Child Labour in the Australian Theatre 1890-1911

I wrote this some time ago and found a copy today.

Between 1890 and the early 20th Century, the employment of children on the stage was controversial. Regulations regarding employment gradually became stricter as the idea of childhood was developed and the importance of education increased.

Famous Child Performers



Many great Australian performers began their stage careers as children. Carrie Moore began as a 13 year old in pantomime, the Beatty sisters began with Pollard's Lilliputians and William Percy also started his long comedic career with that company. Child acts were also popular in vaudeville theatres, Fanny Powers was a huge hit with Tivoli patrons as a 7 year old.

Child stars played small but important roles in plays in pantomimes, however, the rights of the child as a worker were often ignored.

This changed as the 20th Century progressed and adult advocates began to question the use of children in theatrical entertainment.

Child Labour Laws.


However, by 1890, the law had tightened in many states. In Victoria, the law prohibited any child under the age of 10 working after 7 O Clock in winter and 9 O Clock in winter. This limited the use of children in theatrical entertainment. Two prominent entrepreneurs, J C Williamson and Alfred Dampier were fined for breaking this law.

Arguments about child labour.

The fines levied against the managers led to arguments abotu the practice of employing children in theatres. Proponents argued that theatre training improved diction, provided enjoyment and also provided more discipline that many children received at home.

Opponents, including the representatives of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty for Children argued that the theatre exposed children to undesirable elements of society and exploited their precociousness for the benefit of greedy managers.

The Pollard Scandal

The laws regarding child employment continued to develop after Federation and in line with community perceptions of childhood and education. In 1910 an event occurred which focussed the spotlight back onto the theatrical community.

A scandal erupted when a troupe of children, touring under the Pollard name, were stranded in India. The newspapers exploded with accusations of child abuse, the intervention of the Indian authorities in the matter was embarrassing  and the difficulty in returning the children to their parents  and the subsequent pitiful scenes of reunion, brought the matter of child employment in the theatres to the headlines.

More on the Lilliputian Scandal

Child Labour Legislation by 1911.

By 1911 the government of NSW had legislated to disallow any child under the age of 14 being employed on the stage. The premier of Victoria agreed in principle with this idea, stating that all children of that age should be in school.

Education was seen as more important as the century progressed and subsequent legislation gradually increased the school leaving age to reflect this.

The changing view of childhood and the increasing importance of education to a new society led to the development of harsher strictures for theatrical managers, but did not finish the exploitation of children on stage and screen. However it limited the opportunities for conniving managers and complemented the changing social attitude of the time.

Fanny Powers of the Tivoli

Fanny Powers was a popular child performer at the Tivoli Theatre in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

She was born in 1890 near Leichhardt in Sydney to Maria and George Powers. Her parents must have been involved in the theatre because she was performing by the time she was 7.


Here she is as a child.

Fanny was an accomplished mimic and dancer and was well known for imitating the great stars who visited Australia. She was also very popular with Harry Rickards and his family, which included two daughters. 

In 1903 Rickards took her to England where she replaced Vesta Tilley at the Oxford Music Hall. She was too young to be paid because of child labour laws, so was given a 'present' every pay day.

Fanny was a popular favourite in Australia until 1912 when she gave up the stage to get married. An enormous benefit was performed for her farewell, and she never returned to the boards.

Above is Fanny as a young adult.

She married Mr William Foote, a South Australian businessman in 1913. He owned several racehorses and was some years older than Fanny.

The pair settled for a time in Manly NSW. During the early 1920s they lived in a beautiful sea side house with their three children, George, Arthur and Nancy.

In the mid 20s they moved to Adelaide.

William died aged 63 in 1937, and Fanny died the next year, around June 1938. There was little fanfare when she died but she was fondly remembered for decades as one of the fixtures of the Tivoli Circuit.

Stars of Efftee films

A wonderful reader kindly sent me some cigarette cards of Australian born actors. The cards are beautiful and date from the 1930s. Thanks Sarah!


They represent stars from Efftee films. Efftee film studios were apparently created in Melbourne in the early 1930s by Frank Thring. The name comes from his initials, FT.

A list of their films is here

Firstly we have  George Wallace. George was a stage comedian and film actor. His bio on the back of the card states;
Australian comedian, born Brisbane (q) aged 33 years. Comes of a theatrical family. Has toured his own revue companies. First film, 'His Royal Highness." (Efftee Films)

Cicely Coutneidge. Born Sydney NSW; age 39. Daughter of Robert Courtneidge famous actor-producer. Married Jack Hulbert. First film 'Elstree Calling'. Talking pictures, "The Ghost Train" , "Jack's the Boy", and "Happy Ever After".

Cicely, of course spent most of her life in England, she was born during one of her father's tours of Australia in 1893. She was an accomplished stage actor.

Cecil Scott. Born Bathurst NSW, 25 years old. Has appeared in Australia in musical comedy and revue. Specially selected to play the title role in Efftee Films 'The Sentimental Bloke."

