Marie Lloyd (1870-1922)

Marie Lloyd (1870-1922)

Marie was born in Hoxton, London, on February 12th, 1870. Her real name was Matilda Alice Victoria Wood and she was the daughter of John Wood, a flower-maker and part-time waiter, and his wife, Matilda Mary Caroline Wood (nee Archer). She was the eldest of eleven children, seven girls and four boys, born to the Woods, many of whom would follow Marie's lead onto the stage (the most successful after herself being her sisters Alice and Grace who also adopted the stage name Lloyd in her honour).

The young Matilda developed an early interest in music and at the age of ten she organised a singing group from her sisters and friends called the Fairy Bells Minstrels for the Nile Street Mission of the Band of Hope. They sang a song entitled 'Throw Down the Bottle and Never Drink Again' to carry the message of temperence - rather ironic in view of her later career.

Matilda senior was an accomplished dressmaker and as soon as she was old enough the younger Matilda began helping her mother in her work. As she neared adulthood, she tried working at one or two jobs that were not to her taste before declaring her intention to pursue a career on the stage. She made her first appearance on the stage at the Royal Eagle Music Hall under the name of Bella Delamere on 9th May, 1985. Shortly thereafter, she settled upon the stage name of Marie Lloyd and first appeared under that name at the same music hall on 22nd June, 1885. Although she was no great beauty and her singing voice was less than exceptional, she had a great natural charm and a mimic talent to illustrate her comic songs that made her instantly popular.

More work came her way and before long she was playing in music halls across London, sometimes appearing at two or three in one night and racing between them by cab. From the small music halls in the outer districts she progressed to the West End and scored her first major success at the Middlesex Music Hall on Drury Lane (which stood on the site now occupied by The New London Theatre) singing "The Boy that I Love sits up in the Gallery". She was then engaged at the Oxford Music Hall (on Oxford Street) for twelve months commencing in 1885.

Still only seventeen, and earning good money for a girl of her tender years, she met and married Percy Courtenay - a man of indifferent means. The couple set up home in Lewisham where they lived in good style, mostly, it would appear, on Marie's money since her husband had no regular employment. They had a daughter together, but the marriage was not a success and within a few years, due to her husband's violence and excessive drinking, the couple were living apart. Courtenay was not willing to lose his meal ticket however, and made trouble for Marie at the stage doors of the halls where she was working until Marie successfully applied to the courts, citing fear for her life, to force him to stay away.

On stage her career went from strength and, as her fame and popularity grew her act became increasingly risque. The lyrics of her songs were loaded with innuendo, and although the words in themselves were innocent enough it was Marie's intonation and saucy winks to the audience that conveyed an altogether different meaning - not to mention her high kicks revealing amber silk knickers that set male pulses racing. Mention was frequently made in the press of the ribaldness of some of her songs which earned her the ire of Laura Ormiston Chant and her brigade of puritanical campaigners (dubbed by the press the "prudes on the prowl") who were seeking to shut down the music halls and seized upon Marie as an example of their immoral nature. As a result, in 1896, Marie was called to account before the Vigilance Committee to decide whether her songs were a danger to public morals. She sang some of her most popular songs without any of her usual accompanying looks and gestures and the committee was forced to admit that they were perfectly innocent. That would have been the end of it, had not the defiant Marie then outraged the committee by singing "Come into the garden, Maud," a popular and total innocuous song of the times in such a way as to render it totally obscene. Still, the committee took no action against her.

Late that same year Marie embarked on a successful tour of South Africa and the following year made her first visit to America where she had contracted to appear at Koster and Bials Music Hall on Broadway. America at that time was much more prudish than England and Marie's reputation had preceeded her to the extent that she was forced to defend herself to the press before she had even sung a note. Still, it was a lucrative trip for her, appearing on a bill that also included Anna Held for the then considerable sum of $550 a week (about £110 a week).

Returning to England, she met Alexander (Alec) Hurley, a former docker and tea store clerk who had taken to the stage singing coster songs (about life as a street peddlar). In 1901 they embarked on a highly successful tour of Australia together and by the time of their return were living as man and wife, although they were unable to actually marry until 1906 after Marie finally gained a divorce from Courtenay.

