Vesta Victoria

Victoria Lawrence, Leeds, Yorkshire in November 1873.

Vesta Victoria (26 November 1873 – 7 April 1951) was an English music hall singer and comedian. Although born in Leeds, Yorkshire, Vesta adopted a Cockney persona on stage. She began her career as a small child appearing with her father.

The painter Walter Sickert made a portrait of her performance Vesta Victoria at the Old Bedford, in about 1890.

Her solo career took off in 1892 when Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow became a hit. Vesta's comic laments delivered in deadpan style were as popular in the United States as in her homeland and she toured and recorded in America in 1907, where she was one of the most highly paid vaudeville stars. Between appearances, she lived on a houseboat, moored near Hampton Court.

Vesta retired after World War I but re-recorded many of her hits in 1931 in a series of Old-Time Medleys, and appeared in the Royal Variety Show of 1932.

She also appeared in a number of films in the 1930s. She died at Hampstead on April 7, 1951, and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and a lilac tree (no longer in existence) was planted in her memory.

Songs

Her songs are among the best-remembered music hall performances.

    Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow
    He Calls Me His Own Grace Darling
    It's All Right in the Summertime
    It Ain't all Honey and It Ain't all Jam
    Waiting at the Church aka My Wife Won't Let Me
    Poor John
    Now I Have to Call Him Father
    Look What Percy's Picked up in the Park

Discography: