Dancing! Dancing! Dancing! April 1855

Camp Buildings Beechworth, A J Stopp, c 1870?  State Library of Victoria Collection http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/68990

ASSEMBLY ROOMS

Dancing ! Dancing! Dancing!

M LANGFORD, proprietor of the Beechworth Hotel, begs to inform the inhabitants of Beechworth and its vicinity, that he has rented the above rooms, with an intention of making it into a  

Dancing and Musical Saloon,

which will be opened on

MONDAY, 9TH APRIL, 1855.

It is being fitted up in the best possible style, Messrs. Griffiths and Co. (Harp and Violin players) are engaged as musicians, and the lovers of really good music singing, and dancing, will have an opportunity afforded them unequalled in the district.

Doors open every evening, from half

past 6 to 12 p.m.

N.B.-There will be an entrance from the Assembly Rooms to the Billiard Room, which will enable persons who are fond of this game likewise to amuse themselves.

Beechworth, March 30, 1855.

Advertising. (1855, April 14). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 -1918), p. 2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113013315

The Harp player was most likely George Zeplin, who often accompanied George Griffith. 

Reprise at the Salle de Valentino

SALLE DE VALENTINO

Immense Attraction.  

Beechworth Hotel.

MESSRS. LANGFORD & ATKINSON 

beg to acquaint the Public of Beechworth and the vicinity that a

FREE AND EASY

will be held in the above place of amusement

This Evening, and continued every

Saturday Evening.

The Talented Instrumentalists, Messrs. Griffith and Zeplin, will perform 

on the Violin and Harp.

The Chair to be taken at eight, by Mr. Small.

ADMISSION FREE.

Advertising. (1855, April 28). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 -1918), p. 1. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113013359

 How did I miss this performance?  Thanks to Jenny Coates for drawing it to my attention.

Ashton's Circus, Beechworth, 1858

Drawing of Ashton's Circus in Clermont, 1873. Courtesy of the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.

 The large advertisement run in the Ovens and Murray Advertiser  called  the circus "Ashton's British and American Circus".    As it seems not to be the case that the circus came from  Britain or America, perhaps there were a few American personnel amongst the troupe. Or perhaps it was a reference to the American Negro style of entertainment which was part of the program.

The origins of the circus are a little cloudy, but in 1849 in Hobart a man named Thomas Mollor, the licensee of the Bath Hotel in Murray Street, advertised some circus acts associated with the Hotel.  Ashton was performing feats of daredevil riding in that entertainment.  Whether Mollor had a long background in circuses is not certain.  It seems possible that he was the convict of that name who arrived by the Mangles.

In early 1850 Mollor announced that he was leaving the country.  A new company was formed to take over the equestrian horses and circus equipment.  Interestingly this included not only James Ashton, but Mrs Ashton, who also performed with the circus.   In the early 1850s the circus was touring in Queensland and New South Wales, and by 1855 had arrived in Bendigo.  They had probably found the goldfields to be a lucrative source of customers, and in 1858 they had arrived at Beechworth.

LATEST EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE. (1854, May 6). Illustrated Sydney News (NSW : 1853 - 1872), p. 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63614282

Evidently there was a core group of circus performers, and local musicians were employed to fill in for the musical entertainment.  In the large advertisement taken out in the Advertiser on 6 April 1858, many familiar names were mentioned - Mr Zeplin on the harp; Billy Barlow was to give his 'opinions'; Mr Griffiths (sic) on the violin.  In addition to the locals were: Mr Faulkner on the banjo; Mr Ashton on the flautina; Mr Sams on the tamborine; Troy Knight on the bones; and Fritz Bimes as Leader of the Military Band;

And Mr Griffiths  as the "Leader of the Nigger Band".

Oh dear.  One can only hope he wasn't wearing blackface to really disgrace the family.

Advertising. (1858, April 6). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1857 - 1918), p. 3.  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113237500

"Minstrel" entertainment was extraordinarily popular at this time, and continued to be so for many decades.

The "Boston Serenaders" who appeared on the bill, may have been Minstrels, and constituted the main claim to being an American Circus.