By now Marie had reached the height of her fame but she never forgot her roots. She was well known for her acts of generosity, including such acts as buying a pair of shoes for every one of the pupils at the East London school where she herself had been educated, funding beds for the destitute, and even on occasions buying out the entire stock of East End shops to distribute to the needy. No wonder 'our Marie' was so greatly loved by the common people of London's East End. In 1907, when the lesser music hall performers went on strike over contract changes that would have forced them to give extra performances for no extra pay, Marie, who could command her own terms and subsequently was unaffected by the changes herself, nevertheless took a leading role in the action as well as contributing generously to the strike fund.

But, whilst Marie was one of the most popular entertainers in England, it was her sister Alice who made the greater success in America. Prettier than Marie, her demure and coquettish manner appealed more to American audiences than Marie's bold and brash style. In 1907, Alice signed a five year contract with Klaw and Erlanger at the enormous salary of $2000 a week and the promise of a stake in a musical that was to be written specially for her. Consequently Marie, unaccustomed to being in anyone elses shadow, when she subsequently appeared in New York was often reported in the press as "Alice Lloyds sister".

By 1910, Marie's second marriage was failing, and she met and fell in love with a successful young Irish jockey called Bernard Dillon, twice winner of the 1000 Guineas and once of the Derby. Marie was then approaching her fortieth year and Dillon was almost half her age, but soon Marie had left Hurley and she and Dillon were living together. Again it proved to have been a poor choice, however. Within a year Dillon was deprived of his jockey's licence over a betting scandal and took to drinking heavily, which only brought out the violent side of his nature.

Then, in 1912, Marie felt she had been snubbed by her profession when she was omitted from the list of stars invited to appear at the first music hall Royal Command Performance, not even being included in the list of artists who would walk on in the finale. Defiantly, she staged her own sell-out rival show, declaring it to be "a Command Performance By Order of the British Public".

But more humiliation was to follow the next year when she and Dillon travelled to America aboard the liner Olympic for a six month tour. They were entered on the passenger list as Mr. and Mrs. Dillon, but one of Marie's (or possibly Dillon's) enemies had cabled the American immigration authorities that they were not married. Consequently, they were met at the dockside and following a hearing were refused entry as 'undesireables'. But just before they were about to sail back to England, the authorities relented and allowed them entry so that Marie could complete her contracts - provided that they lodge in seperate establishments and Marie post a bond for them both. But when the couple crossed the border into Canada as part of Marie's tour Dillon was not allowed back. By then however, news had reached Marie that Alec Hurley had died, and again the authorities relented on the condition that the couple marry immediately and post a $4000 dollar bond that they would leave the country on completion of Marie's engagements. Consequently, they were married by a catholic priest at the British Consulate in Portland on 20th February 1914.

The tour continues, but, as proof of his violent nature, Dillon was arrested for breach of the peace in New York in May of that year following a fracas with a waiter at the hotel Claridge. A month later, on the return sailing home aboard the Olympic, a violent encounter with another passenger, a frenchman, led to his being met by the police at Plymouth (although no charges were subsequently laid against him). As the years passed, Dillon became increasingly violent towards Marie herself, often causing her to miss or be late for engagements, which adversely affected her career.

During the war Marie entertained soldiers and factory workers all over the country as well as enthusiastically supporting the recruitment drive for the armed forces. In particular she sang the song "I didn't like you much before you joined the army, John, but I do like you, cockie, now you've got your khaki on". At the end of the hostilities she resumed her stage career, but having taken to drink herself as a result of her unhappy marriage she was on a downward spiral. She eventually split from Dillon as a result of his increasing violence, including an assault on her father, and a legal seperation was granted in 1920. The same year that she celebrated her fiftieth birthday with a special performance at the Beford Music Hall.

She made her last stage appearance at Edmonton on October 4th 1922. She was taken seriously ill during the course of her performance and three days later, on October 7th, aged 52, she died. Despite being one of music hall's highest paid stars at the height of her career, she died with little money to her credit and living in a house provided by her sisters. Her husbands had been spendthrifts, and that coupled with her own generosity to those less fortunate than herself had prevented her from ever amassing a fortune. But she was rich in affection and many thousands gathered for her funeral at Hampstead Cemetery as London mourned the loss of it's favourite daughter, with the newspapers being full of tributes to her. Her daughter continued the name however, appearing for many years in music halls as Marie Lloyd Jr.

Marie had been a legend in her own lifetime and was remembered with warm affection long after her passing. The songs she popularised are too numerous to list in their entirety but included such numbers as "oh! Mr Porter," "My Old Man Said Follow the Van," "A Little of What You Fancy Does You Good" and "She'd Never had Her Ticket Punched Before." Music Hall was never quite the same without her.