Page 8 - The 17th Percy French Festival: The Quest for Authenticity

preferred to offer London publi cations to their cus tom - (1847– 1869).33 Percy and Lennie had three daughters:
ers. Another obsta cle was the fact that the best Irish
comic talent had been ‘absorbed’ by London and New
York publishers.29
Percy French in the 1890s
On 28th June 1890, French married Ethel (‘Ettie’)
Kathleen Armytage-Moore (1871– 1891) of Arnmore
House, Drumelis, Co. Cavan, the second daughter of
William Armytage-Moore (1805–1883), manager of the
Annesley estate at Castlewellan, Co. Down, and his wife
Mary Elizabeth Lockwood (née Metcalfe) (1845–1932).30
Ettie, a talented artist, contributed many drawings to
The Jarvey and also conducted its society column,
‘Chit Chatters’, in 1890. For a brief period the newlyweds
ran a shop, The Old Curiosity Shop, at 31 Little Denmark
Street in Dublin, whose main output was engravings,
sketches and paintings in oils and in watercolours pro -
duced by Percy.31 Ettie died in Dublin of meningitis
or septicaemia on 29th June 1891, after giving birth
to a daughter, Ethel Florence Cecilia, on 5th June; her
baby died on 5th July 1891 at Cloonyquin.32 A grief-
stricken French threw himself into a hectic work sched -
ule, contributing comic sketches, poetry and drawings
on a regular basis to the Irish Cyclist, of which news -
paper’s staff he became a permanent member. Earlier
in 1891 French had collaborated with the musician, and
Illus 7. A photograph of Houson Collisson.
future clergyman in the Church of England, Dr William
Frontispiece of William Alexander Houston Collisson,
Dr Collisson in and on Ireland, London: Robert Sutton, 1908. Alexander Houston Collisson (1865–1920) (Illus. 7) in
producing The Knight of the Road, a comic opera which
was well received by Dublin audiences. Their friendship
Notes
and working partnership continued in the years after
29 The Jarvey, 4th October 1890; 11th October 1890; Evening Telegraph, 7th May 1892.
30 Ulster Examiner, 11th April 1871; Cavan Weekly News, 23rd February 1883; Ettie’s death, resulting in the pro duc tion of several comic
Illustrated London News, 3rd March 1883; Irish Society, 5 July 1890; Banbridge
plays which they performed in Dublin and Irish provin -
Chronicle, 3rd December 1932.
cial towns. French achieved national fame in Ireland in
31 O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, pp.74–75.
32 Contemporary newspapers state that Ettie died of meningitis, but some modern the 1890s with his versatile entertain ments in countless
sources say that septicaemia was the cause of her death: Daily Express, 1st July 1891;
Irish towns and villages, performances that included
Newry Telegraph, 2nd July 1891; Cavan Weekly News, 17th July 1891; White and
McCabe, ‘French, (William) Percy’, Dictionary of Irish Biography; Tongue, Picture, p.19; humorous songs, poems and anecdotes, slide shows,
O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, p.81. and quickly executed ‘smoke drawings’ on china plates.
33 Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette, 1st January 1870; Banbury Advertiser,
He also fell in love again, marrying for the second time
1st February 1894; Alan Tongue, The Love Letters of Percy French and More Besides . . .
(Dublin: Lilliput Press, 2015), p.142. on 24th January 1894. His bride was Helen (‘Lennie’)
34 French, Willie, p.57; O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, p.95. May Cunningham Sheldon (1868–1956), the daughter
35 French, Willie, p.59. of Jonathan Sheldon (1841–1919) a mill-owner, of
36 Folkestone Express, 21st September 1912; de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, p.157;
Bur ming ton House, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire
Hastings and St Leonards Observer, 7th February 1931; O’Neill, Tones that are Tender,
pp.134–136. and his wife, Mary Clementina Sheldon (née Tribe)
•6• THE P ERCY FRENCH FESTIVAL 2025
Ethel (‘Ettie’) Gwendoline (1894–1993), Mollie Helen
(1896– 1956), and Joan Phyllis (1903– 1996). In 1899
French gave his first solo performance in London, to
consider able critical acclaim. Two of the leading concert
agencies, Ashton’s and the Lecture Agency, told him that
if he would transfer to London they could provide him
with enough work to make the move worth while, and his
agent, Gerald Christie, per suaded him to make a career
move to the British capital. It was on the agencies’ advice
that French dropped his first name altogether for stage
purposes: known as ‘Willie’ to his friends and family,
he now became the stage performer Percy French.
In January 1900 he and his family took up permanent
residence in London.34
The London years before the Great War
French enjoyed further artistic success after emigrating
to England, helped consid erably by the fact that gave a
‘Recital’ before King Edward VII and the Prince and Prin -
cess of Wales in January 1902.35 In Britain, a hectic round Illus 8. Percy French and Houston Collisson departing
on their transatlantic tour in 1910. Emily de Burgh Daly
of performances in such venues as society drawing
(ed), Chronicles and Poems of Percy French,
rooms, concert halls, working men’s institutes and village Dublin: Talbot Press, 1922, facing p.104.
halls occupied his working hours outside of the summer
months; he preferred tour ing in Ireland each summer,
especially in various seaside towns in August of each year.
French’s tours also took him further afield than Britain or
Ireland. In 1910 he and Houston Collisson were engaged
by the Irish-American impresario J.C. Duff (1857– 1928)
to undertake a tour to Canada, the USA, Bermuda, the
West Indies, and Panama, (Illus. 8) while early in 1914
French went on a six-week tour in Switzerland to raise
funds for the Church of England Waifs and Strays Society,
a charity for which Houston Collisson and Thomas
Brandreth Gibbs of Folkestone (1842–1931), the tour
organiser, worked assiduously.36
The War Years
French’s tour of Irish seaside towns in August 1914
coincided with the outbreak of the First World War.
During the war he continued with a demanding
schedule of perfor mances, many of which were fund-
raisers for the British Red Cross or military hospitals.
Illus 9. An advertisement for a wartime entertainment
(Illus. 9) He also frequently helped to raise troops’ morale
featuring Percy French. The Wicklow News-Letter, 27th
by his perform ances in the United Kingdom and Belgium
January 1917.
THE QUEST FOR AUTHENTICIT Y •7•