Memories of St Budeaux

I have just finished a new book called, 'Memories of St Budeaux'. When I finished my book on St Budeaux a few years ago, I received lots of emails and letters from people who had enjoyed reading it and who kindly sent me their own memories and photos of the area. There was so much information, it seemed a shame not to record it so I've collected all these memories together in this book. There are memories taken from the notes and cuttings of local historian, Marshall Ware. I've also tried to recall the many stories that he told me about St Budeaux over the years. There are memories of the war, the people, entertainment, transport etc. The book also covers the time when a lot of St Budeaux was mainly farmers field and of a time when there were no trains, buses, cars, electricity or gas. Also included are the memories of the railway enthusiast and author, Maurice Dart. He tells of his time living at Tamar Terrace throughout the Second World War. There are also rare photos of the American soldiers who left from Saltash Passage for D-Day. I hope it will prove very interesting to people who live in the area and also to others who have an interest in St Budeaux. The book will shortly be available through Amazon and other online retailers and should be in Waterstones within the next few weeks.

H Leslie's Gay Lieutenants, Plymouth Pier, 1909

I recently bought this rare postcard off ebay for just 99p! Amazingly, the picture was taken in September, 1909 so it's exactly 100 years old.

The photo features H Leslie's Gay Lieutenants and the picture was taken on Plymouth Pier. Although little is known about the group, they were probably a theatrical troop and would maybe have made appearances at other venues within the town. Their names are written in ink on the photo and these include Jack Willcox, Walter Banett, Fred Shephard, Jack Waller, Ella Elgar and Cecilia Gold. A note on the back of the postcard reads, 'Jack Waller married Cecilia Gold in 1910.'

H Leslie appears in theatre history and the earliest reference I can find of him is a playbill announcing a performance of 'H Leslie's celebrated London company, in The Princess of Trebizonde, at the New Theatre Royal, Park Row, Bristol, 18 September 1871.' He is billed as an orchestra leader which would suggest that the Gay Lieutenants were a musical troop. Other references show that H Leslie wrote songs with a fellow composer, G. A. MacFarren. One of the songs that Leslie wrote in the 1800s was, 'Speed on,my bark, speed on!' with an M Dee. At the same time, there is a composer mentioned called Henry Leslie and this is probably the same person. He is also listed as Henry T Leslie.

Of the troop, only Fred Shephard and Jack Waller's names appear in later productions. Jack Waller went on to compose songs for music hall and to put on stage shows with his business partner, Herbert Clayton. These included, 'Good News' in 1929 and 'Tell her the Truth', in 1933 which featured music by Waller. The partnership of Clayton and Waller was still producing stage shows as late as 1964, although it's hard to tell if they were both still alive then. Waller wrote many songs for shows including, 'Got the Bench, Got the Park', 'Roll Away Clouds' and 'Babying You' with his writing partner, Joseph Tunbridge. Shows that they wrote music for included, 'Silver Wings', Yes, Madam' and 'Princess Charming', all now long forgotten. Waller and Tunbridge would have been well known in their day.

Fred Shephard wrote, 'Have we got the wind up, no not likely', another song that has long been forgotten.

It's amazing how much has changed in the 100 years since this photo was taken and anyone turning up to see a show called the Gay Lieutenants today would probably expect to see a whole different sort of act!