Bob Teevan
Ilkley is a spa town in West Yorkshire and has long been popular with tourists. I feel sure it will have hosted visiting Pierrot troupes before the start of the 20th century although the earliest reference I can find to what may have been a ‘home grown’ Pierrot troupe there is in the ‘Shipley Times and Express’ of the 15th of September 1900. In a brief article reporting on a “Garden Party at Denton Hall” is mentioned that –
“Tea was provided in large marquees, and entertainments were given by the Ilkley Pierrots, and music by the Guiseley Brass Band.”
Whether this was a troupe which was established in Ilkley or not I cannot say and I am mindful that about that time the Local Council was advertising for touring entertainers to add Ilkley as a venue on their touring circuit. There also appears to have been a Manchester based showman looking to recruit for an Ilkley Pierrot troupe.
The earliest reference I can see in the Newspaper archive to a Pierrot troupe which was perhaps founded in Ilkley is a brief advert in ‘The Stage’ of the 23rd of July 1903 which reads as follows.
“WANTED, for the Tarn Pierrots, Ilkley, Funny,
entertainments were given by the Ilkley Pierrots, and music by the Guiseley Brass Band.”
Whether this was a troupe which was established in Ilkley or not I cannot say and I am mindful that about that time the Local Council was advertising for touring entertainers to add Ilkley as a venue on their touring circuit. There also appears to have been a Manchester based showman looking to recruit for an Ilkley Pierrot troupe.
The earliest reference I can see in the Newspaper archive to a Pierrot troupe which was perhaps founded in Ilkley is a brief advert in ‘The Stage’ of the 23rd of July 1903 which reads as follows.
“WANTED, for the Tarn Pierrots, Ilkley, Funny, refined Comedian. Must be Gentleman and have big repertoire. LIONEL BRAHAM. North View Hotel , Ilkley.”
Lionel Braham was a both a stage comedian and baritone who was born in Yorkshire in 1879. Prior to starting a successful film career in the USA from 1913 he performed in a number of musical comedies and with at least one concert party. (The “Zig-Zags” in 1906). The above advertisement suggests he was seeking to establish an Ilkley troupe.
The results of Lionel Braham’s advertisement is unknown although in the edition of the same publication of the 21st of April 1904 a very similar advertisement appeared with this as follows.
“WANTED, Pianist for Tarn Pierrots, Ilkley. One that can sing preferred. Must thoroughly understand Alfresco Business. Must be sight reader and transpose. Send photo, with lowest terms, to open May 23rd. Long Engagement. – Address, C. COOPER, Proprietor, North View Hotel, Ilkley.”
The reference to Lionel Braham has been replaced by C. Cooper who is the proprietor of the hotel to which applications were to be sent the previous year. My card is titled ‘Cooper’s Tarn Pierrots, Ilkley’ which suggests that Mr. C. Cooper obtained sufficient applicants to launch this troupe.
This belief is confirmed by an advertisement in the ‘Wharfedale & Airedale Observer’ of the 17th of June 1904 from which the following has been extracted.
“TARN PIERROTS, ILKLEY.
Proprietor. Mr. C. Cooper.
Manager. Mr. C. Cooper, jun.
Three Performances Daily.
Each one different.
Artistes.
MISS NORAH BEVERLEY, Soprano Vocalist and Comedienne, from the leading Comic Opera Co.
- ALEC. RICHARD, the Well-known Scottish Bass, late of the Turner Opera Co.
MISS NORA BALL, the young Contralto, late of the Turner Opera Co.
MR, J. BEDFORD OGDEN, the renowned Yorkshire Humourist Reciter, in his latest Banjo Songs and Refined Drawing Room Sketches.
- ALF SELBY, the Popular Alfresco Comedian and Entertainer. Refined Comedy.
- WILL AMBRO, C**n Vocalist, Comedian, and Dancer.
MISS NANNA M. BAXTER, Pianiste, Messo-Soprano, late of the Grand & Comic Opera Cos.”