The Robert O'Hara Burke Memorial Museum has in its collection a glass slide of Ashton's Circus entering Beechworth via Camp Street.   The street is strangely empty apart from a horse and cart keeping to the opposite side of the road.  The horse looks rather alarmed, and has a rider on its back case it took it into its head to bolt.  This photo is included in a book by Peter M Shea, called Champagne from Six to Six:  a short social history of entertainments and recreations at the Beechworth and Ovens' goldfields Victoria 1852-1877. (Durham, CT: Eloquent Books, 2010.)

Wages withheld, 1858

 Detail of Township of Beechworth [cartographic material] / N. F. Martin, Assist. Surveyor, Beechworth, August 20th, 1856 ; lithographed at the Surveyors General's Office, Melbourne, by E. Gilks.  Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Collection.  http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/121412

WAGES.

John Barlow claimed £4 for services as a musician from John Brock landlord of the Hibernian (sic) hotel. The agreement was that complainant might absent himself on any night except Saturday or Monday, on condition that he found a substitute ; he had absented himself one night without complying with the term of the agreement, defendant therefore refused to pay him.

Zeplin v Brock.

Griffith v Brock.

These two cases were exactly similar to the above, and were all dismissed.

POLICE COURT. (1858, January 6). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1857 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved October 9, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113236055

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing! 1855 UPDATED

The Royal Photographic Society Collection at the National Media Museum  Inventory no: 2003-5001/2/24008. Beechworth, circa 1857, by Walter Woodbury. The hotel appears to be the Commercial Hotel in Ford St, Beechworth

ASSEMBLY ROOMS.
Dancing! Dancing! Dancing!
M LANGFORD, proprietor of the 
Beechworth Hotel, begs to inform 
the inhabitants of Beechworth and 
its vicinity, that he has rented the 
above rooms, with an intention of 
making it into a Dancing and Musical 
Saloon, which will be opened on
MONDAY, 9TH APRIL, 1855.
It is being fitted up in the best possible 
style, Messrs. Griffiths and Co.
(Harp and Violin players) are engaged 
as musicians, and the lovers of really
good music, singing, and dancing, 
will have an opportunity afforded 
them unequalled in the district.
Doors open every evening, from 
half past 6 to 12 p.m.
N.B.-There will be an entrance from 
the Assembly Rooms to the Billiard 
Room, which will enable persons    
who are fond of this game likewise
to amuse themselves.
Beechworth, March 30, 1855.

Advertising. (1855, March 31). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1855 - 1866; 1914 -1918), p. 3. Retrieved April 23, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113013270

"Messrs Griffiths and Co, Harp and Violin Players" probably included George Zeplin.  A five and a half hour evening gig would certainly leave George (both Georges) with plenty of daylight hours to work a claim.

UPDATE- Richard Patterson in Nobblers and Lushingtons places the Assembly Rooms next to the first Beechworth Hotel in Ford St.  Michael Langford had been the licensee of the El Dorado (later Exhange Hotel), where George's association with Langford began.

Eldorado Hotel, August 1857 - UPDATED

Image from the British Library Photostream

IMMENSE ATTRACTION

El Dorado Concert Room,

On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and

Thursday evening. 

Positively the last week of the present

company 

MR & MRS. PENDLETON

Will appear in their celebrated characters of

the COOK AND FOOTMAN. 

Teddy O'Rourke and his pupil Biddy O'Shanasy.

THE ROVING GIPSIES.

Pretty Polly Hopkins and Mr Tomkins.   

Also their side splitting deleniations of domestic bliss, entitled 

MATRIMONIAL SWEETS,

MRS. PENDLETON

Will sing a choice selection of most popular 

ballads. 

MR. PENDLETON

Will appear in his laughable character of the

UNFORTUNATE MOTHER 

and introduce his comic abilities on the Light 

Fantastic Toe.

Also in his unequalled performance on the

BONES AND THEIR TAMBOURINES.

Assisted by

HERR KRAMER, MESSRS. GRIFFITH,

ZEPLIN,

And other professionals. 

The Performance on Thursday Evening will

be for the Benefit of

MR. AND MRS. PENDLETON.

Admission Every evening Free

Advertising. (1857, August 12). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1857 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved October 9, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113016336

According to various advertisements in the Ovens & Murray Advertiser, the Pendletons seemed to be musical hall variety artists, while Herr Kramer claimed to be a celebrated vocalist from Buda and Pesth, Hungary.

