Overview Of Barlow's Life
Barlow was born in Lancashire, in or near Stockport, in 1820. No document has been found to verify the exact date and place. His death certificate gives the month and the year. A census form gives the location as Micksert, which may be a miss-spelling of Micklehurst. Micklehurst is a small town just outside Stockport. Barlow's mother's name is unknown. The city of Stockport had a confectionary industry, as well as being known for its textile mills, where clog-dancing was born. The Barlow name is common in this area.
Nothing is known of Barlow's early life or his family. There exists a letter from a New Zealand newspaper that seems to indicate that Barlow had a close relative. A brother? The address, in Victoria, Australia, and the name given by the contributor, fits with Barlow. It is about a legacy. The letter seeks John Barlow, a carpenter, who went to New Zealand from Manchester in 1840. The date of this advertisement is 1861. Could this indicate a date for the death of Barlow's father?
On the 11th of September 1843 a Robert Barlow married a Jane Matthews. They were both residing in Wellgate, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and that's where the marriage took place. Robert's father's name is given as William Barlow, confectioner. Robert's occupation is given as confectioner. Although Barlow was performing regularly by this time, he could have had another trade. Barlow's death certificate says he was twenty-three at the time of his marriage, and that it was in Rotherham. Jane was a minor according to the marriage certificate. This all looks like a perfect match for Barlow and his wife Jane, except that on the 7th of June 1906, in Gympie, Queensland, the Barlows celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary. Nowhere does it state that this celebration is three years late. Surely this must be what happened, though. Barlow's death certificate, issued only eight months later, gives his age at death and his age at marriage. That leads us back to a marriage in 1843.
Barlow was already an established and popular performer in and around London by the mid-1840s. He was also well-known all over the British Isles. I believe he visited America after February 17th 1848, returning to England by June 1849. From 1846, the first of Barlow's songbooks was published. By 1852 there were eleven editions in the series. Some of these books are kept at the London Library. The cost of obtaining copies is too great for me, but some covers can be viewed online at another website. From these it can be seen that Barlow's songs were those sung by minstrel troupes. I believe some were written by Barlow. See Songs Sung by Barlow
Barlow and Jane sailed to Melbourne, Australia, in 1852. Melbourne was still a tent city with some permanent buildings. They were soon living in a house on the Yarra River near the Cremorne Gardens. It is not known if Barlow built this house, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that he did. Barlow began performing in Joseph Rowe's Circus soon after his arrival in Melbourne. He very quickly also became established as a solo performer in venues around Melbourne.
In 1854 on November the 18th an article in the Melbourne Argus gives us tantalizing information. Shortly after the Victorian Fine Arts Exhibition, officials sorting the paintings came upon two unlabeled paintings by the young artist James Anderson: a portrait and another undescribed painting. The catalogue gave them only one possible title for the portrait: that of W. R. Barlow. There was some discussion about this portrait. Firstly about the intelligent countenance so depicted and, later in the article:
"We presume that this was not the 'Inimitable' possessor of the name and delineator of the musical capabilities of the 'blue-tailed fly'..."
I believe that it most certainly was Our Barlow. Did these snobs really think that actors look the same off-stage? Were they so completely unaware of other forms of artistic expression? Anderson painted other performers at this time, including Circus owner Joseph Rowe and his horse Adonis. Anderson went on to become a respected painter in Sydney.
Of the portrait of W. R. Barlow there is no trace. One website gives this painting the title W. E. Barlow, but the title is clear in the newspaper article.
It was sometime around 1855 that Barlow and Jane adopted a little girl. Family historian John Black has found that this child was Margaret Drummond. Her mother died in Melbourne's Tent Town soon after arriving in Melbourne in 1853, and her father six months later. It is not known what happened to Margaret's siblings. Margaret had been born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1850. In 1868 the marriage certificate of Barlow and Jane's daughter gives her name as Jane Margaret Drummond Barlow. Articles, so far found, about Barlow's tours in Victoria, at this time, never mention his wife or his daughter.
In February 1855 Barlow began performances in Ballarat, and continued to perform here and in other towns on the Central Victorian Goldfields. This same month he was seen and heard riding around Creswick with a German brass band advertising his shows.
This notice was lodged in the Melbourne Argus on Friday October the 19th 1855
MONDAY, 22nd OCTOBER 1855
Richmond,
Near the Cremorne Gardens.
Sale by Auction,
Not of Shakespeare's House,
But the
Residence of Robert Barlow, Esq.,
Of
Blue-tail'd Fly Notoriety,
Who is leaving for the interior.
T GIBBS has received instructions from the proprietor to sell by public auction on Monday, 22nd inst.,
The following freehold property, viz. :
Ground having a frontage of 30 feet by 98 feet 6 inches, on which is erected
A superior Four-Roomed House,
With outhouse attached, built to order, papered and painted, stone fire-places, grooved and tongued floors, and everything of first quality, zinc guttering round the roof, the ground well fenced in.
This residence is most desirably situated on the banks of the Yarra.
To gentlemen having business in town it affords a most available opportunity in consequence of the river steamers continually running between it and Prince's Bridge.
Mr. BARLOW will have the pleasure of meeting his friends, whom he hopes to see buzzing round him in swarms, at Cremorne Gardens at eleven o'clock, and from thence proceed to the ground. 28 Oct. 22
By 1856 Barlow was performing in Beechworth and other towns in the Ovens Valley as well as in Central Victoria. He'd built a cottage in Malmsbury. His friend Joseph Tuckwell came upon Barlow "putting the roof on the house he'd built himself ".
In 1857 from February to September Barlow performed in and around Ballarat. In June a song written by Barlow was reprinted in the Portland Guardian. This song was sung, so the newspaper said, in Casterton at a soirée. Casterton is a town in the Western District of Victoria, north of Portland. This suggests that Barlow may have taken a tour from Ballarat to Casterton and back, before commencing his Portland tour in September. His September tour was his first visit to Portland on his way to Adelaide in South Australia.
Two horses were stolen from him while he was performing in Portland. They were found in Hamilton, and Barlow went there to retrieve them. Many times after this it becomes apparent that Barlow kept and bred fine horses. Early in the 20th century a former jockey recalled riding Barlow's race horse, Creeping Jane.
From early 1858 until August 1862, Barlow again performed in Melbourne and in the Goldfields of Central Victoria. He and his wife then went on tour to India and China. Jane Margaret probably went with them, but nothing can be found to confirm that.
In early November 1863, Barlow was performing in Fortitude Valley near Brisbane. This is according to an article, headed Fifty Years Ago, published on November 8th 1913 in the Brisbane Courier.
THE AMAZING STORY OF SURVIVAL SHIPWRECK & PIRATES
In December of 1863 Barlow performed at the Haymarket Theatre in Melbourne. He recounted his recent adventures on the China Seas. On the same program was a two-act play called: Anchor of Hope, a Seaman's Story. Barlow's involvement in the performance of this play is unknown. There is no cast list on the advertisement. A nautical play called Anchor of Hope had been around since 1826. Edward Stirling's Anchor of Hope or The Seaman's Star dates from 1847. Interestingly, Barlow was performing in Surrey at the time of its first performance there. In Melbourne, in 1855, it was called a "new drama". The play is a farce and contains shipwreck, sword-fights, and pirates.
In what is a timely coincidence, a piece of clever programming, an exaggerated version of the truth, or an example of total moonshine, Barlow presented his story about being shipwrecked off Formosa (Taiwan). He'd been touring in India and China. This much at least is true. In China he and his wife had been "given safe passage to the front" by General Gordon. This is possible. Gordon was in China at the time, and I believe Barlow when he says he performed for him. Then Barlow was shipwrecked and attacked by pirates. The ship, Barlow said, was carrying over three hundred passengers and crew. Barlow says he was one of the few survivors. Although left without instruments and props, he continued performing in China, using an improvised version of his rock harmonican among other things.
Pirate attacks, including shipwreck, were common in the seas around China and there are many gaps in the records of them. The survival rate of shipwreck victims was low. It was a wild and dangerous place both onshore and on the sea. It has to be said that many nineteenth-century performers had experiences in India, the Pacific Islands, Madagascar, Burma, China, and Japan, that make fictional adventure stories appear tame. Many stories included shipwreck, savages, pirates, cannibals, war-lords, gunfights. Still and all, as Valda points out, Barlow was very popular at the time. Other well-known performers involved in shipwrecks -- and there were quite a few -- were noted in Australian and New Zealand papers.
