Little Tich

Little Tich in 1893

Harry Relph (21 July 1867 – 10 February 1928),[1] professionally known as Little Tich, was
a 4-foot-6-inch-tall (137 cm) English music hall comedian and dancer during the late 19th
and early 20th centuries. He was best known for his acrobatic and comedic Big-Boot
Dance, which he performed in Europe and for which he wore boots with soles 28 inches
(71 cm) long. Aside from his music hall appearances, he was also a popular performer in
Christmas pantomimes and appeared in them annually at theatres throughout the English
provinces. He repeated this success in London, where he appeared in three pantomimes at
the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, between 1891 and 1893 alongside Dan Leno and Marie
Lloyd.

Born in Cudham, Kent, Little Tich began performing aged ten when he developed a dance
and tin-whistle act which he showcased at public houses in Sevenoaks. In the early 1880s
he formed a blackface act and gained popularity with performances at the nearby
Rosherville Pleasure Gardens and Barnard's Music Hall in Chatham. He travelled to London
and appeared at the Forester's Music Hall in 1884. Later that year, he adopted the stage
name "Little Tich", which he based on his childhood nickname of "Tichborne", acquired
through his portly stature and physical likeness to the suspected Tichborne Claimant Arthur
Orton. The terms "titchy" or "titch" were later derived from "Little Tich" and are used to
describe things that are small.
Little Tich's act matured during a tour of the United States between 1887 and 1889 where
he established the Big-Boot Dance and impressed audiences with his ability to stand on the
tips of the shoes and to lean at extraordinary angles. In the 1890s he developed the
Serpentine Dance and had a major success with the Christmas pantomime Babes in the
Wood in Manchester during the 1889–90 season. In 1891, he was recruited by the
impresario Augustus Harris to appear in that year's spectacular Theatre Royal, Drury Lane,
Christmas pantomime Humpty Dumpty. He starred in a further two productions at the
theatre including Little Bo Peep (1892) and Robinson Crusoe (1893).

Between 1896 and 1902 Little Tich performed in his own musical theatre company, and
spent much of his time in Paris, where he became a popular variety artist. For his music hall
acts, he created characters based on everyday observations. The characterisations used
were "The Gas Inspector", "The Spanish Señora" and "The Waiter"; all three were later
recorded onto shellac discs, of which he made twenty in total. He was married three times
and fathered two children. In 1927 he suffered a stroke, which was partly triggered by a
blow to the head which he had accidentally received during an evening performance at the
Alhambra Theatre. He never recovered fully from the injury, and died the following year at
his house in Hendon, aged 60.

Biography

Family background and early life

 Tap to display image.

Blue plaque memorial at Little

Tich's birthplace, the Blacksmith's
Arms in Cudham

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Little Tich was born Harry Relph in Cudham, Kent (now in the London Borough of
Bromley).[2] He was the last of eight children[1] born to Richard Relph (1790–1881), a farmer
and publican, and his wife Mary, née Moorefield (1835–1893).[n 1] The Relph family were
close and lived in relative affluence. Richard Relph was a committed family man and was
known in the village for his sharp business acumen.[4] His early wealth, which was
attributed to a series of successful horse-trading deals, enabled him to purchase his first
public house, the Rising Sun in Fawkham. In 1818 he married Sarah Ashenden and they had
eight children; she died in 1845. In 1851 he moved to Cudham, bought the Blacksmith's
Arms and an adjoining farm, and started a new family with Mary Moorefield, a nurse-maid
governess from Dublin.[3]

Little Tich was born with an extra digit on each hand, webbed from the little finger to the
centre joint. He also experienced stunted growth. He reached 4 feet 6 inches (137 cm) in
height by the age of ten, but grew no taller. His physical differences from other children
caused him to become socially withdrawn and lonely.[1] Nevertheless, his disabilities earned
him fame and were an asset to his parents' business. Patrons would travel from
neighbouring counties to witness his peculiarities, and the youngster revelled in the
attention, dancing comically on his father's saloon bar to curious guests.[5]

Little Tich was educated at Knockholt, a three-mile walk from Cudham. From an early age,
he displayed considerable academic ability and also excelled in art; by the time he was five,
his drawings were being sold to patrons of the Blacksmith's Arms by his father.[6] Little Tich
became interested in the travelling performers whom his father often employed to entertain
guests at the inn. He would mimic the dancers, singers and conjurors, causing much
amusement to both his family and his patrons. So good were his impersonations that his
siblings frequently took him to neighbouring public houses where they would get him to
perform in exchange for money. These experiences prepared Little Tich for his future
career. As a result of what he saw, he, like his father, became a strict teetotaller in later
years, and showed a deep loathing for boisterous and intoxicated people. Little Tich revelled
in his local celebrity status; however, the older he got the more self-conscious he became
and wrongly interpreted the audience's laughter as being aimed more at his disabilities
rather than his comical performances.[6]

Move to Gravesend and early performances

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A childhood sketch by Little Tich, similar to

the kind sold in the Blacksmith's Arms in the
1870s

Richard Relph sold the Blacksmith's Arms and the adjoining farm in 1875 and moved his
family to Gravesend.[7] The socially withdrawn Little Tich was forced to adapt to much
busier surroundings; day-trippers, holidaymakers and fishermen often frequented the
streets and occupied the plethora of public houses which adorned the port and
neighbouring roads. He resumed his education, this time at Christ Church School, where he
spent the next three years.[8] In 1878 the headmaster deemed him too educationally
advanced for the school, and Richard Relph was advised to secure for his young son a
watchmaking apprenticeship instead; Relph ignored the advice.[8][9]

