Mrs Caulfield Explained

Louisa Caulfield (Matley, 23 April 1817  - 11 September 1870), known as Mrs Caulfield, was an English music hall singer active in the 1850s and 1860s.

She was born in London, and married John Caulfield (1810 - 1865), an actor. Mrs Caulfield was one of the first female entertainers to appear at Evans's Supper Rooms and at the Canterbury Music Hall, where her husband became the Chairman.[1] She specialised in versions of popular comic songs, with the words often rewritten to give a female perspective.[2] Her most successful songs included "Keemo Kimo, Polly Won't You Try Me, Oh?", a version of a folk song that had been absorbed into the American minstrel tradition;[3] and "The Captain with his Whiskers", again adapted from an earlier tune and popularised in the United States.[4]

She appeared on stage in the 1860s with her husband and their two daughters.[2] One of their daughters, born Louisa Caulfield (1845- after 1907), took the stage name Lennox Grey from that of her first husband, and also became a theatre performer.[5]

Mrs Caulfield died in 1870, in Lambeth, London.[2]

Notes and References

  1. http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Archive/May/MayIndex.htm "Special Feature on The Canterbury Music Hall", Arthur Lloyd, May 2002
  2. Richard Anthony Baker, British Music Hall: an illustrated history, Pen & Sword, 2014,, pp.16-17
  3. https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Kemo_Kimo "Kemo Kimo", Traditional Tune Archive
  4. http://folksongandmusichall.com/index.php/the-captain-with-his-whiskers/ "The Captain with his Whiskers", Folk Song and Music Hall
  5. http://www.19thcenturyphotos.com/Lennox-Grey-123714.htm "Lennox Grey", The Library of Nineteenth-Century Photography