theophilus Dunkley the Lambeth undertaker who was well-known in the music hall community.
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Fanny Robina (1862-1927)
(The clipping on the right is from The Era of December 16th 1893)
After
returning from Australia in August 1861 George Newman and Margaret
Mortimer (George John Cooper and Margaret Jones) were touring the
circuits in the UK, and as early as December 1861 were billed at
Wilton's New Music Hall in Whitechapel, London as 'the celebrated Comic
Duet Vocalists, Mr Newman and Miss Mortimer, from Australia. Their first child born in the UK was Fanny Cooper. Her birth-place on the 22nd of December 1862 was Chatham in Kent, the town where her father was born. The address was given as Ordnance Row and the occupant ship's rigger William Taylor who was married to George's mother Ann Cooper. What we do know is that before she was three years old Fanny was performing with her parents. In the Era for the 24th of November 1867 they announced : 'Mr George Newman and Miss Mortimer the Great Australian Duettists, in conjunction with Little Fanny, the infant wonder,, aged Four Years, are about to make their third tour of the United Kingdom. Proprietors wishing to engage will please address A Maynard. In 1868 Pullan's Music Hall opened at Bradford, 'One of the Largest and Handsomest Halls in the Kingdom'. It was a large wooden building 120ft long and 72 ft wide and reputed to hold 3000. It advertised on the 5th of November 1869 : 'Engagement for six nights only of Mr George Newman and Miss Mortimer, the Australian Duettists, in their Grand Burlesque of "After Dark," in conjunction with Miss Fanny Newman - introducing a Real Train. (Fanny later recalled that part of this sketch involved her being laid in front of the train.) The Birmingham Concert Hall on the 14th of November 1870 advertised them as 'Mr G. Newman, Miss Fanny Mortimer and Miss Jenny Newman, who have won renown in Australia as vocalists'
The 1871 Liverpool census recorded the couple lodging at the Pontack Inn at Christian Street with their two youngest children, Fanny (1862) and Florence (1865). They had given their surname as Newman. George
Newman (George John Cooper) died on the 2nd of November 1871 at 92
Lancaster Street, Newington, Surrey. His wife Margaret announced in the
'Era' on Sunday 19th of November 1871 that 'she does not intend
appearing in public until Christmas when she will appear at the South
London Palace and Collins's Music Hall. For
the next two years Margaret appeared with her daughter Fanny. On the
29th of March 1874 a notice inserted by some friends appeared in the
'Era' stating that 'Miss Mortimer is confined to her bed and requires
assistance' Robina Anderson was one of those artistes who helped collect donations for her impoverished family.
With a distinct danger of no regular income eleven year old Fanny Mortimer now began appearing as a solo artiste. Margaret Cooper died at Newington, London in December 1874. Her notice in the 'Era' read : 'Miss Mortimer, well known some years since in the Music Hall Profession (Newman and Mortimer), died on Thursday last. We understand that the child actress and vocalist, Miss Fanny Mortimer, has been engaged by Mr J.A Cave for the forthcoming Pantomime at the Marylebone Theatre.
As announced, Little Fanny Mortimer (the Australian Nightingale) appeared at Christmas 1874 in Mr J A Cave's seventeenth pantomime 'Little Boy Blue Come Blow Your Horn' at London's Marylebone Theatre. Fanny then joined her sister Florrie as part of Miss Anderson's Robina Quartette in 1875 and it was from that time she was usually known as Fanny Robina and her sister, Florrie Robina. On the 14th of April 1875 the Robina Quartette appeared at the Dundee Music Hall where it was reported that 'the characteristic and vocal entertainment by Miss Topsey, Emma, Esmeralda (Florrie) and Fanny continue to be well received.' The Robinas toured Britain and Europe successfully for around eight years.