By 1878 Little Tich's parents were unable to financially provide for him further and he
sought full-time employment as a lather boy in a barber's shop in Gravesend.[8][9] One
evening, together with a friend whose brother was appearing in a talent contest, he visited a
music hall for the first time and quickly became "hooked"[10] on the idea of being able to
perform. Thanks largely to his local celebrity status of being a "freak",[11] he was welcomed
into the many public houses which catered for soldiers, sailors, merchant seamen and day-
trippers from London.[12]

By 1878, Little Tich had saved enough money to buy himself a tin whistle which he used to
"amuse [him]self by playing all the jolly and sentimental pantomime songs of the day".[13] To
earn money, he began busking to local theatre goers who were waiting in the outside
queues. On the way home from his busking performances, he devised eccentric dances,
much to the amusement of his onlooking neighbours. Little Tich made his stage debut as
Harry Relph at the age of 12 in 1879. The venue—although unidentified—was described by
his daughter Mary as being a "back-street, free-and-easy" where the acts were
predominantly made up of amateurs and beginners. The audiences were often harsh and
they would display their displeasure by throwing objects onto the stage.[13]

One evening, having exhausted the list of amateur talent, the compere called on Little Tich
and his tin-whistle to take up the next turn. The performance was a success and Little Tich
returned every night, often accompanying his tin-whistle piece with impromptu dance
routines.[14] News of his performances spread, and he was soon signed up by the proprietor
of the neighbouring Royal Exchange music hall,[15] who bought his new signing a pair of
clogs. Little Tich became a popular draw at the hall and often sang thirty songs a night. It
was here that he discovered the art of blackface, a popular type of entertainment widely
performed around the British Isles at the time.[16][n 2]

1880s

Early London engagements

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Little Tich in blackface

during a provincial
performance in England in
the 1880s

At the start of the 1880s, Little Tich assumed the stage name "The Infant Mackney"[n 3] and
graduated to the world of open-air theatre. The following year, he joined a blackface troupe
who performed regularly at the Rosherville Pleasure Gardens;[18] the local historian J.R.S.
Clifford described them as "a band of minstrel darkies of a superior type".[19] Little Tich's
transition from amateur to professional performer came when he appeared in a weekly spot
at Barnard's Music Hall in Chatham.[1][20] Lew Barnard, the hall's proprietor, offered him
35 shillings a week. Thrilled at the prospect of appearing in a proper music hall, Little Tich
changed his name from The Infant Mackney to Young Tichborne, a nickname he had gained
while living in Cudham years earlier.[21][n 4] He enjoyed initial success at Barnard's, but
audience numbers soon diminished and his pay was reduced to 15 shillings a week as a
result. To supplement his income, he resumed his position in the barber's shop and took on
a string of menial jobs that lasted six months.[24]

In 1881 Little Tich left home with his sister Agnes, who chaperoned her young brother
around the music halls and variety clubs throughout England. By now, he had swapped the
tin-whistle for a picco pipe which he used to accompany his clog dancing routine. He
despised his early experiences of provincial touring as he was often forced to sleep in
dosshouses with very little money or food. To survive, he would often return to busking
outside music halls to the waiting audiences.[25] In the early months of 1884, he secured an
engagement at a rundown public house called The Dolphin in Kidderminster, where he was
paid £2 a week.[26][n 5] He also hired his first agent who, unbeknown to Little Tich, had
advertised him as a "freak" and a "six-fingered novelty".[28] The comedian was furious with
the description and quickly dispensed with the agent's services.[29] By the summer months,
his engagements had become infrequent so he used the long periods of unemployment
constructively. He learned how to read and write music and taught himself to play various
musical instruments including the piano, fiddle and cello. He also mastered dancing in big
boots.[28][n 6]

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Little Tich midway through a

performance of the Big-Boot Dance

In November 1884 he changed his stage name for the third time to Little Tich, which derived
from Tichborne, and "Tich" or "Tichy" became a common term meaning small.[22][30][n 7]
His reasoning for the name change was to capitalise on the release of the Tichborne
claimant fraudster Arthur Orton who was then touring the British Isles in the hope of
reopening the case.[31] The change of name also coincided with the signing of a new agent
who was known in London for being "one of the brightest and youngest in
[show]business".[32][33] The agent, Edward Colley (1859–1889),[34] was equally thrilled with
the acquisition of a new star[30] and secured him a double engagement at the Marylebone
Music Hall where he appeared as "Little Titch, The Most Curious Comique in Creation" and
immediately after at the Forester's Music Hall,[1][35] where he was billed as "Little Titch, the
Funny Little Nigger". A reporter for The Era predicted "We shall probably hear a great deal
more about Little Titch, [sic] as he seems to be one of the few that can invest the business
of the Negro comedian with any humour."[36]

By Christmas 1884, Little Tich was a resident performer in four London music halls: the
Middlesex Music Hall where he had an 8 pm billing, the Marylebone (at 9 pm), the Star
Palace of Varieties in Bermondsey (at 10 pm), and Crowders Music Hall in Mile End (at
11 pm). Out of the four halls, he had the most success at the Marylebone and fulfilled a ten-
week run.[37] A critic for The Era who witnessed him perform at the Marylebone thought
that he was "a curious comic" and that "his antics, his sayings and his business generally
[were] very amusing, and he will doubtless improve in his singing, which is weak at present,
even for a Negro delineator". The commentator further noted that "he appear[ed] to be
quite a young man at present; but his dancing is peculiarly funny, though his dress in one of
his characters is vulgar and suggestive; this should be altered".[38]

