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",Harold Scott, The Early Doors: Origins of the Music Hall, Nicholson & Watson, 1946, p.214 and for parodying the style of popular lions comiques, in particular George Leybourne, with songs such as "Fashionable Fred"."Fashionable Fred", Monologues.co.uk. Retrieved 7 March 2021 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."Cod Liver Oil", Folk Song and Music Hall. Retrieved 7 March 2021 He was known as "The Star of the East", a reference to the East End of London.Michael Kilgarriff, Grace, Beauty and Banjos: Peculiar Lives and Strange Times of Music Hall and Variety Artistes, Oberon Books, 1998, , p.151
Also billed as "The Royal Comic", Laburnum toured with his concert party in later years. He died in London in 1902, aged 54, and was buried at Abney Park Cemetery. "Music Hall Artistes In Abney Park Cemetery", Spitalfields Life, 10 June 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2021
References
External links Walter Laburnum at National Portrait Gallery