Their break-up probably started in 1883, some months before Topsy Robina (Sarah Jane Byrnes bn 1862), the younger sister of Jenny Rochester, was married that July at Anfield to William Richard Minton, a scenic artist from the Rotunda Theatre, Liverpool. A good and entertaining dancer, she does not seem to have been as talented vocally as others in the Quartette and in a notice by a critic when she appeared as 'Dick Whittington' at the Theatre Royal, Preston during Christmas 1883 he related, 'Miss Robina to whom many of the vocal tit-bits fall, though not in possession of a very strong or tunable voice, does not fail to find favour with the audience.' Topsy changed her stage name to Ivy Mirnton in 1885 but included 'previously known as Topsy Robina' in her adverts. In Autumn 1884 she and her husband were in Buenos Aires with the English Latham Company and during March 1887 was in her fifth week on tour with Monkhouse's Lark Company. Between August 1887 and 1889 she was directing the Jullein (Julian) Quartette and mainly appearing in Europe. Her older sister Jenny Rochester (born Liverpool 1850) – “Ellen Byrnes” or “Nellie” who appeared as a successful serio comic, vocalist and dancer between 1867 and 1885, was the wife of Thomas Philip Augustus Metcalfe who was born in Bolton c1841. They were married at Hartlepool in 1869. She died on March 5th 1900 in Liverpool and was buried at Anfield cemetery. Songs
of Fanny Robina
All the Boys In Our Choir King Of The Boys My Little Baby Boy My Sweet Italian Maiden Visions of Long Ago Two Little Hearts Made One Over there in Canada or The Land Of Promise No Relations
In Christmas 1884 Fanny and Florrie were performing at Manchester. They appeared in the 'Grand Christmas Comic Pantomime "Ali Baba and Forty Other Thieves." It was written by Harry Nichols, and the music was composed and arranged by Frederick Stanislaus. Christmas 1885 saw Fanny appearing as Dandini in Cinderella at the Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. The Northern Daily Express wrote on December 26th : 'We have no hesitation in pronouncing Miss Fanny Robina the best 'principal boy' who has been engaged in Newcastle pantomime, after a tolerably lengthy experience, which carries us back to the triumphs of artistes who have since made themselves reputation and profit in other walks of the drama. Miss Robina is a most versatile young lady, and, whether it be singing, acting or dancing that makes the demand on her powers, she is always equal to the emergency. Her success on Christmas Eve was instantaneous, and the good impression she created at the outset she improved upon as the pantomime proceeded. She is destined to take a firm position in the appreciation of the Newcastle public; and excellently as she acquitted herself on the first night, we doubt not that she will further improve upon the great impression she has made.'
In March 1886 her 21 year old sister Florrie was married to Theo Reed of the Pinauds. (see my profile below on Florrie Robina)
'Married,
Sunday, March 7 [1886], by the Rev. W. Bevis, at the church of St.
Thomas, After
the ceremony, the party returned to the house of the bride and
bridegroom, where they made merry; Mr. F. Stanislaus, musical director
of the Empire Theatre, played "The Wedding March" and other
selections. Mrs. Reed will retire from the stage for the present.' (The Entr'acte, London, Saturday, 13 March 1886)
At the ceremony Fanny was now calling herself Mrs Stanislaus, even though Stanny's second wife, Eleanor Gardner, was apparently still alive. Fanny was already 4 months pregnant and gave birth to their daughter Florrie Cooper (Florence Smith Cooper) at Hammersmith on the 1st of July 1886. During
1886 - 1888 Stannie and Fanny were on a hectic and successful tour in
Australia. Its not known whether baby Florrie Cooper accompanied them.
On
the 27th December 1886 the Christmas attraction at the Melbourne Opera
House was 'Little
Jack Sheppard',
by Henry Pottinger Stephens and William Yardley, a hit at the Gaiety,
London, during 1885-6. ( Jack Sheppard was an infamous thief and
highwayman who was hanged in 1724). The cast included Fanny Robina and
Robert Brough. The Melbourne Age reported "There is much lively dialogue in the piece, and some capital situations. The scenery is elaborate and very beautiful, and the musical numbers, as well as the dancing, which are liberally scattered throughout the three acts into which the piece is divided, will be found more than ordinarily attractive." and later "The
so called London Gaiety Opera Extravaganza 'Little Jack Sheppard'
continued to draw huge crowds.