Having been a success in London for nearly a year, Little Tich travelled to Scotland to
appear in pantomime for the first time during the 1885–86 Christmas season. Robinson
Crusoe opened at the Royal Princess Theatre in Glasgow and he appeared in the small role
of Chillingowadaborie, a black-faced attendant for one of the main characters King Tum-
tum.[39][n 8] The following Christmas, Little Tich starred for a second time in pantomime,
this time at the Pavilion Theatre, Whitechapel in a production of Cinderella in which he
played "King Mischief".[40]

American success

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Tony Pastor, who engaged

Little Tich for his first
American tour in 1887

The American impresario Tony Pastor came to England in 1886 and signed Little Tich for a
tour of the United States. Pastor had seen the comedian perform at a small music hall called
Gatti's-in-the-Road near to Westminster Bridge and was recruiting for his Gaiety Theatre
Company.[41][42] Little Tich left for America in the early months of 1887[40] and assumed his
first role for Pastor in a burlesque version of The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, playing the
lead character for a fee of £10 a week.[41] Later, during a successful run in a parody of Louis
Bertin's opera La Esmeralda, he impressed audiences with his "Big-Boot Dance", and Pastor
engaged his new star for a further two seasons in the mock-opera which had a total run of
nine months. To show his appreciation for the record profits and huge audience
attendances, Pastor presented Little Tich with a gold medal and a rare white Bohemian
Shepherd dog which the comedian called Cheri.[40]

Little Tich's success under Pastor brought him to the attention of the Chicago State Opera
Company,[43] who secured him on a two-year contract for a fee of $150 a week.[44] Before
the contract commenced, he was allowed to travel back to England where he honoured a
pantomime commitment by appearing in Dick Whittington at the Theatre Royal in Brighton.
In the piece he took the billing of "Tiny Titch" and played the Emperor Muley.[44] In June
1888, at the Chicago Opera House, Little Tich starred in The Crystal Slipper, a burlesque
loosely based on Cinderella;[n 9] the production was a hit for the comedian and completed a
run of over ten months.[45][46] The Era described him as "the quaint little Negro comedian"
and called his American engagement "brilliantly successful".[47] During The Crystal Slipper,
Little Tich met the English dancer Laurie Brooks, whom he married in Cook County, Illinois
on 20 January 1889.[45][n 10] That year marked the end of Little Tich's "blacking up" routine,
which he had performed in between his commitments for the Chicago State Opera
Company. He was told by a producer that the American audiences would find the black face
and English accent too much of a contrast and opined "a deaf mute with one eye could see
you aint a coon".[46] Little Tich initially became worried at the prospect of appearing on
stage without make-up, but found that the audience approved of the change.[49]

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The Empire, Leicester

Square, a popular music hall
but one at which Little Tich
scored minimal success in
1889

As the months progressed, the tour matured and news of his performances travelled across
America.[44][n 11] To compensate for the loss of his blackface act, Little Tich perfected his
Big-Boot Dance instead and swapped from 10 to 28 inches (25 to 71 cm) boots which he
found more suitable for his size. He had also mastered a quick change into the novelty
footwear which he could perform in minutes. One stage director became concerned that
the pause was too long for the audience to wait, and he threw the boots onto the stage
causing the star to run back out in front of the waiting audience to put the boots on in front
of them.[50] While he did this, the orchestra provided an accompaniment of "till ready"
music.[51] For the audience, this provided much hilarity and they assumed it was part of the
act. The unintentional sketch was "an instant hit"[52] and the comedian incorporated this
into his future Big-Boot Dance routine.[53]

In April 1889 Little Tich briefly returned to London to star at the Empire Theatre in Leicester
Square where he was poorly received by audiences. As a result, the manager of the theatre
reduced the comedian's wages to £6 a week.[53] The experience left him bitter towards the
English entertainment industry and he returned to America to appear in a new production
for the Chicago State Opera. The production, Bluebeard Junior, was not as successful as its
predecessor, but toured for seven months. Despite his bad reviews back in England, Little
Tich began to feel homesick and he was allowed to return home a few months short of his
contract expiration.[54] Once back, he and his wife set up home at 182 Kennington Road,
Lambeth; Laurie later gave birth to the couple's son Paul on 7 November 1889.[44][55]

1890s

Return to London and West End debut

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Little Tich on stage as a

soldier in the 1890s

In the later months of 1889 Little Tich secured an engagement at the London Pavilion in
Piccadilly Circus.[n 12] This time, he found his English critics to be complimentary about his
talent, but as their praise was largely about his success in America, he considered them
hypocritical.[54][56] News of his much-improved performances travelled throughout the
country and he was visited by Thomas W. Charles, manager of Manchester's Prince's
Theatre. Charles offered Little Tich a leading role in his forthcoming pantomime Babes in
the Wood. The 1889–90 production was a huge success for the comedian and his
performance reportedly earned him "the heartiest applause of the evening".[57]
By the early months of 1890, Augustus Harris, the influential manager of the Theatre Royal,
Drury Lane, had travelled to Manchester to look for new talent for his theatre's forthcoming
1890–91 pantomime. Impressed with what he saw, he offered the comedian a theatrical
residency at Drury Lane but he was forced to withdraw it as Little Tich was contracted to
Charles for a further year; Harris instead signed Little Tich for a two-year contract starting
the following season. The deal required Little Tich to star in two pantomimes for a wage of
£36 a week.[58] Following on from his success in Babes in the Wood which culminated in
April 1890, the theatre manager Rollo Balmain cast him as Quasimodo in a production of
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth. The show featured a
burlesque centrepiece which required Little Tich to dress as a ballerina and gave him the
opportunity to perform two of his earliest songs, "Smiles" and "I Could Do, Could Do, Could
Do with a Bit", both written for him by Walter Tilbury.[59]

