Page 9 - 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 Ethel (‘Ettie’) Gwendoline (1894–1993), Mollie Helen
comic talent had been ‘absorbed’ by London and New (1896– 1956), and Joan Phyllis (1903– 1996). In 1899
York publishers.29 French gave his first solo performance in London, to
consider able critical acclaim. Two of the leading concert
Percy French in the 1890s agencies, Ashton’s and the Lecture Agency, told him that
On 28th June 1890, French married Ethel (‘Ettie’) if he would transfer to London they could provide him
Kathleen Armytage-Moore (1871– 1891) of Arnmore with enough work to make the move worth while, and his
House, Drumelis, Co. Cavan, the second daughter of agent, Gerald Christie, per suaded him to make a career
William Armytage-Moore (1805–1883), manager of the move to the British capital. It was on the agencies’ advice
Annesley estate at Castlewellan, Co. Down, and his wife that French dropped his first name altogether for stage
Mary Elizabeth Lockwood (née Metcalfe) (1845–1932).30 purposes: known as ‘Willie’ to his friends and family,
Ettie, a talented artist, contributed many drawings to he now became the stage performer Percy French.
The Jarvey and also conducted its society column, In January 1900 he and his family took up permanent
‘Chit Chatters’, in 1890. For a brief period the newlyweds residence in London.34
ran a shop, The Old Curiosity Shop, at 31 Little Denmark
Street in Dublin, whose main output was engravings, The London years before the Great War
sketches and paintings in oils and in watercolours pro - French enjoyed further artistic success after emigrating
duced by Percy.31 Ettie died in Dublin of meningitis to England, helped consid erably by the fact that gave a
or septicaemia on 29th June 1891, after giving birth ‘Recital’ before King Edward VII and the Prince and Prin -
to a daughter, Ethel Florence Cecilia, on 5th June; her 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
baby died on 5th July 1891 at Cloonyquin.32 A grief- of performances in such venues as society drawing
(ed), Chronicles and Poems of Percy French,
stricken French threw himself into a hectic work sched - rooms, concert halls, working men’s institutes and village Dublin: Talbot Press, 1922, facing p.104.
ule, contributing comic sketches, poetry and drawings halls occupied his working hours outside of the summer
on a regular basis to the Irish Cyclist, of which news - months; he preferred tour ing in Ireland each summer,
paper’s staff he became a permanent member. Earlier especially in various seaside towns in August of each year.
in 1891 French had collaborated with the musician, and French’s tours also took him further afield than Britain or
Illus 7. A photograph of Houson Collisson.
future clergyman in the Church of England, Dr William Ireland. In 1910 he and Houston Collisson were engaged
Frontispiece of William Alexander Houston Collisson,
Dr Collisson in and on Ireland, London: Robert Sutton, 1908. Alexander Houston Collisson (1865–1920) (Illus. 7) in by the Irish-American impresario J.C. Duff (1857– 1928)
producing The Knight of the Road, a comic opera which to undertake a tour to Canada, the USA, Bermuda, the
was well received by Dublin audiences. Their friendship West Indies, and Panama, (Illus. 8) while early in 1914
Notes

and working partnership continued in the years after French went on a six-week tour in Switzerland to raise
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 funds for the Church of England Waifs and Strays Society,
Illustrated London News, 3rd March 1883; Irish Society, 5 July 1890; Banbridge
plays which they performed in Dublin and Irish provin - a charity for which Houston Collisson and Thomas
Chronicle, 3rd December 1932.
cial towns. French achieved national fame in Ireland in Brandreth Gibbs of Folkestone (1842–1931), the tour
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 organiser, worked assiduously.36
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, The War Years
O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, p.81. and quickly executed ‘smoke drawings’ on china plates. French’s tour of Irish seaside towns in August 1914

33 Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette, 1st January 1870; Banbury Advertiser,
He also fell in love again, marrying for the second time coincided with the outbreak of the First World War.
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’) During the war he continued with a demanding

34 French, Willie, p.57; O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, p.95. May Cunningham Sheldon (1868–1956), the daughter schedule of perfor mances, many of which were fund-
35 French, Willie, p.59. of Jonathan Sheldon (1841–1919) a mill-owner, of raisers for the British Red Cross or military hospitals.
36 Folkestone Express, 21st September 1912; de Burgh Daly, Chronicles, p.157; Illus 9. An advertisement for a wartime entertainment
Bur ming ton House, Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire (Illus. 9) He also frequently helped to raise troops’ morale
Hastings and St Leonards Observer, 7th February 1931; O’Neill, Tones that are Tender, featuring Percy French. The Wicklow News-Letter, 27th
pp.134–136. and his wife, Mary Clementina Sheldon (née Tribe) by his perform ances in the United Kingdom and Belgium
January 1917.

•6• THE P ERCY FRENCH FESTIVAL 2025 THE QUEST FOR AUTHENTICIT Y •7•