Later Barlow recounted his story in many places, among them, in Ballarat, with Paul Maxey in 1864. On this occasion Barlow gave a pseudo-serious, "twaddling", rendition of the story, while Maxey simultaneously performed a burlesque version. Witnesses thought it extremely funny. When Barlow performed this piece in Launceston, Tasmania, in 1867, he added pirates. He said he was shipwrecked and attacked by pirates on the Chinese Seas. At least once Barlow told the story and included his song, The China Side of Jordon.
Barlow added Chinese characters and Chinese instruments to his act after his adventures in China. He formed a minstrel troupe, in Ballarat, using several members of the Campbell Minstrels. Barlow named this troupe Barlow's Campbell Minstrels. The troupe-within-a-troupe called the Minstrels of the Moon was part of this group. They played Chinese instruments and used the names: Bah-Low, Max-He, How-Song, and Sy-Moons.
Barlow and his Campbell Minstrels, and the Minstrels of the Moon, performed in Melbourne for a season before going on to Sydney in the middle of 1864. Barlow left his troupe in Sydney and began another tour to England. Because Barlow's wife and daughter are with him on several ship lists for the next three years, I believe they accompanied him on this tour.
In 1865 Barlow was performing in the country of his birth. He was back in London where, it seems, his popularity was undiminished. He performed at The Philharmonic in Islington from January to May. An advertisement for Barlow's last days at the Philharmonic says he has performed there for one hundred and fifty-two nights.
After May there are two months unaccounted for before Barlow and Jane left Gravesend on the Echunga, bound for New Zealand. They arrived in Dunedin, New Zealand, on December the 9th 1865. A note of thanks was published, to the ship's captain from the passengers. Among the names are those of Mr and Mrs Barlow. Four days later, true to form, Barlow began performing in Dunedin. It was his first appearance in New Zealand, and he arrived unannounced, but he immediately got his own segment on a program with Foley's Californian Circus. He was called "the chef d'ouvre". On December the 23rd an advertisement says Barlow "is supported by the Circus Company". In advertisements there are comments about Barlow coming fresh from England with new material from London. There is also the remark that Barlow's name was a familiar one on the Victorian Goldfields. He was booked to perform at an annual fete in Dunedin in January 1866. A Wellington newspaper says Barlow may visit soon. Barlow had quickly found his way into the hearts of the people of New Zealand. From this first tour in New Zealand, Barlow's visits were always anticipated with great excitement.
Barlow stayed in New Zealand for the next year, touring all over the country. His audiences in Auckland became increasingly larger, but he happily performed in small towns and hamlets too. Many times he engaged an old friend, Alfred Oakey, to play piano for him. Oakey had settled in New Zealand after performing in Ballarat in the 1850s. Barlow used other performers too. The acrobat and trapeze artist Mr Wallace performed in the little town of Hokitika with Barlow. Wallace was billed as an "India-rubber man". This meant rubber trapezes and slack-ropes. On April the 23rd 1866 The Nelson Evening Mail published an interesting snippet:
"...We doubt not a Nelson audience will have to endorse the language of a Calcutta bard;
We roared with laughter at each flash of wit
Admired thee on the light fantastic toe
We grinned, when Sambo burst into a fit
And swore the blue tail'd fly tormented him so."
Was this an Englishman who had seen Barlow's act in India? Does it come from an Indian newspaper article about Barlow's performance there?
In Wellington, in May 1866, newspaper advertisements say this:
"Remember this is the Original Barlow, the first person to give entertainments on the Victorian Goldfields."
Newspapers from Victoria indicate that this may well be true.
Barlow completed his extended tour of New Zealand back in Dunedin for the Christmas Season of 1866.
In February 1867 Barlow made his first trip to Tasmania. Here he performed at the Theatre Royal in Launceston. Also on the bill was Mr Adolphus Frederick Spiller, the champion roller-skater. Barlow's reputation had preceded him and among the reviews of his shows there is the one that is reprinted in the Introduction section of this study.
Now Barlow could perform anywhere in Australia and New Zealand and be assured of an enthusiastic and admiring audience. He had yet to perform in Western Australia and the far north of Queensland, but newspapers from all over Australia carried stories about him.
In June 1867 Barlow was back in Melbourne. He performed here and also in Ballarat during this year. He must have performed in other towns of the Victorian Goldfields at this time too. In March of this year the other Mr and Mrs. Barlow, who had a pony-dog-and-monkey act, were shipwrecked off Manilla. Walter Burton, son of Henry Burton of Burton's Circus, was with them. The human members of the troupe survived, but not the animals. There was some confusion and consternation expressed by the Australian fans of the Inimitable Barlow. This poses the question of how Barlow's shipwreck in 1863 went unnoticed until he mentioned it.
In February 1868 Barlow advertised the sale of horses and carriages from 21 Smith Street, Collingwood. This is an inner-city suburb of Melbourne. Was Barlow living at this address? In April of that year Barlow went to Sydney. He performed here, with the support of the Royal Victoria Star Company, as "the people's favourite." Later that month it was announced that Barlow was leaving for Japan. There was a Japanese troupe performing in Sydney at a theatre near where Barlow was performing. On the 1st of May the SS Albion left Sydney for Japan. The Barlows were not on board. They sailed to Brisbane on the Clarence five days later. The passengers on the Albion had a terrible time on their arrival in Japan because of the unrest there. Barlow would no doubt have turned the adventure to his advantage.
Barlow played alone to admiring audiences at the Brisbane School of Arts for a season. On September the 18th 1868 Barlow was granted a Hotel Licence for his Appollonian Hall in Gympie. Gympie was a small town on a goldfield north of Brisbane. It may well be that Barlow actually built his hotel, with his own hands, but I don't know for sure. In books about Gympie's early history there are stories that mention Barlow's hotel. The information seems to come from people who didn't actually go inside. The kindest stories say that Barlow catered to the public taste. Others say Barlow was fond of singing bawdy topical songs about the local people. Some say that the hotel was a rowdy, rough, and disagreeable establishment. The newspapers of the day give us the only frank view of the Appolonian Hall. The advertisements in them were submitted by Barlow, but they speak for themselves. Barlow employed a step-dancer, violinists, singers, actors of note, and a band. Then there's the invitation to a soirée to be held at Barlow's new Appolonian Hall, on the One Mile Road, by the ladies and gentlemen connected with the Presbyterian Church in Gympie. The article goes on to say that the erection of a place of worship will be discussed. These advertisements, along with everything said elsewhere about Barlow, in regard to his proper behaviour, suggest a conflict of some sort.
For whatever reason, Barlow sold his Appolonian Hall, along with all the trappings, on the 20th of March 1869. This was just four days after the marriage of Jane Margaret Drummond Barlow to Adam Black. Adam Black had been in New Zealand at the same time as the Barlows. Some articles, written after the event, say that Barlow considered the occupation of hotelier to be undignified. I'm inclined to believe it was just a problem of gossip potentially affecting his daughter. William Taylor, who bought Barlow's hotel, may have been the singer of that name who had also been in New Zealand.
According to an article in the Gympie Times in 1910, after selling his hotel, Barlow and Jane went on tour to South Africa, America, Canada, and the Colonies. This has to be a faulty recollection. Barlow and his wife remained in Queensland until October 1870 and then went to Melbourne. Barlow and Jane had visited England and New Zealand during 1865, but with no time to tour America. Barlow had been to America before 1852, and may have been to Canada then too. There had been a tour to China and probably to India and Burma in 1863. They went to South Africa in 1880.
Following the abrupt sale of his beloved Appolonian Hall, Barlow performed in Brisbane for a few nights, in April 1869, before going inland to Dalby. The people of Dalby had just rebuilt their Union Hall, and they were delighted that the Great Barlow was so pleased with it. Opera singer Madame Carandini, on the other hand, apparently did not like the halls of Dalby.
By early August 1869 Barlow was back in Brisbane. At the Royal Victoria Hall he performed at a benefit for singer Miss Creed Royal. On August the 3rd 1869 there is a remark in the newspaper lamenting the loss, to the stage, of such a talented actor as Barlow. Barlow's plans to retire on the Albert River had been announced. By October of that year Barlow was growing sugar cane on the Albert River in Queensland. His name appears on an advertisement for ploughs. Articles in New Zealand's newspapers, during 1870, noted Barlow's retirement from the stage and gave his new occupation as sugar-farmer. The last of these is in August 1870. (Miss Royal died in 1876 at the age of thirty-one.)