'Dick',
by Edward Jakobowski, received its first performance in Australia at Her
Majesty's Opera House, Melbourne on August the 6th 1887. It had been
first performed in Londonin
1884.
The Company were in Sydney for the Christmas 1887 pantomime season and continued to enjoy critical success remaining till the end of March 1888. Fanny and Stannie returned to England in 1888. On the 30th of October 1888 ‘Faust up to Date’ a musical burlesque with a score written by Meyer Lutz was produced at the Gaiety Theatre, London by George Edwardes, and ran until August 1889. It starred Florence St. John as Margaret, E. J. Lonnen as Mephistopheles, Fanny Robina as Faust, George Stone as Valentine, and Mabel Love as Totchen. During Christmas 1889 Fanny was the Principal boy in 'Cinderella' at Her Majesty's in London. In 1890 the couple went on tour in the UK with 'Little Jack Sheppard' which had been a big hit in Australia. This time the company unfortunately made a financial loss. Forty
seven year old Frederick Stanislaus died from congestion of the lungs at
Coventry Hospital in November 1891.
Fanny, now 29, was married at Lambeth in 1892. He was Scottish born performer James Hart Glen (1856-95), known as Jimmy Pierce and previously part of a black-face double-act, Pierce & Monaghan. His wife had died in 1888 and his stage partner George Monaghan in 1889. In May 1892 she announced in The Era that her new song No Relations had been a great success. In January 1893 Jimmy Pierce and Fanny with his daughter, singer and dancer Marjory Glen, travelled to South Africa to perform with Luscombe Searelle's Company. They returned to the UK in May 1894 but Jimmy had unfortunately contracted malaria and after a long illness, died at their home in Walcot Square, Kennington in January 1895. The arrangements for the Tooting burial were supervised by Theophilus Dunkley, the Lambeth funeral director, popular with the London music hall community.
Fanny continued to tour the music halls and appear in pantomime. In 1903 she married widowed comic Billy Bint (William Richard Bint 1850-1913). The couple had been together since at least 1901 when she and her daughter Florrie Cooper were recorded on the census staying with Billy at his sister's London home. The couple and her daughter often appeared as separate acts on the same bill in the early 1900s.
The Nottingham Evening Post reported on February 17th 1927. 'The funeral took place today of Mrs William Bint, formerly a well-known music-hall artist, and better known as Fanny Robina. She was 65 years of age. Miss Robina had toured all over the British Isles, and for three years was in Australia. She gained a reputation as a clever principal boy. Several times she appeared at the Gaiety Theatre in London, and was associated with such well-known players as Arthur Roberts, James Fawn, Herbert Campbell, Harry Nichols, Harry Jackson, Edward Lawrie, and Fanny Leslie. She was at the Nottingham Empire on many occasions, and made her last appearance on June 26th 1911. The husband of the deceased lady was a well-known stage comedian. A host of beautiful wreaths and floral tributes were sent.'
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And Fanny at 45....