UPDATE  Richard Patterson, in Nobblers and Lushingtons,(pp 30-31) described the El Dorado hotel as a substantial wooden building on the corner of High and Church Streets, Beechworth.  In 1857 the licensee  was Robert Winter, who made extensive alterations throughout, and included the El Dorado Concert  Room.

The Tyrolese Minstrels. June 1857

The Tyrolese Minstrels may have looked a little bit like this image which shows a group of the same name in The Illustrated London News, London, Saturday, 6 December 1851, p. 699.

THE TYROLESE MINSTRELS.
Star Theatre

THE TYROLESE MINSTRELS. These performers made a successful debut in this district at the Star Theatre, attired in their picturesque national costume Madame Haimberger and Miss Kramer attracted the admiring gaze of a crowded audience, while their finished delivery of the mountain airs peculiar to their own homes, astonished and delighted all alike. The musical "Iodelu", which is the refrain of almost all their songs, never fails to hang on the ear and to please the memory long after its sound has ceased. The ladies really deserve the. high encomiums which have been passed upon them elsewhere, and which they most assuredly find echoed by the good folks of the Ovens. It is a great pity that the racy and original words of their songs cannot be understood by the majority of their hearers, as the absence of this understanding deprives the performance of half its merit......

...The entertainment was varied by performances on the harp and violin by Messrs Zeplin and Griffith.

THE Ovens [?] Advertiser. (1857, June 9). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1857 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 11, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113015646

Again George performed in partnership with George Zeplin.  George Frederick Zeplin, a member of a musical family, arrived in Melbourne in October 1852 on the Nepaul aged 20.   The rest of his family, including parents, arrived in 1859 and were immediately employed as Zeplin Family Quadrille Band.

Unpaid Wages, March 1857 UPDATED

Robert O'Hara Burke, circa 1860.  Courtesy of the State Library of Victoria Collection

 POLICE COURT.
Friday, March 27, 1857
(Before R. O'H. Bourke, Esq., J.P. and J, S. Morphy, Esq., J.P.)

WAGES
George Zeplin v John Johnson.
A claim for £5 6s 8d, balance of wages, for playing a harp at defendant's house for two weeks and two days at £5 per week. Plaintiff had received £5, and now sued for the balance.

Mrs Griffith was sworn, and stated that she was present when Zeplin agreed with Johnson to play for him at £5 per week each. Would swear positively that the word "each" was mentioned.

Mr Johnson, having been sworn, stated that he engaged the plaintiff and his mate for £5 per week, and board, but never dreamt of paying them that amount each.

The magistrates said they had no...........the amount claimed.  

[There appears  to be a fold in the newspaper in the above sentence, and it is not clear just what the magistrates thought.] 

 WAGES.

George Griffith v John Johnson. A claim for £5 6s 8d.
This case was exactly similar to the last, and judgment for the amount was taken by consent.

POLICE COURT. (1857, March 28). Ovens and Murray Advertiser (Beechworth, Vic. : 1857 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved October 8, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113014651

George Zeplin was a fruiterer and greengrocer (and evidently a harpist) at Woolshed, per Ovens directory 1857.  John Johnson was a publican at One Mile (about one mile south of the centre of Beechworth).    Henry Johnson was listed in the Ovens Directory as a publican at Woolshed.  According to Nobblers and Lushingtons: a history of the hotels of Beechworth and the Ovens District, by Richard Patterson, Johnston's Hotel was located at Upper Woolshed, where it had been from 1856. In September 1858 the hotel was described as 'the best finished house on the Woolshed'. (Patterson, p 302.)


The most interesting aspect of this post, to me, was George and Susan's brush with fame - the case was heard before Police Magistrate Robert O'Hara Burke, who would later go on to lead the ill-fated Victorian Exploring Expedition in 1860.

In the nineteenth century citizens were probably more familiar with the inside of a Magistrates' Court, which they used to chase wages owed, payments for goods, unpaid rent or board, and so on.

We learn from this that George was employed at £5 a week in a hotel to play what one imagines woud have been popular music.   We don't know what sort of week that entailed - all day for six days, or every evening for six days, five days?  The wage for a carpenter was £1-10-0 per day, a bricklayer could earn £1-5-0 per day, and a labourer between 15 shillings and £1 a day.  So these musicians (had they been paid) would have been earning less than a labourer - or the day was not a full working day.  It is hard to know unless we can shed some more light on it.