Barlow's retirement lasted just over a year. By late October 1870 he was in Melbourne again. The Duke of Edinburgh visited Melbourne and Barlow lent him fine horses to pull his carriage. The Duke's letter of thanks is one of the few pieces of memorabilia still kept by the descendants of Jane Margaret. Barlow, along with many other entertainers, performed for the Duke.
Through the first half of I871 Barlow continued performing in Melbourne. In March he performed for a week at the Polytechnic Hall "with his talented company of first-class Artists". They presented: Gems of Operatic Music. The singers included George Bromley. Bromley was billed as Australian, a comic singer, and a polyphonist. He was a clever actor of many characters, including female ones. After this, in June 1871, Barlow hired George Bromley, along with Thomas Buckley and Charles Holly, to form a Minstrel Troupe for a tour of New Zealand. Buckley and Holly were American minstrels who were champion step-dancers as well as singers, musicians and actors.
Through June and July, the Barlow Troupe performed in New Zealand. The performances were said to be of a very high quality, but the audiences were mostly small. The Christchurch Hospital and the Lyttelton Orphan Asylum both received donations from the troupe. On the SS Go-ahead, bound for Manukau on the North Island, the troupe shared passage with 40 cattle and 250 sheep.
On July the 28th several key events occurred in Wellington. Barlow presented his new entertainment called Chang High and the Dwarf Little Hong Kong. Barlow was maintaining his solo act within the performances of the troupe. He was still the manager of the troupe. Other performers were added to the line-up: minstrels Horace Bent and Nick La Feuillade. Also a young local pianist, Luscombe Searrell. On August 1st a reporter said that,
"The performances are conducted with a fastidiousness which alone would win the approbation of the most prudent and circumspect..."
He also said, "...The houses have not been such as the company deserves..."
The next night it was evident that the troupe was in trouble. There was a poor house, and La Feuillade refused to play an encore after his violin solo. The next night Barlow was "indisposed", and didn't appear on the bill. It is unclear whether or not the problem that faced the troupe was merely financial. There was some sort of ill-feeling between at least some of the members. Barlow formally disbanded his troupe on the 4th of August, and published a disclaimer regarding claims made against him for further costs. On the 7th of August 1871, the following passengers left Wellington on board the SS Taranaki: Nick La Feuillade, Horace Bent, Luscombe Searrell, Harry Kelly, George Bromley, Charles Holly, and two other minstrels. Barlow opened alone in Otago while The American Excelsior Minstrels, under the management of Harry Kelly, opened in Auckland on the same date. Charles Holly soon joined them. The Star Polygraphic Company were also formed at this time. The members were: Nick La Feuillade, William Horace Bent, George Bromley, Thomas Buckley, and Master Luscome Searell.
In May of 1872 The Barlow Troupe performed at the Theatre Royal in Hobart, Tasmania. Barlow had formed a troupe with Thomas Buckley, Charles Holly, and a performer named as Jeffrey. Harry Kelly's name was on advertisements in April for this tour, but he was replaced by Jeffrey. In detailed advertisements for these shows Jeffrey is listed only in the heading. Barlow's wife was with him on this tour.
From May 20th to June 10th The Barlow Troupe was performing in Bendigo, Victoria. The line-up was the same as for Tasmania.
From June 18th to July 8th the Barlow Troupe performed at the Theatre Royal Adelaide, and at the Port Theatre. The line-up was the same as for Tasmania and Bendigo. On July the 11th Barlow had to reprimand the larrikins in the gallery. They were told that in the future any boy who behaved badly would have to leave. On the 8th of August Barlow and his wife are on the ship-list of the SS Coorong. Buckley and Holly are not there. The Barlows arrived in Melbourne from Adelaide two days later.
Until May 1873 there is a gap where Barlow's activities are not known. He doesn't appear to have been performing in Melbourne. There is a newspaper report, twelve years later, that suggests Barlow toured in the Wimmera around this time.
Through May and June 1873 Barlow performed in Sydney. He appeared at the Royal Victoria Theatre. There is mention of Barlow playing a Flautophone. He is also playing his banjo. Barlow is said to have last visited Sydney five years ago. On May the 14th Barlow, as a solo act within a concert, performed at the Sydney Exhibition Building. It was a benefit for Mr Charles Lascelles. Three thousand people paid to attend. Crowds stood quietly at the back when the seats were full. The audience heard the songs without any problem. On June the 7th Barlow advertised for a pianist willing to travel. Two days later Barlow's name is on the shipping list of the Lady Young, bound for Brisbane. Mrs. Barlow is not there. From November 29th to December 10th 1873 Barlow was performing at the School of Arts in Brisbane. He employed pianist Charles H. Smith. Also supporting Barlow was Mr McLeod, a flutist.
In 1874 on July the 6th a newspaper says Barlow is back in Sydney from Queensland. From the 20th of that month Barlow performed for a short season at the Sydney School of Arts. He'd formed yet another troupe called the Barlow Troupe. The other members were: Professor Goulston, pianist; Mr H. Stoneham; Miss Adelaide Stoneham. The Stonemans were brother and sister. In August and September The Barlow Troupe appeared at the Windsor School of Arts and the West Maitland School of Arts. In Maitland Mr D'Arcy, a baritone singer, joined them. Barlow and Professor Goulston began a season in Hobart, Tasmania, at the Theatre Royal. The Barlow troupe was now: Barlow, Goulston, and Professor Hennicki the Wizard. They performed there through November 1874.
On November the 19th the captain and crew of the American ship the SS Swatara were in the audience. This ship was in the area on a scientific expedition studying the transit of Venus. The people of Hobart gave them a party. During Barlow's show four members of the crew performed. They were: W. Baker, John MacLeatry, W. Bollman, and Joseph Holcomb. They danced Clog Dances and Sand Jig Dances.
The Barlow Troupe left for Melbourne on the SS Tasman on the 28th of November. With them were the wives of Barlow and Hennicki. Also with them was Master Hennicki. Professor Goulston left the troupe at this point. Barlow and Professor Hennicki began performing in Adelaide at the Theatre Royal on the 12th of December. The Brothers Franks were added to the troupe as dancers and singers. Barlow and this troupe continued there until early January 1875.
In April May and June 1875 there are some newspaper articles that briefly mention that Barlow is touring in country Victoria. Certainly more will come to light in time. In May and June it was noted that Barlow was playing to packed houses in Bendigo (then called Sandhurst). He was performing at the James Hall.
In late March 1876 Barlow was performing at the Theatre Royal, Castlemaine, with several supporting acts, including the child dancer Baby Osbourne. In October of this year Barlow performed at the St George's Hall in Melbourne.
In March 1877 Barlow was performing in New South Wales at Wallsend and at Lampton before arriving in Sydney for the Annual Exhibition. This was run by the New South Wales Agricultural Society. On April the 14th Barlow performed at Prince Alfred Park. He remained in Sydney to give performances at the Victoria Theatre in early June. He then gave shows in nearby towns. Late in June he returned to Lampton to perform at the Music Hall there. Barlow must have liked Lampton. He went back a third time in September and judged a baby show after one of his performances. Towards the end of August 1877 Barlow performed in Grafton. During his time there he joined local actors to perform a play about the Crimean War. This may have been the burletta written for Barlow in 1855 by James Mulholland. It was called The Siege of Sebastopol. Barlow performed it many times over the years.
Barlow revisited Portland Victoria in April 1878. He sang his song Tommy Best's Coffin for the Best family and their friends. The famous ventriloquist E. D. Davies performed on the same bill at Portland's Masonic Hall. From Portland Barlow went on to Adelaide and performed there during May. Davies presented shows at the same venues after Barlow. Barlow was on another one of his solo tours presenting a one-man show.
In October and November of 1878 Barlow toured in Gippsland performing at Sale, Rosedale, Stratford, Traralgon, Toongabbie, and Walhalla.
There is another gap at this point except that in November 1879 there is a rates notice for Barlow's property in Malmsbury. This fits with his continuing presence in Victoria even while setting up homes in Queensland, at Gympie and at Albert River.
In 1880 on May the 20th Barlow performed at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne. It was Barlow's Farewell to Australia. Barlow was given a purse of sovereigns. He was planning a life of farming and gold-seeking in South Africa. It seems that Barlow truly believed he was leaving Australia for ever. He and Jane gave their daughter a Bible inscribed with the words:
"This Book Presented by Robert and Jane Barlow, to their dear and beloved daughter Mrs Adam Black, on their departure From Melbourne, for the 'Cape of Good Hope'. Thursday May 27th 1880."