In 1890 Little Tich continued to impress his London music hall audiences and appeared on
the front covers of both the Entr'acte and the Music Hall magazines, with the latter being
widely available in the majority of London music hall auditoriums.[60] Towards the end of the
year, Little Tich appeared at the opening of the Tivoli Music Hall, before returning to
Manchester at Christmas to fulfil the second of his two pantomime engagements for
Thomas Charles in Little Bo-peep, in which he played Toddlekins.[61] The following year he
reprised his role of Quasimodo and toured the provinces in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
with Balmain's company.[62]

Life at Drury Lane

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Clockwise from top left:

Augustus Harris, Dan Leno,
Marie Lloyd and Herbert
Campbell

The year 1891 signalled a new era in the career of Little Tich. The Drury Lane pantomimes
were known for their extravagance and splendour and featured lavish sets and big
budgets.[63][n 13] The first of the Drury Lane pantomimes in which Little Tich appeared was
Humpty Dumpty in 1891[67] which also starred Drury Lane regulars Marie Lloyd, Dan Leno
and Herbert Campbell.[68] As well as the title role,[69] Little Tich also played the minor part
of the Yellow Dwarf in the harlequinade. It was during the latter characterisation that he
revived his Big-Boot Dance, which was a hit with audiences.[70] The following Christmas, he
equalled this success with his second pantomime Little Bo-Peep in which he played the part
of "Hop of my Thumb". As well as Leno, Lloyd and Campbell, Harris recruited the singers
Ada Blanche and Cecilia Loftus as principal boy and girl respectively.[71] Harris was thrilled
with Little Tich and signed him for the 1893–94 pantomime Robinson Crusoe in which he
played Man Friday.[72][73] The Derby Daily Telegraph called the comedian "one of the most
amusing pantomime dames of all time".[74] Despite a budget of £30,000, Robinson Crusoe
failed to equal the success of the previous two shows, which caused Harris to rethink his
cast. Unaware of Harris's plans, Little Tich approached him with a view of a pay rise; the
proposition angered the manager and not only was his request refused, but he was also
ruled out of any future production.[70]

New theatrical ventures and international engagements

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Little Tich as Miss

Turpentine in The
Serpentine Dance (1893)

In the early months of 1891, Little Tich completed a successful tour of Germany. Two years
later he developed the character Miss Turpentine for his self-choreographed sketch The
Serpentine Dance, which he performed over the next three years in Hamburg, Geneva,
Rotterdam, Brussels, Nice, Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Budapest; the tour also enabled him
to become fluent in French, German, Italian and Spanish.[75] He portrayed Miss Turpentine
as an eccentric ballerina who wore an ill-fitting tutu. The dance was a comic variation of the
well-known skirt dance belonging to Loie Fuller, which had been popular in France years
earlier.[76] Another successful characterisation was that of an eccentric Spanish dancer,
which Little Tich devised while touring Europe, and like The Serpentine Dance, relied heavily
on acrobatic choreography and comic miming rather than eccentric singing and joke
reciting.[77]

It was around this period when Little Tich was inducted into the fledgling entertainers'
fraternity, the Grand Order of Water Rats. In 1906, he would serve as "King Rat" for the
order.[78] In 1894, free from his contractual obligations at Drury Lane, he took a three-year
break from the English music hall scene and travelled to France[74] to fulfil a number of
engagements; over the next ten years, he divided his time between there and England. In
the early months of 1895, he moved from music hall to variety theatre, a transition which
many of his contemporaries had already successfully achieved. Lord Tom Noddy was
showcased in September 1896 and ran at the Garrick Theatre, London for two months. The
production had minimal success in the capital but was received well in the
provinces.[79][n 14] The show provided Little Tich with the chance to promote himself as a
serious actor and to separate himself from the reputation of simply being the "deformed
dwarf from the music hall".[80] The audience were described as being "very large" whose
"bursts of laughter w[ere] frequent and loud". A reporter for the Edinburgh Evening News
thought that Little Tich was "the life and soul of the sketch" whose singing was "fairly good
while [his] dancing was smart",[81] while the critic William Archer dismissed Little Tich as
being the "Quasimodo of the music halls, whose talent lies in a grotesque combination of
agility with deformity".[82]

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The dramatist George

Dance who wrote Lord Tom
Noddy, and partnered Little
Tich in his theatre company

He formed his own theatre company in mid-1895, and produced his first show called Lord
Tom Noddy, in which he also starred. He commissioned the dramatist George Dance to
write the piece and made him a partner in the company.[79] On 11 December 1896, Little
Tich was invited to appear at the Folies Bergère in France, where he starred in a short piece
as Miss Turpentine and performed the Big-Boot Dance. One journalist for the Sunday
Referee claimed that "no artist since Loie Fuller, four years earlier, had scored such a
success",[83] and as a result, he signed a two-year contract at the Folies.[84] Little Tich
returned to England in the later months of 1897, where he self-produced the second of his
company's two shows, a musical comedy called Billy.[85][n 15] Despite the show enjoying a
healthy provincial tour after opening in Newcastle, one reporter thought that "it ha[d] not
very much to recommend it", but thought that Little Tich gave "some excellent fooling" and
that it "[was] impossible not to laugh at some of the eccentricities".[87] However, the farce
failed to make it to the West End of London. Little Tich saw this as a snub and he refused to
perform in the capital again. Instead, he travelled to South Shields, where he appeared
briefly in a successful short play called Giddy Ostend before retreating to France.[86]