Pat Hanna. Born Mercury Bay (NZ) Height 6ft 1 in. age 42. Lieut NZ Forces during the Great War. Formed 'Famous Diggers' company and toured world. Appeared at Royal command performances. First talking picture, 'Diggers' (efftee) and "Diggers in Blighty."

Ray Fisher. Aged 19. Born Melbourne. Began stage career a dancer. Specially selected by Mr F W Thring to play Doreen in Efftee' "The Sentimental Bloke."

Betty Stockfeld. Born Sydney (NSW) age 25. Was educated at Carisbrooke College Canterbury (Vic). First film "City of Song."Recreations; swimming and flying. Plays piano and ukelele. Clever linguist and has appeared in French films. Hobbies; gardening, travelling and reading.

Many stage actors turned to film during the early years of the talkies. In Sydney, the Prince Edward Theatre had a stage show as part of the film experience. The early 1930s were the era of the huge film palaces such as the Prince Edward and the State Theatre in Sydney. Unfortunately it was also the depression era and economic circumstances combined with  competition from the talkies, destroyed live theatre. In 1933 the great Her Majesty's Theatre in Sydney, which was located on the Centrepoint corner, closed down. The Criterion also closed in this period.

These cards, however, show no sign of terrible economic times and are a beautiful reminder of the elegance of the era. Thanks again to Sarah for her kindness.

Update

I've been very slack about updating here, so for my New Years resolution, I will try and update more often.

I can't update the website at present because my desktop computer has been broken for about 6 months. But hat-archive.com is still limping along.

I have been updating the flickr site regularly. I added 11 photos this morning. Most of them are postcards including some lovely early cards of Tivoli performers. I have never seen these before so was quite surprised to find them.

Fanny Powers was a long term member of the Tivoli theatre company and a good friend of Harry Rickards.

I also picked up the postcard below.

This is Guiseppe Sacco Homann, the original world famous fasting man. I picked this up because it is so strange. Guiseppe has written on the back of the card thanking Mr H Brooks for his 'gustations'. I suppose even the world famous fasting man had to eat sometimes.

And of course I had to buy the postcard below.

I overpaid, but it is Charlie Chaplin and I love Charlie. It's from his Essanay film days, around 1914-15.

I have almost 800 postcards on the flickr site  so check it out at  http://www.flickr.com/photos/hat-archive/
Stage Whispers have updated the history part of their site to include an article I wrote about child labour in the theatres. Surprisingly, very little has been written about this topic. The article focuses on a scandal with a children's troupe which was deserted in India. It is available here.

For the January 2013 issue of Stage Whispers I wrote about Mrs J C Williamson, aka Maggie Moore. The only person in history to exploit the great theatre entrepreneur. Ahh that Maggie, she was an Irish scoundrel!

The new edition of Stage Whispers will be available in newsagents soon.

Happy holidays to everybody.

The HAT flickr project. Herbert Flemming

I am currently in the process of uploading all my postcards, photos and miscellaneous collections to Flickr. I have reached 600 photos and counting.

Take a look. Or search flickr for hat-archive.

Meanwhile, here's a mini biography of Herbert Flemming from The Referee newspaper in 1908.
I'm putting together a collection of these mini biographies and publishing them through Smashwords. It should be available in the next couple of weeks.


Herbert Flemming
Born c 1855 London.
Emigrated to New Zealand 1876
Died 1908 West Melbourne Victoria Australia
The well known actor-manager who died in Melbourne last week. He was one of the best known men on the Australian stage and as an actor held a very high position, his productions always showing artistic taste and careful selection of the cast. The deceased was about 50 years of age, and was educated at the London University College School. He first appeared on the stage in Christchurch (NZ) in 1876 and it is noteworthy that his companies always included some New Zealanders. A little later he appeared in Melbourne with Creswick, Bland Holt and others, and then filled a seven years engagement with Williamson, Garner and Musgrove. He then went to India and the East and returned to London. A visit to South Africa was made in 1896 and he remained there some years directing eventually a circuit of ten theatres. He came to Australia in 1902 and with a few months intermission remained here till his death. He joined forces with Robert Brough in 1903, but the latter died a year later, and the deceased conducted his own comedy company up till the time of his death. Mr Flemming appeared in Sydney last June and July when he was successful with some new productions. He leaves a widow and two sons.

Inside History

I've had the privilege of working with Inside History magazine, and they have kindly published an article I've written about researching theatrical ancestors in Australia.

The magazine is available in newsagencies around Australia and can also be ordered on line\

So check out this lovely full colour magazine which promotes Australian history and historians.

Google plus 1

I signed up for Google plus 1 today, so if anybody is interested , email or add me to your account.

I have not updated for some time due to work committments. I am working on adding some photos and information to the blog and website soon.

Thanks to all who are buying the ebooks- your support is appreciated.

-Leann