There was no time for even a quick trip to Gympie before going to South Africa via Western Australia. Was the Bible posted to their daughter? Entrusted to a friend? On May 30th Barlow and Jane left Melbourne, for South Africa, on the S.S. Northumberland which was under the command of Captain John Cumming. By July word was that Barlow was farming in the Cape. Not surprisingly, a short time later it became apparent that Barlow was not in retirement from the stage. Printed on August 15th in the South Australian Register was this:
"Maritzburg, with only a few thousands of a population, and merely a South African village, is very well off for amusement and means of intellectual improvement. We are so far favoured as to have in our midst (there is a list of performers here) and another antipodean favourite. Mr Barlow, the 'Blue-tailed Fly'."
Barlow and Jane were in South Africa during the "Majuba Disaster" in February of 1881. It is not known if they then toured elsewhere before returning to Australia in November of that year.
From November 1881 until late April 1882 Barlow performed in Perth, Western Australia. He also performed in the towns nearby, attracting large crowds and much praise wherever he went. Newspapers noted his early days on the Victorian Goldfields and his Diggings Song is quoted:
"...thirty years ago this same Billy Barlow caused the sides of the rough Ovens Diggers to shake, when the favourite song at Wangaratta was:
Ho, Ho, hark-a-do-ho!
I'm off to the diggings, says
William Barlow!."
On July 1st 1882 a Brisbane newspaper says that Barlow has returned there after an eight-year absence touring in Australia, South Africa and Mauritius. For the next three years Barlow performed in Queensland. In June 1884 he was in Rockhampton performing with a troupe called The Bouquet of Mirth Company. This venture was not a financial success, and Barlow went back to performing alone. In Bundaberg, in December of this same year, Barlow performed with A. A. Gaskarth, a well-known Brisbane violinist. A line based on the Billy Barlow refrain was printed in a newspaper article. It may have come from Barlow.
"A nice old ninepenny tucket carle, oh
Is Old Gaskarth for Billy Barlow."
A year later, in July 1885, Barlow was performing in Euroa, Victoria at the Public Hall. It is noted that it is his first visit to Euroa. In November of this year Barlow was touring in the Wimmera in Victoria. He performed in Horsham's Mechanics' Institute on the 18th and 19th. There is more to be found about this tour. December saw Barlow back in Melbourne performing at the Victoria Hall. His Blue-tailed Fly act was still as popular as ever.
On February the 1st 1886 Barlow was again in Gippsland. He performed for a week at the Victoria Hall in Sale. There would have been more performances in this area at that time. On the 26th of July 1886 he performed in Ballarat at the Mechanics' Institute. He drew crowded houses as he always did in Central Victoria. In December of that year Barlow performed in Melbourne at St George's Hall. Harry Rickards was on the same bill.
Through January 1887 he appeared at Melbourne's Victoria Hall where he had been engaged at an enormous salary. On the 12th of February the name R. Barlow is on the ship's list of the SS Wendouree leaving for Sydney via Newcastle. On Arrival in Sydney this name is printed as William Barlow. This fits with Barlow's subsequent tour overland through New England from Sydney to Cairns. Barlow's wife is not on any of the passenger lists during this tour.
In March 1887 Barlow suddenly appeared unannounced in Singleton New South Wales. It was said to be his first time there. He performed at the Mechanics' Institute, receiving reviews that show delight and amazement. In early June he performed in Warwick. He was performing in Charters Towers at the School of Arts in September. He performed in Cairns on the 14th and 15th of September. On the 20th of October 1887 Barlow left Cairns for Cooktown.
From late October until Christmas Day 1887, Barlow was presumably performing in Cooktown and Thursday Island. He is on the passenger list of the SS Victoria leaving Thursday Island on the 24th of December. He is going to Townsville.
During 1888 Barlow bought a property five miles out of Gympie on the Noosa Road. He was always hopeful of finding gold, and this venture looked like a good idea. Some gold was indeed found there. It appears, however, that he lost a great deal of money in this venture because towards the end of 1890 he is said to be stranded in Brisbane Hospital without friends or means. This seems strange because Barlow's daughter was living nearby in Gympie. There is no mention of his wife Jane either. Many newspapers in Australia and New Zealand reported Barlow's misfortune and in Perth a collection was made for him.
In November of 1891 a newspaper article from Dunedin in New Zealand says Barlow has arrived in Wellington on the Waihora. The article also states that Barlow had retired from the stage many years ago, and has since given his attentions to mining speculations and farming in Queensland. Also noted is a recent illness. Barlow was performing until at least the end of 1887 so his retirement was, at the most, four years long.
This last tour in New Zealand spanned two years finishing in December of 1893. There is no mention of Jane on any passenger list during this time. Barlow was as sprightly and energetic as always and many times it was noted that he seemed as young as ever. He toured all over both islands, performing in large and small venues. He was welcomed as an old friend.
When Barlow performed at the Theatre Royal in Nelson, his friend Alfred Oakey played piano accompaniment. Oakey and Barlow had performed together in Ballarat in the 1850s.
On March the 4th 1892 Barlow was in Marlborough for his Monday night's performance. In the Club Hotel a man eating soup was aware of a buzzing fly which seemed to land on his neck. Barlow, always ready for an impromptu performance, interrupted his meal to bring out his imaginary Blue-tailed Fly. There is a curious report from this same town a few days later. A newspaper reporter says that,
"After the performance Mr Barlow gave a wonderful exhibition to a few friends. It would hardly be believed that a man of 72 years of age could lift two men, one weighing 17 stone and the other over 16 stone, at the one time, but he did it several times."
Was this an illusion? Barlow did do a weight-lifting act in Rowe's Circus in the 1850s, along with tumbling.
Barlow returned to Melbourne in December of 1893 where he performed at Frank Clarke's Alhambra Theatre. This season continued through January 1894. There was a big line-up of performers that included Florrie Ford. In November of 1894 Barlow was back in Rockhampton in Queensland, performing at the School of Arts.
In January 1895 he was in Gympie. At the Olympic Hall he performed for the members of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science. They were on a day-trip from Brisbane. From February to April of this year Barlow performed at Brisbane's Theatre Royal. He was called the World famous BARLOW. Here he again shared the stage with Florrie Ford. In May 1895 a Tasmanian newspaper says Barlow is in Sydney. There follows, in this article, the tantalizing comment that he will shortly publish a book of reminiscences. Sadly, there is no evidence that he ever did this. By July 1895 Barlow was in Victoria performing at the Kyneton Town Hall.
1896 in June and early in July Barlow was performing at the Academy of the Arts in Sydney. The Hiscock (Federal) Minstrels were on the same bill. On July the 7th he appeared for the first time in Sunbury, Victoria, at the Mechanics' Institute. It is noted that he is going on to Riddle's Creek. A newspaper article mentions his clear, strong, tenor voice.
In April 1897 Barlow was touring in Victoria's Wimmera. He performed in Warracknabeal, where he put on one of his Character Entertainments. This was a two-hour solo performance where Barlow sang and danced and acted many roles. Although he was nearly eighty years old, there was no sign that he was slowing down. In May he performed in Horsham at the Mechanics' Institute.
On November the 25th 1897 there was an article in the Cairns Post saying Barlow is in Gympie Hospital suffering from "rheumatic gout". He is noted to have been home, from Victoria, for eight weeks. Barlow said his problem stemmed from sleeping in a damp bed while in Victoria.
As far as I know the performances in Victoria were Barlow's last public performances.
In 1901 on February the 4th Barlow and Jane's adopted daughter, Jane Margaret Drummond, died.
1905 in February, many newspapers in Australia and New Zealand reprinted the line:
"Billy Barlow of Blue Tail Fly memory is reported to be living in straitened circumstances at Gympie".
Over a year later, in May 1906 a copy of the article from 1905 has the added information: "in Crown Road Gympie". It is also noted that Barlow and his wife are very infirm. (Jane Barlow lived for another five years. She died in May 1910 at the age of eighty-four.)
In June 1906 there are newspaper articles about the celebration of the Barlows' Diamond Wedding Anniversary on the 7th of June. This is a puzzle because their marriage certificate gives 11th of September 1843 as their wedding date. Barlow's age, at marriage, on his death certificate fits with 1843.
In what was his last known performance Barlow played his piano and sang for two hours.
