Walter Laburnum
English music hall performer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Walter Laburnum (born George Walter Davis; 15 June 1847 – 28 March 1902) was an English music hall performer.
Biography
Born in Hendon, Laburnum worked as a beer and wine seller before becoming a professional performer in the 1870s. He became well known as a singer of "coster songs",[1] and for parodying the style of popular lions comiques, in particular George Leybourne, with songs such as "Fashionable Fred".[2] Leybourne was known for driving around the capital in a carriage drawn by four white ponies; Laburnum used a cart drawn by four donkeys. Laburnum also sang "Dr. De Jongh's Cod Liver Oil", mocking the use of fashionable new medical remedies.[3] He was known as "The Star of the East", a reference to the East End of London.[4]
Also billed as "The Royal Comic", Laburnum toured with his concert party in later years.[3] He died in London in 1902, aged 54, and was buried at Abney Park Cemetery.[5]