In 1898 he broke the Folies contract shortly before its expiry after being scouted by Joseph
Oller, who hired him to perform at the Olympia Music Hall in Paris.[84][88] Following the
breach of contract, the Folies manager Édouard Marchand initiated legal action against the
comedian, who settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.[84] The theatrical manager C.B.
Cochran who had seen the comedian perform during this period, described him as "a
reincarnation of the dwarf court-jesters of the Middle Ages—the little English Don Antonio
of Velasquez".[89] By now, Little Tich had become frustrated with his English audiences.
With Billy failing to reach London and the unequal level of success in the English capital
compared to France made him shun the English variety theatre scene altogether in the final
years of the century. He returned to the less-popular music halls as a result, where he
remained for the rest of his career.[90]

1900s

Marriage troubles
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Play media
Clément-Maurice's film of Little Tich at
the Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre performing
his Big-Boot Dance in 1900

In September 1894 Little Tich and Laurie established the family home in the rue Lafayette,
Paris. During 1897, while Little Tich was away on a tour of England, Germany and Austria,
Laurie eloped to Berlin with the French actor François Marty, leaving her husband
responsible for their young son Paul.[91] Unable to care for Paul, Little Tich sent him to
England to live with relatives.[92][n 16] That year, Little Tich met the dancer Julia Recio[n 17]
during an engagement at the Olympia Music Hall in Paris and the two began a relationship.
They moved to a flat in the boulevard Poissonnière, Paris, where they lived together, though
keeping this a secret until after Laurie Relph's death in 1901.[98][n 18] In 1900 Little Tich
appeared in the French capital's Phono-Cinéma-Théâtre where he performed the Big-Boot
Dance, which was recorded on film by the French director Clément-Maurice. Years later, the
film-maker Jacques Tati called the piece "a foundation for everything that has been realised
in comedy on the screen".[100]

In 1902 Little Tich starred in a special, one-off revue with Marie Lloyd at the Tivoli theatre
called The Revue, which was staged to celebrate the coronation of Edward VII.[101] The
following year, Little Tich's performance at the Oxford Music Hall was described as being
"... a very droll turn" by a reporter for The Cornishman newspaper, who also called his Big-
Boot Dance "wonderful".[102] Little Tich rented another London property at 1 Teignmouth
Road in Kilburn, to escape his life with Julia, which he was finding increasingly
mundane.[103] Despite their troubles, he married Julia in a discreet London ceremony on 31
March 1904 at St Giles Register Office[98] and rented a further address at 44 Bedford Court
Mansions in Bloomsbury.[104] Although initially happy, the marriage quickly deteriorated as a
result of differing opinions over social activities and money; Julia was a sociable and
extravagant person, whilst Little Tich preferred a quieter and thriftier lifestyle.[103]

By 1906 Little Tich and Julia had become so estranged that she moved to a neighbouring
flat, rented for her by her husband. The couple never publicly announced their
separation,[105] and he continued to provide financial support for his wife and fund her
extravagant lifestyle for the next twenty years.[106] Years later, Paul Relph admitted "Father
and Julia never loved one another. Poor, poor father. His life was one long misery through
her."[107] Over the next four years, Little Tich continued to perform in both England and
France and earned £10,000 a year.[108] In 1905 he appeared in the second of a further three
films for the French film industry called Le Raid Paris–Monte Carlo en deux heures, directed
by Georges Méliès. This was followed by Little Tich in 1907, and Little Tich, the Tec two
years later.[100] In 1907 Little Tich travelled to South Africa, where he appeared in a
successful, nine-week engagement for a fee of £500 a week.[109][n 19] Soon after, he
returned to England to take part in the Music Hall War,[74] which saw the Variety Artistes'
Federation[110] fight for more freedom and better working conditions on behalf of music hall
performers.[111] In 1909 he received a serious leg injury while on stage at the Belfast
Hippodrome during a performance of the Serpentine Dance. A doctor in the audience
diagnosed a dislocated knee, which forced the comedian to take seven weeks'
recuperation. Little Tich's performance was described by a reporter for the Evening
Telegraph and Post as being "up to date" and declared the Serpentine Dance was "next to
the Big-Boot Dance in popularity".[112]

Recording career and new family

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A poster for the 1907 Music

Hall War

In 1910 Little Tich became the adoptive father of Rodolphe Knoepper,[n 20] an orphan born
in 1899 to the brother of the Russian acrobat Harry Alaska. Alaska had previously worked
for Little Tich as his dresser and after his death, Knoepper moved into the Relph residence
in France and started his education there. After a few months of living with Little Tich, he
was moved to London to stay with Julia. In later years Little Tich's daughter Mary said that
her father treated Knoepper as more of a son than Paul, who became estranged from the
family by the 1920s.[114] While in Paris in 1910, Little Tich was made an officer of the Ordre
des Palmes Académiques by the French Ministry of Public Instruction for his services to the
stage.[115][116]

Towards the end of 1910, he travelled to Scotland to complete a short engagement at the
King's Theatre in Dundee. His performance was described by a theatre reviewer for the
Evening Telegraph as being "downright genuine fun" and "very entertaining".[117] The
following year Little Tich recorded the first of a selection of his music hall songs on one-
sided shellac discs used in the early acoustic recording process. Songs included "The Gas
Inspector", "King Ki-Ki", "The Toreador" and "The Zoo Keeper" and were followed two years
later by "The Waiter", "The Weather", "The Don of the Don Juans" and "A Risky Thing to
Do".[118]