He was eighty-six.
On February the 12th 1907, on a Saturday morning, The Inimitable Barlow died from rheumatic arthritis, enteritis, and exhaustion.
He was eighty-seven years and eleven months old.
Nothing is known of Barlow's early life or his family. There exists a letter from a New Zealand newspaper that seems to indicate that Barlow had a close relative. A brother? The address, in Victoria, Australia, and the name given by the contributor, fits with Barlow. It is about a legacy. The letter seeks John Barlow, a carpenter, who went to New Zealand from Manchester in 1840. The date of this advertisement is 1861. Could this indicate a date for the death of Barlow's father?
On the 11th of September 1843 a Robert Barlow married a Jane Matthews. They were both residing in Wellgate, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and that's where the marriage took place. Robert's father's name is given as William Barlow, confectioner. Robert's occupation is given as confectioner. Although Barlow was performing regularly by this time, he could have had another trade. Barlow's death certificate says he was twenty-three at the time of his marriage, and that it was in Rotherham. Jane was a minor according to the marriage certificate. This all looks like a perfect match for Barlow and his wife Jane, except that on the 7th of June 1906, in Gympie, Queensland, the Barlows celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary. Nowhere does it state that this celebration is three years late. Surely this must be what happened, though. Barlow's death certificate, issued only eight months later, gives his age at death and his age at marriage. That leads us back to a marriage in 1843.
Barlow was already an established and popular performer in and around London by the mid-1840s. He was also well-known all over the British Isles. I believe he visited America after February 17th 1848, returning to England by June 1849. From 1846, the first of Barlow's songbooks was published. By 1852 there were eleven editions in the series. Some of these books are kept at the London Library. The cost of obtaining copies is too great for me, but some covers can be viewed online at another website. From these it can be seen that Barlow's songs were those sung by minstrel troupes. I believe some were written by Barlow. See Songs Sung by Barlow
Barlow and Jane sailed to Melbourne, Australia, in 1852. Melbourne was still a tent city with some permanent buildings. They were soon living in a house on the Yarra River near the Cremorne Gardens. It is not known if Barlow built this house, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that he did. Barlow began performing in Joseph Rowe's Circus soon after his arrival in Melbourne. He very quickly also became established as a solo performer in venues around Melbourne.
In 1854 on November the 18th an article in the Melbourne Argus gives us tantalizing information. Shortly after the Victorian Fine Arts Exhibition, officials sorting the paintings came upon two unlabeled paintings by the young artist James Anderson: a portrait and another undescribed painting. The catalogue gave them only one possible title for the portrait: that of W. R. Barlow. There was some discussion about this portrait. Firstly about the intelligent countenance so depicted and, later in the article:
"We presume that this was not the 'Inimitable' possessor of the name and delineator of the musical capabilities of the 'blue-tailed fly'..."
I believe that it most certainly was Our Barlow. Did these snobs really think that actors look the same off-stage? Were they so completely unaware of other forms of artistic expression? Anderson painted other performers at this time, including Circus owner Joseph Rowe and his horse Adonis. Anderson went on to become a respected painter in Sydney.
Of the portrait of W. R. Barlow there is no trace. One website gives this painting the title W. E. Barlow, but the title is clear in the newspaper article.
It was sometime around 1855 that Barlow and Jane adopted a little girl. Family historian John Black has found that this child was Margaret Drummond. Her mother died in Melbourne's Tent Town soon after arriving in Melbourne in 1853, and her father six months later. It is not known what happened to Margaret's siblings. Margaret had been born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1850. In 1868 the marriage certificate of Barlow and Jane's daughter gives her name as Jane Margaret Drummond Barlow. Articles, so far found, about Barlow's tours in Victoria, at this time, never mention his wife or his daughter.
In February 1855 Barlow began performances in Ballarat, and continued to perform here and in other towns on the Central Victorian Goldfields. This same month he was seen and heard riding around Creswick with a German brass band advertising his shows.
This notice was lodged in the Melbourne Argus on Friday October the 19th 1855
MONDAY, 22nd OCTOBER 1855
Richmond,
Near the Cremorne Gardens.
Sale by Auction,
Not of Shakespeare's House,
But the
Residence of Robert Barlow, Esq.,
Of
Blue-tail'd Fly Notoriety,
Who is leaving for the interior.
T GIBBS has received instructions from the proprietor to sell by public auction on Monday, 22nd inst.,
The following freehold property, viz. :
Ground having a frontage of 30 feet by 98 feet 6 inches, on which is erected
A superior Four-Roomed House,
With outhouse attached, built to order, papered and painted, stone fire-places, grooved and tongued floors, and everything of first quality, zinc guttering round the roof, the ground well fenced in.
This residence is most desirably situated on the banks of the Yarra.
To gentlemen having business in town it affords a most available opportunity in consequence of the river steamers continually running between it and Prince's Bridge.
Mr. BARLOW will have the pleasure of meeting his friends, whom he hopes to see buzzing round him in swarms, at Cremorne Gardens at eleven o'clock, and from thence proceed to the ground. 28 Oct. 22
By 1856 Barlow was performing in Beechworth and other towns in the Ovens Valley as well as in Central Victoria. He'd built a cottage in Malmsbury. His friend Joseph Tuckwell came upon Barlow "putting the roof on the house he'd built himself ".
In 1857 from February to September Barlow performed in and around Ballarat. In June a song written by Barlow was reprinted in the Portland Guardian. This song was sung, so the newspaper said, in Casterton at a soirée. Casterton is a town in the Western District of Victoria, north of Portland. This suggests that Barlow may have taken a tour from Ballarat to Casterton and back, before commencing his Portland tour in September. His September tour was his first visit to Portland on his way to Adelaide in South Australia.
Two horses were stolen from him while he was performing in Portland. They were found in Hamilton, and Barlow went there to retrieve them. Many times after this it becomes apparent that Barlow kept and bred fine horses. Early in the 20th century a former jockey recalled riding Barlow's race horse, Creeping Jane.
From early 1858 until August 1862, Barlow again performed in Melbourne and in the Goldfields of Central Victoria. He and his wife then went on tour to India and China. Jane Margaret probably went with them, but nothing can be found to confirm that.
In early November 1863, Barlow was performing in Fortitude Valley near Brisbane. This is according to an article, headed Fifty Years Ago, published on November 8th 1913 in the Brisbane Courier.
THE AMAZING STORY OF SURVIVAL SHIPWRECK & PIRATES
In December of 1863 Barlow performed at the Haymarket Theatre in Melbourne. He recounted his recent adventures on the China Seas. On the same program was a two-act play called: Anchor of Hope, a Seaman's Story. Barlow's involvement in the performance of this play is unknown. There is no cast list on the advertisement. A nautical play called Anchor of Hope had been around since 1826. Edward Stirling's Anchor of Hope or The Seaman's Star dates from 1847. Interestingly, Barlow was performing in Surrey at the time of its first performance there. In Melbourne, in 1855, it was called a "new drama". The play is a farce and contains shipwreck, sword-fights, and pirates.
In what is a timely coincidence, a piece of clever programming, an exaggerated version of the truth, or an example of total moonshine, Barlow presented his story about being shipwrecked off Formosa (Taiwan). He'd been touring in India and China. This much at least is true. In China he and his wife had been "given safe passage to the front" by General Gordon. This is possible. Gordon was in China at the time, and I believe Barlow when he says he performed for him. Then Barlow was shipwrecked and attacked by pirates. The ship, Barlow said, was carrying over three hundred passengers and crew. Barlow says he was one of the few survivors. Although left without instruments and props, he continued performing in China, using an improvised version of his rock harmonican among other things.
Pirate attacks, including shipwreck, were common in the seas around China and there are many gaps in the records of them. The survival rate of shipwreck victims was low. It was a wild and dangerous place both onshore and on the sea. It has to be said that many nineteenth-century performers had experiences in India, the Pacific Islands, Madagascar, Burma, China, and Japan, that make fictional adventure stories appear tame. Many stories included shipwreck, savages, pirates, cannibals, war-lords, gunfights. Still and all, as Valda points out, Barlow was very popular at the time. Other well-known performers involved in shipwrecks -- and there were quite a few -- were noted in Australian and New Zealand papers.
