Here’s a story which I hope is new for you. A concert in connection with the Lodge Livingstone in Blantyre was held on the evening of Tuesday 3rd December 1895. An entertaining night with a special celebrity guest.
The Masonic Hall at the time was located at the corner of Glasgow Road and junction of Forrest Street (which would now be across the road from Alfie’s Car wash).
That night, the hall was crowded and Major Ness (the schoolmaster) presided. The programme of entertainment was varied starting with Miss Flora Donaldson who sang several songs. She got a large applause afterwards. Mr. R.W Speed then gave a stirring performance also well received followed by Miss Madge McClay on her violin.
However the stars of the show were the 2 comics. Mr. J.A Wilson gave a performance well received at the time (but having looked at this further would have been incredibly inappropriate for today’s audiences). But it was Mr Harry Lauder than people came to see. A twenty five year old rising comic miner. Even in 1895, Mr Lauder was well known and lived nearby in Hamilton. His comic timing gave great laughs and he provided himself an all round entertainer with a medley of well known songs. In splendid voice, he was heartily cheered by the Blantyre audience. In every way the concert was a success.
Born in Edinburgh in 1870, Harry Lauder was eldest of 7 children. To finance his education beyond age 11, Harry worked part-time at a flax mill. He made his first public appearance, singing, at a variety concert at Oddfellows’ Hall in Arbroath when he was just 13 years old, winning first prize for the night (a watch). In 1884 he moved to Hamilton not long after the untimely death of his father.
Lauder often sang to the miners in Hamilton in the early 1890’s, who encouraged him to perform in local music halls. While singing in nearby Larkhall, he received 5 shillings—the first time he was paid for singing. He received further local engagements in the mid 1890’s including this one in Blantyre. His popularity on the entertainment circuit grew hugely especially in the 1910s.
He was in Australia when WW1 broke out and was grief stricken when his son died in battle in 1916. Throwing himself into work and entertainment afterwards, he achieved International success and was eventually knighted in 1919. He went into semi-retirement in the mid-1930s, but briefly emerged to entertain troops in the Second World War. By the late 1940s he was suffering from long periods of ill-health.
Harry passed away in February 1950 in Strathaven.
Next time you pass this little piece of green wooded land at the corner of Forrest Street, I urge you to think on about the concert in 1895 and when Harry Lauder visited Blantyre. Harry is pictured in the 1890s and in 1909.