In 1915 Little Tich cut short his engagement at the Golders Green Hippodrome to take up a
better offer in Paris. As a result, the proprietors of the Hippodrome sued for breach of
contract and he had to pay them £103 in compensation.[119] That year he recorded "The
Tallyman", "The Gamekeeper", "The Skylark" and "The Pirate" onto disc[118] before heading
to the northern English provinces to prepare for that year's Christmas pantomime at the
Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool. It was there that he met Winifred Latimer (1892–1973), a
singer and actress who had had some success on the London stage under Seymour Hicks a
few years previously.[120][n 21] Tich and Winifred were both starring in the Christmas
pantomime Sinbad the Sailor, in which Little Tich played the title role and Winifred
supported him as the principal boy.[122] The two grew close and against her parents wishes,
they began a relationship, shortly before the pantomime closed in the early months of 1916.
Sinbad the Sailor was a big success and Winifred was widely praised for her performance,
which she attributed to the guidance she received from Little Tich.[123]

In 1916 Winifred moved into a rented flat in Camden,[124] chosen by Little Tich for its close
proximity to his house in Bedford Square; this enabled him to visit her with less chance of
being recognised.[125] In 1917 he recorded "Tally-Ho!" and "The Best Man", the final two
songs from his repertoire, onto shellac discs.[118] That year Winifred became pregnant,
which ended her career on the stage, a situation which pleased Little Tich immeasurably.
However, Winifred was ostracised by her family and had to contend with life as an
unmarried mother with no career and no chances of ever realising her remaining theatrical
ambitions.[126] On 23 February 1918, while Little Tich was performing in Brighton, she gave
birth to a daughter whom she named Mary.[124] She and Mary then moved to 64 Gloucester
Place in Marylebone.[127]

Last years and death

 Tap to display image.

Little Tich's final residence in Shirehall

Park, Hendon

By 1920, relations between Little Tich and Winifred's parents had improved and they
welcomed him into the family.[128] Despite renting a new, six-room flat in Marylebone for his
daughter and mistress, the comedian was now finding it increasingly difficult to support
Winifred, Mary and Julia on his earnings as the years of generosity had drastically depleted
his savings.[129] His annual income in 1921 and 1922 had topped £9,750 but had dropped to
£3,743 by 1923. In 1925 he earned £6,300 but this fell the following year to just £2,100.
Worried by the drastic reduction in pay, he reduced Julia's payments, which angered her
family.[130] Another money-saving plan was to stop renting properties in London and secure
a mortgage on a small house instead. To avoid speculation about his affair with Winifred, he
decided to remain at Bedford Court Mansions, and bought a newly built house in Shirehall
Park, Hendon, North-West London in September 1925 for Winifred and Mary to move into.
Soon after, he embarked on a successful tour of Europe which culminated at Christmas the
same year.[131] He returned to London and took part in a Christmas benefit at the London
Coliseum, where he performed the Big-Boot Dance. The performance was by now proving
too strenuous for the 58-year-old comedian, and he decided to retire it that year.[74]

On the morning of 7 January 1926, Julia Relph died of a cerebral haemorrhage in the flat
which Little Tich had rented for her. Despite their estrangement, the comedian was
distraught at her death and spent two nights at the apartment with her corpse.[132] A few
days later, he moved in with Winifred where he arranged his wife's funeral, staying in the
spare bedroom as a "house guest".[133] He made frequent visits back to Bedford Court
Mansions to organise Julia's paperwork and discovered that his wife had been having an
affair with his friend Emile Footgers and that she was ten years older than she had led her
husband to believe.[134] Little Tich also found that she had used his money to buy a house
in Golders Green as a future investment for Paul's daughter Constance,[n 22][135] and that
his wife had participated in a secret scam to blackmail the comedian out of large quantities
of cash.[136] Despite the revelations, Little Tich mourned deeply for his wife and spoke
fondly of her for the rest of his life.[137]
 Tap to display image.

The French actress Mistinguett,

who appeared with Little Tich
towards the end of his career

On 10 April 1926, Little Tich married Winifred[138] at Caxton Hall, Westminster, with little
publicity. Later that evening, he appeared at the Camberwell Palace in a short but popular
engagement, while his new wife returned home to Hendon.[139] For the honeymoon, the
family travelled to Bristol, where Little Tich appeared on stage with the French actress
Mistinguett, who presented him with a tributary gold statue of him wearing big boots. At the
end of that year, the family paid a working visit to Australia, where he toured the Sydney
theatres for a fee of £300 a week;[140][n 23] he received a lukewarm reception from
audiences.[140]

The following March, Little Tich and his family returned to England. He made only one
appearance on stage that year, in November, when he introduced a new song called "The
Charlady at the House of Commons". For the character's appearance he wore a ripped and
dirty frock, a scrag wig and carried an old mop and bucket which he borrowed from home.
The act required him to flip the mop up into the air and grab the handle before carrying on
singing. During one evening's performance at the Alhambra Theatre, the trick went wrong
and he received a blow to his head from the mop. Despite the pain, he continued with the
piece and refused to seek medical treatment for the resulting bump and intense headache
which followed.[141]

One December morning in 1927, whilst getting ready for a family day out, Little Tich was
conversing with his wife who was in a separate room, upstairs at Shirehall Park. When he
stopped responding, she became concerned, went to the room where her husband was,
and found him slumped and insensible in a chair.[141] He was taken to hospital where
doctors diagnosed a stroke.[142] He became mute and lost all feeling on the right side of his
body, but was discharged from hospital and returned home to Hendon. He was frequently
visited by the surgeon Sir Alfred Fripp, who made a secondary diagnosis of pernicious
anaemia which he cited as having played an instrumental part in the comedian's seizure.[141]