Later Barlow recounted his story in many places, among them, in Ballarat, with Paul Maxey in 1864. On this occasion Barlow gave a pseudo-serious, "twaddling", rendition of the story, while Maxey simultaneously performed a burlesque version. Witnesses thought it extremely funny. When Barlow performed this piece in Launceston, Tasmania, in 1867, he added pirates. He said he was shipwrecked and attacked by pirates on the Chinese Seas. At least once Barlow told the story and included his song, The China Side of Jordon.
Barlow added Chinese characters and Chinese instruments to his act after his adventures in China. He formed a minstrel troupe, in Ballarat, using several members of the Campbell Minstrels. Barlow named this troupe Barlow's Campbell Minstrels. The troupe-within-a-troupe called the Minstrels of the Moon was part of this group. They played Chinese instruments and used the names: Bah-Low, Max-He, How-Song, and Sy-Moons.
Barlow and his Campbell Minstrels, and the Minstrels of the Moon, performed in Melbourne for a season before going on to Sydney in the middle of 1864. Barlow left his troupe in Sydney and began another tour to England. Because Barlow's wife and daughter are with him on several ship lists for the next three years, I believe they accompanied him on this tour.
In 1865 Barlow was performing in the country of his birth. He was back in London where, it seems, his popularity was undiminished. He performed at The Philharmonic in Islington from January to May. An advertisement for Barlow's last days at the Philharmonic says he has performed there for one hundred and fifty-two nights.
After May there are two months unaccounted for before Barlow and Jane left Gravesend on the Echunga, bound for New Zealand. They arrived in Dunedin, New Zealand, on December the 9th 1865. A note of thanks was published, to the ship's captain from the passengers. Among the names are those of Mr and Mrs Barlow. Four days later, true to form, Barlow began performing in Dunedin. It was his first appearance in New Zealand, and he arrived unannounced, but he immediately got his own segment on a program with Foley's Californian Circus. He was called "the chef d'ouvre". On December the 23rd an advertisement says Barlow "is supported by the Circus Company". In advertisements there are comments about Barlow coming fresh from England with new material from London. There is also the remark that Barlow's name was a familiar one on the Victorian Goldfields. He was booked to perform at an annual fete in Dunedin in January 1866. A Wellington newspaper says Barlow may visit soon. Barlow had quickly found his way into the hearts of the people of New Zealand. From this first tour in New Zealand, Barlow's visits were always anticipated with great excitement.
Barlow stayed in New Zealand for the next year, touring all over the country. His audiences in Auckland became increasingly larger, but he happily performed in small towns and hamlets too. Many times he engaged an old friend, Alfred Oakey, to play piano for him. Oakey had settled in New Zealand after performing in Ballarat in the 1850s. Barlow used other performers too. The acrobat and trapeze artist Mr Wallace performed in the little town of Hokitika with Barlow. Wallace was billed as an "India-rubber man". This meant rubber trapezes and slack-ropes. On April the 23rd 1866 The Nelson Evening Mail published an interesting snippet:
"...We doubt not a Nelson audience will have to endorse the language of a Calcutta bard;
We roared with laughter at each flash of wit
Admired thee on the light fantastic toe
We grinned, when Sambo burst into a fit
And swore the blue tail'd fly tormented him so."
Was this an Englishman who had seen Barlow's act in India? Does it come from an Indian newspaper article about Barlow's performance there?
In Wellington, in May 1866, newspaper advertisements say this:
"Remember this is the Original Barlow, the first person to give entertainments on the Victorian Goldfields."
Newspapers from Victoria indicate that this may well be true.
Barlow completed his extended tour of New Zealand back in Dunedin for the Christmas Season of 1866.
In February 1867 Barlow made his first trip to Tasmania. Here he performed at the Theatre Royal in Launceston. Also on the bill was Mr Adolphus Frederick Spiller, the champion roller-skater. Barlow's reputation had preceded him and among the reviews of his shows there is the one that is reprinted in the Introduction section of this study.
Now Barlow could perform anywhere in Australia and New Zealand and be assured of an enthusiastic and admiring audience. He had yet to perform in Western Australia and the far north of Queensland, but newspapers from all over Australia carried stories about him.
In June 1867 Barlow was back in Melbourne. He performed here and also in Ballarat during this year. He must have performed in other towns of the Victorian Goldfields at this time too. In March of this year the other Mr and Mrs. Barlow, who had a pony-dog-and-monkey act, were shipwrecked off Manilla. Walter Burton, son of Henry Burton of Burton's Circus, was with them. The human members of the troupe survived, but not the animals. There was some confusion and consternation expressed by the Australian fans of the Inimitable Barlow. This poses the question of how Barlow's shipwreck in 1863 went unnoticed until he mentioned it.
In February 1868 Barlow advertised the sale of horses and carriages from 21 Smith Street, Collingwood. This is an inner-city suburb of Melbourne. Was Barlow living at this address? In April of that year Barlow went to Sydney. He performed here, with the support of the Royal Victoria Star Company, as "the people's favourite." Later that month it was announced that Barlow was leaving for Japan. There was a Japanese troupe performing in Sydney at a theatre near where Barlow was performing. On the 1st of May the SS Albion left Sydney for Japan. The Barlows were not on board. They sailed to Brisbane on the Clarence five days later. The passengers on the Albion had a terrible time on their arrival in Japan because of the unrest there. Barlow would no doubt have turned the adventure to his advantage.
Barlow played alone to admiring audiences at the Brisbane School of Arts for a season. On September the 18th 1868 Barlow was granted a Hotel Licence for his Appollonian Hall in Gympie. Gympie was a small town on a goldfield north of Brisbane. It may well be that Barlow actually built his hotel, with his own hands, but I don't know for sure. In books about Gympie's early history there are stories that mention Barlow's hotel. The information seems to come from people who didn't actually go inside. The kindest stories say that Barlow catered to the public taste. Others say Barlow was fond of singing bawdy topical songs about the local people. Some say that the hotel was a rowdy, rough, and disagreeable establishment. The newspapers of the day give us the only frank view of the Appolonian Hall. The advertisements in them were submitted by Barlow, but they speak for themselves. Barlow employed a step-dancer, violinists, singers, actors of note, and a band. Then there's the invitation to a soirée to be held at Barlow's new Appolonian Hall, on the One Mile Road, by the ladies and gentlemen connected with the Presbyterian Church in Gympie. The article goes on to say that the erection of a place of worship will be discussed. These advertisements, along with everything said elsewhere about Barlow, in regard to his proper behaviour, suggest a conflict of some sort.
For whatever reason, Barlow sold his Appolonian Hall, along with all the trappings, on the 20th of March 1869. This was just four days after the marriage of Jane Margaret Drummond Barlow to Adam Black. Adam Black had been in New Zealand at the same time as the Barlows. Some articles, written after the event, say that Barlow considered the occupation of hotelier to be undignified. I'm inclined to believe it was just a problem of gossip potentially affecting his daughter. William Taylor, who bought Barlow's hotel, may have been the singer of that name who had also been in New Zealand.
According to an article in the Gympie Times in 1910, after selling his hotel, Barlow and Jane went on tour to South Africa, America, Canada, and the Colonies. This has to be a faulty recollection. Barlow and his wife remained in Queensland until October 1870 and then went to Melbourne. Barlow and Jane had visited England and New Zealand during 1865, but with no time to tour America. Barlow had been to America before 1852, and may have been to Canada then too. There had been a tour to China and probably to India and Burma in 1863. They went to South Africa in 1880.
Following the abrupt sale of his beloved Appolonian Hall, Barlow performed in Brisbane for a few nights, in April 1869, before going inland to Dalby. The people of Dalby had just rebuilt their Union Hall, and they were delighted that the Great Barlow was so pleased with it. Opera singer Madame Carandini, on the other hand, apparently did not like the halls of Dalby.
By early August 1869 Barlow was back in Brisbane. At the Royal Victoria Hall he performed at a benefit for singer Miss Creed Royal. On August the 3rd 1869 there is a remark in the newspaper lamenting the loss, to the stage, of such a talented actor as Barlow. Barlow's plans to retire on the Albert River had been announced. By October of that year Barlow was growing sugar cane on the Albert River in Queensland. His name appears on an advertisement for ploughs. Articles in New Zealand's newspapers, during 1870, noted Barlow's retirement from the stage and gave his new occupation as sugar-farmer. The last of these is in August 1870. (Miss Royal died in 1876 at the age of thirty-one.)
Barlow's retirement lasted just over a year. By late October 1870 he was in Melbourne again. The Duke of Edinburgh visited Melbourne and Barlow lent him fine horses to pull his carriage. The Duke's letter of thanks is one of the few pieces of memorabilia still kept by the descendants of Jane Margaret. Barlow, along with many other entertainers, performed for the Duke.