Without undertaking further research regarding the artistes, the only name I recognise from above is that of Will Ambro. As my postcard was mailed from Ilkley on the 29th of June 1904 it relates to the troupe’s inaugural year and it is likely that a number of those named will feature in the above image with the grey suited gentleman being Mr. C. Cooper and the dark suited man being C. Cooper, Junior.
The Tarn Pierrots also performed in 1905 with the following being the end of season report from ‘The Stage’ of the 5th of October 1905.
“TARN PIERROTS. Mr . C . Cooper’s Tarn Pierrots, who have been performing at the Tarn, and latterly on the Council Bandstand in West View Park, concluded their season on Saturday evening. The following artists took part in the farewell concert: Misses Norah Beverley, Winnie Wentworth, and Messrs. Allan Hanbury, J . Barker, and Harry Woodford. Performances had been given twice daily since Whitsuntide, and there had been changes of artists and programmes all the time. Two well-known local artists have been included, Mr . Walter Wade, of Yeadon, and Miss Marie Webb, of Otley , the latter having now gone to study at the Royal Academy.”
The troupe were again performing in Ilkley in 1906 although the name of ‘Tarn’ appears to have been no longer used. Advertisements placed continue to refer to Mr. C. Cooper at the North View Hotel although the troupe is referred to as ‘Cooper’s Pierrots.’ In 1907 the name has again been amended and advertisements refer to ‘Cooper’s Ilkley Pierrots.’
The Pierrot troupes operated by Mr. C. Cooper appear to have had a short period of fame as they disappeared from the newspapers at the end of 1907.
The Census of 1901 includes a man named Christopher Cooper who was then 57 years old and living at the North View Hotel where he was a Hotel Proprietor and Publican. In total there were nine persons living in this property with this including his son, 17 year old Christopher Richards Pullan Cooper. I believe these to be the suited gentlemen who feature on the postcard.
I suspect that Christopher Cooper senior required to direct his attention away from the troupe and towards his hotel as the 1907 the local Justices expressed concern at the sanitary conditions in the North View Hotel and Mr. Cooper undertook to rectify this.
On the 6th of June 1907 Mr Cooper placed an advert in ‘The Stage’ as follows.
To Pierrots, Proprietors, and Caterers. WANTED to Sell, Large Marquee. Good as new. Will hold 1,000 people. 93 ft . by 45 ft . Also 160 Chairs at Is. 6d . each.
Apply, C . COOPER , North View Hotel, Ilkley.”
I think this was Christopher Cooper senior getting out of both his role as manager of a Pierrot troupe and proprietor of the North View Hotel. It may even have been the start of his movement from Ilkley. Perhaps as a consequence of adverse publicity resulting from the Justice’s comments regarding the North View Hotel’s sanitary conditions, Christopher Cooper changed the hotel’s name to the Station Hotel. In the ‘Wharfedale & Airedale Observer’ of the 27th of August 1909 it was announced that Christopher Cooper of the Station Hotel had signed a Deed of Assignment for the benefit of his creditors and that claims should be submitted.
The 1911 Census records Christopher Cooper in the Royal Hotel in Ventnor, Isle of Wight where he is the Buffet Manager. His wife and children are not with him. There are several on-line trees for this family although I am certain that they include a number of errors and I can place no reliance on the suggested fate of either Christopher Cooper or his son by the same name.
Incidentally, A “tarn” is a small mountain lake or pool, typically formed in a bowl-shaped hollow carved out by a glacier. The Ilkley Tarn is a beauty spot which sits on the outskirts of the town and was a venue at which Cooper’s Tarn Pierrots performed.
I think the ‘Tarn Pierrots’ is a good example of someone with little or no stage management experience having noted the popularity of Pierrot troupes and deciding to ‘cash in’ by establishing his own troupe. That said, if he was enterprising, he could have somehow promoted his hotel and public house via the troupe and obtained business benefits through this. Perhaps it wasn’t a “daft” idea.
I don’t believe Will Ambro remained with the Ilkley troupe beyond the 1904 season and by 1906 he was an established member of Catlin’s Royal Pierrots.