On the morning of 10 February 1928, Little Tich died at his home in Shirehall Park, Hendon,
aged 60[143][144] and he was later buried at East Finchley Cemetery.[145][n 24] His death and
funeral were national news. The author and theatre critic Walter MacQueen-Pope predicted
that Little Tich would be remembered for his "physical peculiarity and the expression 'tichy',
meaning small".[146] A reporter for The Daily News called him "[the] comedian whose
popularity had never waned and whose name was as famous in 1928 as it was when music-
halls flourished 30 years ago".[144] Writing in 1974, the author Naomi Jacob thought that
Little Tich would be remembered for many years to come stating that "there is no reason
why such names as Little Tich and Marie Lloyd should be forgotten any more than such
names as Salvini, Bernhardt and Henry Irving".[147]

Notes and references

Notes
u. Mary's maiden name was recorded as Morphew on Little Tich's birth certificate, but
was Moorefield on her death certificate. It is probable that the latter is correct, with his
daughter Mary Tich blaming the confusion on her grandmother's broad Irish accent
being misheard by the rural Kentish GRO clerk.[3]

v. Popular music hall comedians who started their career as blackface artistes include
Alfred Vance and Bransby Williams.[16]

w. The name was based on E.W. Mackney (1825–1909) a Morpeth-born clog dancer and
singer who excelled in the art of blackface.[17]

x. The nickname derives from the Tichborne case of 1854, a legal cause célèbre which
occurred in Victorian England in the 1860s and 1870s. The claimant Arthur Orton was a
fat man and the name Tichborne was frequently used to describe persons who were of
such stature. In his early years, Little Tich was also overweight and he became known
as "Young Tichborne".[22][23] When he appeared on stage as a youth, audiences would
often shout "come on little Tichbourne" when he was about to come onto the stage, or
if he was struggling with his act. By the mid-1880s, he had lost almost all his excess
weight, but the name had stuck and it then became an ironic term of endearment
owing to the giant stature of Orton, compared to the diminutive one of Little Tich.[22]

y. £2 a week equates to £210 in 2020 (adjusted for inflation).[27]

z. The act of dancing in oversized shoes, or "big boots" as they came to be known,
originated from clog dancing with the outsized flat shoe being used for comic effect by
"nigger comedians".[28]
 {. Although he had officially changed his stage name only three times up until this point,
he was unofficially billed with at least five others including: "Young Tichborne, Pocket
Mackney"; "Young Tichborne, Little Black Storm"; "Young Tichborne, The Picco
Soloist"; or simply "Tiny Tich".[30]

|. The name "Chillingowadaborie" was named after a ditty sung by the lion comique
Arthur Lloyd.[39]

}. The Crystal Slipper was written by Alfred Thompson, an author and designer for
Pastor's Gaiety Company.[44]

u~. Laurie Brooks was born in 1866 and lived in Lisson Grove, Marylebone, which at that
time was a slum area of central London.[48]

uu. The other states and cities within the tour included New York, Philadelphia,
Minneapolis, Baltimore, St Louis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Detroit,
Cleveland, and Washington.[44]

uv. The London Pavilion was built on the site of a former coaching inn and stable yard.
Coincidentally, the former road where the buildings once stood was called Tichborne
Street.[54]

uw. Each production had a cast of over a hundred performers, with ballet dancers,
acrobats, and marionettes, and included an elaborate transformation scene as well as
an energetic harlequinade. The main writer, until his death in 1889, was Edward
Blanchard, with Harris often acting as co-writer.[64][65] Harris, who was responsible for
casting each production, favoured the use of music hall performers to play the
principal boy and dame roles, but Blanchard disagreed, preferring instead to use
seasoned actors. Commenting in 1885, Blanchard said "My smooth and pointed lines
are turned into ragged prose and arrant nonsense. Hardly anything done as I intended
or spoken as I had written, the music hall element is crushing the rest and the good old
fairy tales never to be again illustrated as they should be."[66]

ux. The story involved the juvenile Lord Tom Noddy, an ambitious (but equally poor)
aristocrat who falls in love with his nurse in his infancy.[79]

uy. The story centred on a character called Billy Vavasour, a member of the sporting
aristocracy who pursues the daughter of a strict army general. The show co-starred
the Edwardian actress Evie Greene.[86]

uz. Paul Relph shunned the idea of becoming a watchmaker which his father had desired
for his son's future career and instead became a performer. From the age of 14, Paul
Relph had become estranged from his father, who spent a large amount of time away
[93]
 working.[93] Because of this he was brought up by his strict Aunt Millie until the age of
17[94] when he left home to join Fred Karno in one of his theatre companies.
Subsequently he appeared as a key player in Karno's Mumming Birds sketch from 1906
to 1910. After this, his career fell into obscurity and he ended up as a clown in a
travelling circus.[95] Years later, Paul became a homeless down-and-out who relied on
various handouts from friends and family.[96] Paul Relph died of stomach cancer at
Whittington Hospital on 9 April 1948, aged 58.[97]

u{. Julia Recio was born in 1869 in Málaga and was the youngest daughter of a Spanish
government official. She was brought up in Paris, and became successful in Spanish
dancing, performing in Moulin Rouge.[98]

u|. Laurie Relph died in a Berlin clinic and left £2,900 in her will, with the majority going to
her son. She never made contact with her family again and her cause of death is
unknown.[99]