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Frederick Stanislaus (Stanislaus Smith) (1844-1891)
Fanny's partner, Frederick Stanislaus (Stanislaus Smith) (1844-1891), was the son of Kidderminster carpet weaver Henry Smith. Henry or his wife Hannah, who were married around 1839, may have have been influenced by the classics, Stanislaus's siblings being baptised as Horatio, Geneveive, Francisco, Helena, Vincent Salvator, and Colleen Lucreitia. The Smiths were a musical family. At a recent Bonham's sale, a violin, that had belonged to carpet designer Horatio Smith, who lived at Ivy Cottage, Franche Road, Kidderminster, sold for £1,560. Horatio's eldest son Henry H Smith (1864) was a piano tuner, and a daughter, Edith Smith (1868), a music teacher. Stanislaus had revealed an early talent for music. Some of his earliest performances before 1856 were with a touring band of young musicians led by German born, Dr. Bertram Mark. When twelve years old he was already an accomplished performer. The people of Kidderminster have had quite a treat here with Dr. Mark and his little men. His band played very neatly, and a little fellow named Stanislaus Smith, who is a native of the town, was quite an attraction. He was dressed as a sailor and played on the violin. He sang, "Cheer, boys, cheer", "There's a good time coming," and "Let us all be happy, boys," with very appropriate action, the band joining in the choruses; and as he hitched up his trousers and rolled in his gait, in true Jack Tar style, and took the lead in the laughing chorus, he was warmly applauded by crowds of the townspeople who knew him. He has a brother still younger, and almost as clever. His mother and grandfather are all musicians. Worcester Chronicle 23rd of April 1856.
A year later the same newspaper reported - A concert was given in the Music hall on the evening of the 22nd inst., under the management of Dr. Marshall, for the benefit of the funds for the "people's concerts." There were 70 performers, instrumental and vocal. The orchestra was led by Master Stanislaus Smith, who performed one of De Beriot's solos, the 7th air, in a style which elicited rounds of applause.
In May 1860 he was a pianist touring with Irish comedian, J.H Ogden. The Burnley Advertiser reported, " Master Stanislaus Smith presided at the pianoforte, he is a musician of great promise, he plays with a purity of taste and refinement which is really refreshing." He was again part of Ogden's troupe when it toured the Midlands in 1862. There was an appearance at the Royal Music Hall, Leamington Spa in November 1868 where he was listed as the conductor for the Royal English Comic Opera when Louisa Pyne, the well-known soprano and opera company manager, gave her farewell performance.
He married Colleen Troughbridge (1845-1871), who was from Stonehouse in Devon, at Liverpool in 1864 and the couple had four surviving children, Harry Crowley (1865), Louis (1868), Violetta (1870) and Norman Cummings Smith (1871). He was later to have one child with partner Fanny Robina. She was Florrie Cooper, who was born in 1886. Tragically
his wife Colleen died when she was only 26 in 1871. He remarried during 1873 in the Southwark area. She was Eleanor Gardner who, at present, we know little about. On the Leeds 1881 census, when his home was at 8 Brunswick Terrace, Stanislaus gave his status as 'married' but there is no record of wife Eleanor. In 1875 Stanislaus was a musical director and conducted Opera-bouffe at New York's Wallack's Theatre. Later that year he succeeded Alfred Cellier as Musical Director of the Prince’s Theatre in Manchester. In 1876 he conducted a revival of Alfred Cellier's The Sultan of Mocha at Manchester. He was also musical director for a number of London productions, including the 1881 revival of W. S. Gilbert & Frederic Clay's Princess Toto at the Opera Comique. Stanislaus’s one show as a composer that was "all his own work" was The Lancashire Witches, played in Manchester and Liverpool in 1879, and praised by his contemporaries for its "charming" music. The published songs included a popular duet, Two Mariners Bold. He wielded the baton at the Olympic, the Opera Comique, the Criterion and many other theatres and touring venues up and down the country.
Stanislaus’s music for the stage mostly took the form of contributions
to musicals where others were also involved, such as Looks (1886)
described as a "musical farcical burlesque in three acts", his
co-collaborators being John Crook, W Meyer Lutz, Alfred Lee (composer of
The Lying Dutchmen, 1877, the burlesque Black-Eyed Susan
[Alhambra 1884] and various other contributions) and Oscar Barrett, or The
Palace of Pearl, produced at the Empire, also in 1886 (Edward
Jakobowski wrote much of its music), and a single song for
Planquette’s Tom Jones (1889).
His last UK tour was in 1890 with the Gaiety Burlesque 'Little Jack Sheppard' with his girlfriend Fanny Robina playing the part of Jack. He was then in partnership with comedian J.J Dallas. At Dallas's bankruptcy hearing in 1893 it was revealed that he and Stanny had financed the tour with each contributing £300. It turned out to be a financial failure and the partnership was dissolved in December 1890 with Stanislaus receiving only 50 or 60 pounds from his share of the theatrical properties.
His last engagement was in London with the operatic comedy Miss Decima. The work opened at the Criterion on July 23, 1891, and was still running when he died at Coventry & Warwickshire Hospital, that November, from congestion of the lungs. He was buried among distinguished Victorian notables at Brompton Cemetery on the Fulham Road.
His youngest son, photographer Norman Cummings Smith, who was born at Kennington in 1871, also adopted the Stanislaus surname.
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Florrie Robina
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A Chat with Florrie Robina 'The Era' February 22nd 1894
When you ask Miss Florrie Robina how many years she has followed her profession she amazes you with her frank reply. The term of her career on the variety stage and the term of her career on this earth are so nearly the same that the statement is equivalent to a confession of her age, and so it shall remain a secret. Miss Robina's parents, it is well known, were famous performers in their day. Her mother, Miss Mortimer, was one of the earliest exponents of high-class ballad music on the variety stage ; but Miss Florrie Robins remembers nothing of those days, and is chiefly reliant for the records of her family on an uncle, who, nearing eighty, is one of the veterans of the variety stage.
"I
always believed that some of your family were in show business.
Your From Shaun's sister in law.
Miss Florrie Rohina was, at the early age of five, committed to the care of a Miss Anderson, who used to travel with a troupe of girls, among them, Miss Lilian Cavalier who subsequently obtained a position at Toole's Theatre. Miss Florrie Robina had a wonderful voice and when she was permitted to appear on the stage, in conjunction with Miss Anderson's troupe, created quite a sensation. Her debut took place at Hobson's, Leeds, and was speedily followed by an appearance at Days', Birmingham. Miss Florrie used to sing the pathetic ballads popular at the time, but she identified herself particularly with "Teddy O'Neil" and " Esmeralda." In the latter song she became quite a star, but she was so young that she could hardly understand her reputation. She remembers very well Mr Charles Hunt, well known in music hall circles of the day, saying to her-" Now, young lady, you must sing out to-night, for there is a little girl in town who can sing 'Emeralda ' better than you;" and he took her to gaze upon a poster that bore the legend, ' Little Esmeralda, the child with the woman's voice' - actually her own announcement. Miss Anderson's troupe used to accept engagements to sing and dance between the Cardiff and Swansea theatres, and the manager, Mr Andrew Melville regarding Miss Florrie Robina as a promising child, pressed her into service for Willie Carlyle, in a performance of East Lynne, the Lady Isabel being Miss Robertha Erskine. Miss Robina has a vivid recollection of the gas failing in Swansea one dark night. The artists were very frightened, and so the manager equipped them with lanterns to light them on their homeward way, and, further, buckled about Miss Erskine a huge property sword with which to defend herself and little Willie against any marauder. Some of Miss Florrie Robina's early triumphs were achieved at the Middlesex. She was taught dancing, notably the clog dance, but friends intervened and assured Miss Robina's mistress that if her young charge were encouraged to dance in clogs at two or three halls nightly she would soon he robbed of her voice, so the clog-dancing was not persisted in. The death of Miss Mortimer set at liberty Miss Fanny Robina, who had been her mother's companion, and she joined the Ander son forces, which eventually became the Sisters Robina -Miss Fannie Robina, -Miss Florrie Robina, and one or two coadjutors, who assumed the name for the nonce. The Robinas were engaged in the pantomime of Robinson Crusoe at Drury-lane, season 1882-3, when Miss Fannie Leslie was the bright particular star, and were re-engaged for the next season, when Miss Nellie Power was the principal boy. Small parts were allotted to the girls, but Sir Augustus, then plain Mr Harris, thought well of them, and was disposed to advance them, offering a re-engagement for a term of years. But there came a yet more gratify ing overture. Mr John Hollingshead, always extremely appreciative of the music halls as a hunting