Through the first half of I871 Barlow continued performing in Melbourne. In March he performed for a week at the Polytechnic Hall "with his talented company of first-class Artists". They presented: Gems of Operatic Music. The singers included George Bromley. Bromley was billed as Australian, a comic singer, and a polyphonist. He was a clever actor of many characters, including female ones. After this, in June 1871, Barlow hired George Bromley, along with Thomas Buckley and Charles Holly, to form a Minstrel Troupe for a tour of New Zealand. Buckley and Holly were American minstrels who were champion step-dancers as well as singers, musicians and actors.
Through June and July, the Barlow Troupe performed in New Zealand. The performances were said to be of a very high quality, but the audiences were mostly small. The Christchurch Hospital and the Lyttelton Orphan Asylum both received donations from the troupe. On the SS Go-ahead, bound for Manukau on the North Island, the troupe shared passage with 40 cattle and 250 sheep.
On July the 28th several key events occurred in Wellington. Barlow presented his new entertainment called Chang High and the Dwarf Little Hong Kong. Barlow was maintaining his solo act within the performances of the troupe. He was still the manager of the troupe. Other performers were added to the line-up: minstrels Horace Bent and Nick La Feuillade. Also a young local pianist, Luscombe Searrell. On August 1st a reporter said that,
"The performances are conducted with a fastidiousness which alone would win the approbation of the most prudent and circumspect..."
He also said, "...The houses have not been such as the company deserves..."
The next night it was evident that the troupe was in trouble. There was a poor house, and La Feuillade refused to play an encore after his violin solo. The next night Barlow was "indisposed", and didn't appear on the bill. It is unclear whether or not the problem that faced the troupe was merely financial. There was some sort of ill-feeling between at least some of the members. Barlow formally disbanded his troupe on the 4th of August, and published a disclaimer regarding claims made against him for further costs. On the 7th of August 1871, the following passengers left Wellington on board the SS Taranaki: Nick La Feuillade, Horace Bent, Luscombe Searrell, Harry Kelly, George Bromley, Charles Holly, and two other minstrels. Barlow opened alone in Otago while The American Excelsior Minstrels, under the management of Harry Kelly, opened in Auckland on the same date. Charles Holly soon joined them. The Star Polygraphic Company were also formed at this time. The members were: Nick La Feuillade, William Horace Bent, George Bromley, Thomas Buckley, and Master Luscome Searell.
In May of 1872 The Barlow Troupe performed at the Theatre Royal in Hobart, Tasmania. Barlow had formed a troupe with Thomas Buckley, Charles Holly, and a performer named as Jeffrey. Harry Kelly's name was on advertisements in April for this tour, but he was replaced by Jeffrey. In detailed advertisements for these shows Jeffrey is listed only in the heading. Barlow's wife was with him on this tour.
From May 20th to June 10th The Barlow Troupe was performing in Bendigo, Victoria. The line-up was the same as for Tasmania.
From June 18th to July 8th the Barlow Troupe performed at the Theatre Royal Adelaide, and at the Port Theatre. The line-up was the same as for Tasmania and Bendigo. On July the 11th Barlow had to reprimand the larrikins in the gallery. They were told that in the future any boy who behaved badly would have to leave. On the 8th of August Barlow and his wife are on the ship-list of the SS Coorong. Buckley and Holly are not there. The Barlows arrived in Melbourne from Adelaide two days later.
Until May 1873 there is a gap where Barlow's activities are not known. He doesn't appear to have been performing in Melbourne. There is a newspaper report, twelve years later, that suggests Barlow toured in the Wimmera around this time.
Through May and June 1873 Barlow performed in Sydney. He appeared at the Royal Victoria Theatre. There is mention of Barlow playing a Flautophone. He is also playing his banjo. Barlow is said to have last visited Sydney five years ago. On May the 14th Barlow, as a solo act within a concert, performed at the Sydney Exhibition Building. It was a benefit for Mr Charles Lascelles. Three thousand people paid to attend. Crowds stood quietly at the back when the seats were full. The audience heard the songs without any problem. On June the 7th Barlow advertised for a pianist willing to travel. Two days later Barlow's name is on the shipping list of the Lady Young, bound for Brisbane. Mrs. Barlow is not there. From November 29th to December 10th 1873 Barlow was performing at the School of Arts in Brisbane. He employed pianist Charles H. Smith. Also supporting Barlow was Mr McLeod, a flutist.
In 1874 on July the 6th a newspaper says Barlow is back in Sydney from Queensland. From the 20th of that month Barlow performed for a short season at the Sydney School of Arts. He'd formed yet another troupe called the Barlow Troupe. The other members were: Professor Goulston, pianist; Mr H. Stoneham; Miss Adelaide Stoneham. The Stonemans were brother and sister. In August and September The Barlow Troupe appeared at the Windsor School of Arts and the West Maitland School of Arts. In Maitland Mr D'Arcy, a baritone singer, joined them. Barlow and Professor Goulston began a season in Hobart, Tasmania, at the Theatre Royal. The Barlow troupe was now: Barlow, Goulston, and Professor Hennicki the Wizard. They performed there through November 1874.
On November the 19th the captain and crew of the American ship the SS Swatara were in the audience. This ship was in the area on a scientific expedition studying the transit of Venus. The people of Hobart gave them a party. During Barlow's show four members of the crew performed. They were: W. Baker, John MacLeatry, W. Bollman, and Joseph Holcomb. They danced Clog Dances and Sand Jig Dances.
The Barlow Troupe left for Melbourne on the SS Tasman on the 28th of November. With them were the wives of Barlow and Hennicki. Also with them was Master Hennicki. Professor Goulston left the troupe at this point. Barlow and Professor Hennicki began performing in Adelaide at the Theatre Royal on the 12th of December. The Brothers Franks were added to the troupe as dancers and singers. Barlow and this troupe continued there until early January 1875.
In April May and June 1875 there are some newspaper articles that briefly mention that Barlow is touring in country Victoria. Certainly more will come to light in time. In May and June it was noted that Barlow was playing to packed houses in Bendigo (then called Sandhurst). He was performing at the James Hall.
In late March 1876 Barlow was performing at the Theatre Royal, Castlemaine, with several supporting acts, including the child dancer Baby Osbourne. In October of this year Barlow performed at the St George's Hall in Melbourne.
In March 1877 Barlow was performing in New South Wales at Wallsend and at Lampton before arriving in Sydney for the Annual Exhibition. This was run by the New South Wales Agricultural Society. On April the 14th Barlow performed at Prince Alfred Park. He remained in Sydney to give performances at the Victoria Theatre in early June. He then gave shows in nearby towns. Late in June he returned to Lampton to perform at the Music Hall there. Barlow must have liked Lampton. He went back a third time in September and judged a baby show after one of his performances. Towards the end of August 1877 Barlow performed in Grafton. During his time there he joined local actors to perform a play about the Crimean War. This may have been the burletta written for Barlow in 1855 by James Mulholland. It was called The Siege of Sebastopol. Barlow performed it many times over the years.
Barlow revisited Portland Victoria in April 1878. He sang his song Tommy Best's Coffin for the Best family and their friends. The famous ventriloquist E. D. Davies performed on the same bill at Portland's Masonic Hall. From Portland Barlow went on to Adelaide and performed there during May. Davies presented shows at the same venues after Barlow. Barlow was on another one of his solo tours presenting a one-man show.
In October and November of 1878 Barlow toured in Gippsland performing at Sale, Rosedale, Stratford, Traralgon, Toongabbie, and Walhalla.
There is another gap at this point except that in November 1879 there is a rates notice for Barlow's property in Malmsbury. This fits with his continuing presence in Victoria even while setting up homes in Queensland, at Gympie and at Albert River.
In 1880 on May the 20th Barlow performed at the Theatre Royal in Melbourne. It was Barlow's Farewell to Australia. Barlow was given a purse of sovereigns. He was planning a life of farming and gold-seeking in South Africa. It seems that Barlow truly believed he was leaving Australia for ever. He and Jane gave their daughter a Bible inscribed with the words:
"This Book Presented by Robert and Jane Barlow, to their dear and beloved daughter Mrs Adam Black, on their departure From Melbourne, for the 'Cape of Good Hope'. Thursday May 27th 1880."
