The Vesta Tilley Collection
Introduction
Worcestershire County Council owns a collection of material
which once belonged to Vesta Tilley (1864-1952), the musical hall
actress. Here we give a brief over view of who Vesta was and what
she did in her life, as well as displaying 
some of the
material that makes up this fascinating collection. Born in
Worcester into a poor family, Vesta rose to stardom in early
childhood, and maintained this prominence until her retirement from
the stage in 1920.
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Vesta in
Worcester
|
The
Fans.
Vesta's
Career
|
Lady De Frece.
The
Tours
|
The Collection.
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Vesta in
Worcester
Vesta Tilley was born Matilda Alice Powles on the 13th May 1864
in Commandery Street, Worcester, and baptised not far away at St.
Peter's Church on 11th September 1864. Vesta was the second of
thirteen children for her mother, Matilda Broughton and her father,
William Henry Powles. Her father also used his stage name - Harry
Ball - interchangeably when encountering officialdom, on Vesta's
baptism certificate for example he appears as Powles, whilst on his
marriage certificate he appears as Ball. Vesta's parents initially
lived in Tallow Hill, and are known to have still been in Worcester
in 1871 as they appear in the census as living at 48 Wylds Lane
under the name of Ball. Vesta's Direct links with Worcester seem to
end when she was about seven years old, although she came back to
Worcester to perform. She played at the Alhambra, the New Concert
Hall for example, made an appearance at the Public Hall - in the
Cornmarket - in 1913, as well as opening a Conservative Party fete
in 1920.
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Vesta's Career
Vesta Tilley was one of the most famous and highly paid Music
Hall Artistes and best known male impersonators of her
generation.
She made her stage debut at the age of three, at the Theatre
Royal in Gloucester, where her father was the chairman for a short
time. Her father subsequently got the position of chairman at St.
Georges Music Hall in Nottingham. Vesta, at this time known as "The
Great Little Tilley" (Tilley being an abbreviation of her first
name Matilda), was eager to perform, and was soon receiving
requests from many places, including Dudley, Derby, and Leicester.
One night Vesta's father found her trying on his coat and top hat
and decided to get Vesta her own suit of men's clothes. New songs
were found for her to sing more suited for the male attire, and she
made her first appearance as a male impersonator at Day's Concert
Hall in Birmingham. Her act proved popular, and Vesta received a
salary of five pounds a week for the run.
Approaching the age of 10, Vesta was asked to consider a
proposal to undertake a London tour. Although this initially
offered less money, Vesta could make several performances a night,
and also gain great publicity. The offer was accepted. At this time
Vesta's father appointed Vesta a proper manager, and during her
London tour, having out grown the name,"the Great Little Tilley",
she took the stage name Vesta Tilley. She soon established a
reputation in London, and was dubbed "The London Idol". The
advertisement opposite, shows this nickname.
As well as her performances on the music hall stage, Vesta was also
active in pantomimes. In 1877, at the age of 13, Vesta made her
first appearance in pantomime, playing Robinson Crusoe at the Royal
in Portsmouth. This was the first of many roles as principal boy
she was to play. Dick Whittington was her favourite role in
pantomime, a role she reprised many times. Other principal boy
roles she played were the Prince in Beauty and the Beast, and
Sinbad the Sailor. She also played female roles, appearing as the
Queen of Hearts for example at the Theatre Royal in Brighton in
1879. Booked so many years in advance for pantomime performances at
Christmas, Vesta was even offered an Easter pantomime at the Grand
Theatre in Birmingham, specially created at this time to secure her
services.
During the First World War Vesta entertained the troops, touring
hospitals and theatres, with patriotic songs like, "Girls, If You
Want To Love A Soldier, You Can All Love Me", "In The
Trenches", "Oh London Where Are The Girls Tonight", and "The
Wounded Tommy".
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The Tours
As well as having toured Britain from an early age, Vesta made
several tours to the United States with great success, and
commanding high salaries. One theatre for example offered her $600
a week. Follow the link to view two letters from
her tours in America. She had offers to perform from even
further afield, with a theatre company in Australia requesting that
she be principal boy in their forthcoming pantomime at a theatre
either in Melbourne or Sydney. Follow the link to view the letter requesting her
presence.
The Fans
Vesta Tilley's huge popularity secured her many fans, this is
evidenced in the fan mail she received from men and women, boys and
girls alike. The collection includes some of this mail, and
these make interesting reading. We hold a selection of some of
these fan letters.
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Lady de Frece
Vesta married Walter de Frece, son of a theatre manager, a
theatre manager himself and later a politician, at Brixton Register
Office on the 16th August 1890.
After the honeymoon Vesta returned to work and Walter to his new
job, as he had joined the firm of Richard Warner & Co, one of
the leading theatrical agents of that time.
In 1919 Walter was knighted for services during the war, and Vesta
became Lady de Frece. Deciding to follow a political career, Walter
persuaded Vesta to retire from the stage. Although Vesta was booked
up for a further six years, she was released from her contracts,
and gave one final farewell tour, beginning this in August 1919.
Initially touring the largest provincial towns and donating each
week's salary to the local children's hospital, Vesta finished her
tour in London, where she performed for a month. Walter was
elected as the conservative MP for Ashton-Under-Lyne, Vesta having
been involved in canvassing very successfully for this.
The de Frece's had several homes, including one in Monte Carlo,
where they often wintered, for the benefit of Vesta's health. It
was in Monte Carlo that Walter died in 1935.
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The Collection
The collection is very varied and spans many years, from the
1890s to the 1920s. It includes a large collection of letters,
press cuttings and programmes. Many of the items are in scrapbooks,
often layer upon layer, made up by Vesta, and are therefore in a
fragile condition. The collection also holds some of Vesta's
costumes, which includes hats, shoes, an evening suit, and many
waistcoats, a feature for which she was particularly well known.
These are held at the County Museum.
Due to the fragile condition of much of the collection it has been
digitised. It is available to the public to view at the Record
Office, County Hall, on DVD, although at present the digitised
material is uncatalogued.
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Further Reading
- Gwynedd Sudworth, The Great Little Tilley: Vesta Tilley and
Her Times, Courtney Publications, 1984
- Lady De Frece, Recollections of Vesta Tilley, The
Mayflower Press, 1934
- Sara Maitland, Vesta Tilley, Virago Press, 1986
Further Information
The Vesta Tilley Society is a non-profit making organisation
dedicated to furthering the memory of Vesta Tilley and raising her
profile both locally and nationally. Visit their website -
www.vestatilleysociety.net
- for more details.