ground for talent, attached Miss Fannie and Miss Florrie to the Gaiety company. They remained therewith for a year and a half, spending part of the time at Manchester, whither the operations of Mr Hollingshead had extended. But Miss Florrie Robina was desperately discontented with the parts allotted to her. She had a great ambition to shine as a burlesque actress and could not contain herself in a part that was little removed from that of an extra, understudying people who never would fall ill; but, to be sure, drawing a good salary for her pains. Accordingly, she appealed to the manager to set her free, and her petition was granted. That was nearly ten years ago, the old Gaiety company being on the eve of disruption. In the meantime it is a curious fact that Miss Florrie Robina has never appeared in burlesque or pantomime. She has had offers galore, but one thing or another has intervened to prevent her from accepting one. Miss Robilia has had frequent overtures from Australia, and was recently at the point of completing arrangements with 'Messrs Williamson and Musgrove, but at the last moment they fell through. During Miss Robina's earlier days upon the variety stage she was very popular in her Tyrolean exercises. Indeed the particular Tyrolean which she acquired from a German source became so universal a favourite that managers began to prohibit its performance. It was, they said, everybody's property and anybody's property. About this time it occurred to Miss Robina to get married, and this tended to withdraw her from the stage a good deal. En revanche she travelled with her husband from end to end of Europe. But during the last seven years Miss Robins has been more or less constant in her devotion to art. She has no belief in allowing the public to forget you. One of her earliest successes was with a song entitled "Marguerite," written by Mr Feix M'Glen non. He strictly enjoined Miss Robina to make up like Miss Ellen Terry in Faust, and to get appropriate scenic surroundings. The latter injunction had to be disobeyed ; but Miss Robina visited the Lvceum and reproduced Miss Terry's costume as nearly as might be. The result was that when she appeared on the stage there was a hush, and a whisper, " Marguerite! " that instantly settled the fame of the song. The idea of condensing a drama in this way was repeated in " The English Rose," which was written for Miss Robina at the time of the popularity of the play at the Adelphi. The title of this song was carefully registered and events proved the wisdom of this course, for there were soon four or five "English Roses," Miss Robins being, however, able to maintain her right to exclusive property in the title. Her most recent success has been achieved in "Three Maiden Aunts," which has only just entered upon the stage of assured popularity. You have to sing a song for several months, Miss Robina tells you, before the gallery boys have learned the chorus. This was notably the case with "The English Rose," which bad passed almost unnoticed at the Canterbury during several engagements, when suddenly the audience appeared to have acquired the taste, and peremptorily commanded " The English Rose." Miss Robina frankly declares that she prefers London to provincial work. In the provinces, she says, if you do not happen to be a star, it were better you had never been born, so great will be your discomfort. But the young artist has her crow to pluck with London, too. And she has found, it soon appears, the weakest place in the organisation of the halls. Says she, a promising youngster joins the company of a good theatre, and what happens? She is promptly handed over to a stage-manager who corrects her faults, develops her good points, and is, in fact, a rigorous and exacting tutor. How different is the case in the halls. A girl picks up a step or two of a dance, a few notes of music, a gown - and she is a thoroughly-equipped artist. She strums over her songs at a hasty band rehearsal, and that is very often all time preparation she devotes to her appearance in public. Miss Robina maintains that there ought to be more careful manipulation of the material of the variety stage. When she looks back upon her own career she is filled with discontent. She is confident that she had in her the making of a far better artist than she is at this moment- but she claims for her brother and sister artists on the variety stage that, being in a great measure self taught, all credit is due to them for achieving such satisfactory results as they do. Their glory is, at any rate, all their own. Miss Robina confides in you that she has a passion for the theatre. When, as recently was the case, she gets a week off, she instantly becomes, not a deadhead, but a bona-fide, appreciative, and critical pittite.
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The Chatham & Australian Coopers