There was no time for even a quick trip to Gympie before going to South Africa via Western Australia. Was the Bible posted to their daughter? Entrusted to a friend? On May 30th Barlow and Jane left Melbourne, for South Africa, on the S.S. Northumberland which was under the command of Captain John Cumming. By July word was that Barlow was farming in the Cape. Not surprisingly, a short time later it became apparent that Barlow was not in retirement from the stage. Printed on August 15th in the South Australian Register was this:
"Maritzburg, with only a few thousands of a population, and merely a South African village, is very well off for amusement and means of intellectual improvement. We are so far favoured as to have in our midst (there is a list of performers here) and another antipodean favourite. Mr Barlow, the 'Blue-tailed Fly'."
Barlow and Jane were in South Africa during the "Majuba Disaster" in February of 1881. It is not known if they then toured elsewhere before returning to Australia in November of that year.
From November 1881 until late April 1882 Barlow performed in Perth, Western Australia. He also performed in the towns nearby, attracting large crowds and much praise wherever he went. Newspapers noted his early days on the Victorian Goldfields and his Diggings Song is quoted:
"...thirty years ago this same Billy Barlow caused the sides of the rough Ovens Diggers to shake, when the favourite song at Wangaratta was:
Ho, Ho, hark-a-do-ho!
I'm off to the diggings, says
William Barlow!."
On July 1st 1882 a Brisbane newspaper says that Barlow has returned there after an eight-year absence touring in Australia, South Africa and Mauritius. For the next three years Barlow performed in Queensland. In June 1884 he was in Rockhampton performing with a troupe called The Bouquet of Mirth Company. This venture was not a financial success, and Barlow went back to performing alone. In Bundaberg, in December of this same year, Barlow performed with A. A. Gaskarth, a well-known Brisbane violinist. A line based on the Billy Barlow refrain was printed in a newspaper article. It may have come from Barlow.
"A nice old ninepenny tucket carle, oh
Is Old Gaskarth for Billy Barlow."
A year later, in July 1885, Barlow was performing in Euroa, Victoria at the Public Hall. It is noted that it is his first visit to Euroa. In November of this year Barlow was touring in the Wimmera in Victoria. He performed in Horsham's Mechanics' Institute on the 18th and 19th. There is more to be found about this tour. December saw Barlow back in Melbourne performing at the Victoria Hall. His Blue-tailed Fly act was still as popular as ever.
On February the 1st 1886 Barlow was again in Gippsland. He performed for a week at the Victoria Hall in Sale. There would have been more performances in this area at that time. On the 26th of July 1886 he performed in Ballarat at the Mechanics' Institute. He drew crowded houses as he always did in Central Victoria. In December of that year Barlow performed in Melbourne at St George's Hall. Harry Rickards was on the same bill.
Through January 1887 he appeared at Melbourne's Victoria Hall where he had been engaged at an enormous salary. On the 12th of February the name R. Barlow is on the ship's list of the SS Wendouree leaving for Sydney via Newcastle. On Arrival in Sydney this name is printed as William Barlow. This fits with Barlow's subsequent tour overland through New England from Sydney to Cairns. Barlow's wife is not on any of the passenger lists during this tour.
In March 1887 Barlow suddenly appeared unannounced in Singleton New South Wales. It was said to be his first time there. He performed at the Mechanics' Institute, receiving reviews that show delight and amazement. In early June he performed in Warwick. He was performing in Charters Towers at the School of Arts in September. He performed in Cairns on the 14th and 15th of September. On the 20th of October 1887 Barlow left Cairns for Cooktown.
From late October until Christmas Day 1887, Barlow was presumably performing in Cooktown and Thursday Island. He is on the passenger list of the SS Victoria leaving Thursday Island on the 24th of December. He is going to Townsville.
During 1888 Barlow bought a property five miles out of Gympie on the Noosa Road. He was always hopeful of finding gold, and this venture looked like a good idea. Some gold was indeed found there. It appears, however, that he lost a great deal of money in this venture because towards the end of 1890 he is said to be stranded in Brisbane Hospital without friends or means. This seems strange because Barlow's daughter was living nearby in Gympie. There is no mention of his wife Jane either. Many newspapers in Australia and New Zealand reported Barlow's misfortune and in Perth a collection was made for him.
In November of 1891 a newspaper article from Dunedin in New Zealand says Barlow has arrived in Wellington on the Waihora. The article also states that Barlow had retired from the stage many years ago, and has since given his attentions to mining speculations and farming in Queensland. Also noted is a recent illness. Barlow was performing until at least the end of 1887 so his retirement was, at the most, four years long.
This last tour in New Zealand spanned two years finishing in December of 1893. There is no mention of Jane on any passenger list during this time. Barlow was as sprightly and energetic as always and many times it was noted that he seemed as young as ever. He toured all over both islands, performing in large and small venues. He was welcomed as an old friend.
When Barlow performed at the Theatre Royal in Nelson, his friend Alfred Oakey played piano accompaniment. Oakey and Barlow had performed together in Ballarat in the 1850s.
On March the 4th 1892 Barlow was in Marlborough for his Monday night's performance. In the Club Hotel a man eating soup was aware of a buzzing fly which seemed to land on his neck. Barlow, always ready for an impromptu performance, interrupted his meal to bring out his imaginary Blue-tailed Fly. There is a curious report from this same town a few days later. A newspaper reporter says that,
"After the performance Mr Barlow gave a wonderful exhibition to a few friends. It would hardly be believed that a man of 72 years of age could lift two men, one weighing 17 stone and the other over 16 stone, at the one time, but he did it several times."
Was this an illusion? Barlow did do a weight-lifting act in Rowe's Circus in the 1850s, along with tumbling.
Barlow returned to Melbourne in December of 1893 where he performed at Frank Clarke's Alhambra Theatre. This season continued through January 1894. There was a big line-up of performers that included Florrie Ford. In November of 1894 Barlow was back in Rockhampton in Queensland, performing at the School of Arts.
In January 1895 he was in Gympie. At the Olympic Hall he performed for the members of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science. They were on a day-trip from Brisbane. From February to April of this year Barlow performed at Brisbane's Theatre Royal. He was called the World famous BARLOW. Here he again shared the stage with Florrie Ford. In May 1895 a Tasmanian newspaper says Barlow is in Sydney. There follows, in this article, the tantalizing comment that he will shortly publish a book of reminiscences. Sadly, there is no evidence that he ever did this. By July 1895 Barlow was in Victoria performing at the Kyneton Town Hall.
1896 in June and early in July Barlow was performing at the Academy of the Arts in Sydney. The Hiscock (Federal) Minstrels were on the same bill. On July the 7th he appeared for the first time in Sunbury, Victoria, at the Mechanics' Institute. It is noted that he is going on to Riddle's Creek. A newspaper article mentions his clear, strong, tenor voice.
In April 1897 Barlow was touring in Victoria's Wimmera. He performed in Warracknabeal, where he put on one of his Character Entertainments. This was a two-hour solo performance where Barlow sang and danced and acted many roles. Although he was nearly eighty years old, there was no sign that he was slowing down. In May he performed in Horsham at the Mechanics' Institute.
On November the 25th 1897 there was an article in the Cairns Post saying Barlow is in Gympie Hospital suffering from "rheumatic gout". He is noted to have been home, from Victoria, for eight weeks. Barlow said his problem stemmed from sleeping in a damp bed while in Victoria.
As far as I know the performances in Victoria were Barlow's last public performances.
In 1901 on February the 4th Barlow and Jane's adopted daughter, Jane Margaret Drummond, died.
1905 in February, many newspapers in Australia and New Zealand reprinted the line:
"Billy Barlow of Blue Tail Fly memory is reported to be living in straitened circumstances at Gympie".
Over a year later, in May 1906 a copy of the article from 1905 has the added information: "in Crown Road Gympie". It is also noted that Barlow and his wife are very infirm. (Jane Barlow lived for another five years. She died in May 1910 at the age of eighty-four.)
In June 1906 there are newspaper articles about the celebration of the Barlows' Diamond Wedding Anniversary on the 7th of June. This is a puzzle because their marriage certificate gives 11th of September 1843 as their wedding date. Barlow's age, at marriage, on his death certificate fits with 1843.
In what was his last known performance Barlow played his piano and sang for two hours.
He was eighty-six.
On February the 12th 1907, on a Saturday morning, The Inimitable Barlow died from rheumatic arthritis, enteritis, and exhaustion.
He was eighty-seven years and eleven months old.