u}. £500 in 1907 equates to £53,283 in 2020 (adjusted for inflation).[27]

v~. Rodolphe Knoepper's uncle Harry Alaska was, for a time, a valet and dresser to Little
Tich, and the two became great friends. When Alaska's sister-in-law died
unexpectedly, Knoepper was placed into Alaska's care but he was unable to look after
the boy as Alaska was embarking on a theatrical career. Julia offered to raise the boy
instead and he was moved to England where he remained with her until puberty.
Knoepper later joined the British Army, and died during active service in April 1918.[113]

vu. Winifred Emma Ivy Latimer was born in Hove, Sussex, on 26 February 1892. She was
the youngest child and only daughter of James Ivey, a commercial traveller, and his
mistress, Harriet Latimer, who was related to the actor and theatre manager Harley
Granville-Barker.[121]

vv. Constance Julia Davies née Relph was born in 1911. She was the daughter of Paul and
his first wife Gilda Relph née Nicholas (1885–1954), a music hall dancer from
Manchester. At the time of Constance's birth, Paul was on friendly terms with his
stepmother Julia, but the relationship deteriorated in later years. Constance was
estranged from her father, who left home when she was four years old. Gilda chose
ambition over motherhood, and left Constance in the care of Julia who, in effect,
became her mother in proxy.[95]

vw. £300 a week equates to £17,541 in 2020 (adjusted for inflation).[27]

vx. After Little Tich's death, Mary and Winifred continued to live together. By the mid-
1940s they established a hotel at the address in Shirehall Park. Running out of money,
they sold the house in 1971 and it was turned into a Jewish retirement home. Mary then
 moved to Brighton with her mother who died in a nursing home a few years later on 17
December 1973.[97]

References
u. Russell, Dave."Relph, Harry (1867–1928)" , Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,
Oxford University Press, 2004, online edition, January 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2013
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v. Findlater & Tich, p. 9

w. Findlater & Tich, p. 12

x. Findlater & Tich, p. 10

y. Findlater & Tich, p. 11

z. Findlater & Tich, p. 14

{. Findlater & Tich, p. 15

|. Findlater & Tich, p. 16

}. Findlater & Tich, p. 18

u~. Described as such by the author; Findlater & Tich, p. 19

uu. Described as such by the author; Findlater & Tich, p. 11

uv. Findlater & Tich, pp. 18–19

uw. Findlater & Tich, p. 19

ux. Findlater & Tich, p. 20

uy. Findlater & Tich, pp. 20–21

uz. Findlater & Tich, p. 21

u{. Findlater & Tich, p. 22

u|. Rohmer, pp. 54–55

u}. Quoted from historian J.R.S. Clifford; Findlater & Tich, p. 22

v~. Findlater & Tich, pp. 22–23

vu. Findlater & Tich, p. 23

vv. Findlater & Tich, pp. 23–24

vw. "Theatre costume" , Victoria and Albert Museum website. Retrieved 13 September
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vx. Findlater & Tich, p. 24

vy. Findlater & Tich, p. 25

vz. Findlater & Tich, p. 26

v{. UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017).
"The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)" .
MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 2 February 2020.

v|. Findlater & Tich, p. 28

v}. Findlater & Tich, p. 27

w~. Findlater & Tich, p. 31

wu. Short & Compton-Rickett, p. 61

wv. Opinion of the author Richard Findlater; Findlater & Tich, p. 31

ww. Holloway & Richards, pp. 248–249

wx. Findlater & Tich, pp. 31–32

wy. Rohmer, p. 21

wz. "The London Music Halls", The Era, 29 November 1884, p. 18

w{. Findlater & Tich, pp. 32–33

w|. "The Marylebone", The Era, 10 January 1885, p. 10

w}. Findlater & Tich, p. 34

x~. Findlater & Tich, p. 36

xu. Findlater & Tich, p. 35

xv. Rohmer, p. 34

xw. Rohmer, p. 48

xx. Findlater & Tich, p. 37

xy. Findlater & Tich, p. 97

xz. Rohmer, p. 19

x{. "Music Hall Gossip", The Era, 4 May 1889, p. 15

x|. Findlater & Tich, p. 96

x}. Findlater & Tich, p. 38

y~. Rohmer, p. 23

yu. Findlater & Tich, pp. 38–39

yv. A quote from the author; Findlater & Tich, p. 39

yw. Findlater & Tich, p. 39

yx. Findlater & Tich, p. 40

yy. Findlater & Tich, p. 108

yz. Rohmer, p. 54

y{. Findlater & Tich, p. 41

y|. Findlater & Tich, p. 42

y}. Findlater & Tich, p. 45

z~. Findlater & Tich, p. 43

zu. Findlater & Tich, pp. 42–43

zv. Findlater & Tich, p. 46

zw. "Victorian Pantomime: Pantomimes at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London" ,
Victoria and Albert Museum (online). Retrieved 23 September 2013

zx. "Mr. Pitcher's Art", Obituary, The Times, 3 March 1925

zy. Anthony, p. 87

zz. "Victorian Pantomime" , Victoria and Albert Museum (online). Retrieved 15 August
2013

z{. MacQueen-Pope, p. 86

z|. Findlater & Tich, p. 47

z}. Rohmer, p. 79

{~. Findlater and Tich, pp. 49–50

{u. Macqueen-Pope, p. 87

{v. Findlater & Tich, p. 48

{w. MacQueen-Pope, p. 88

{x. "Little Tich: His Big Boots", Derby Daily Telegraph, 10 February 1928, p. 3
 {y. Findlater & Tich, pp. 58–59

{z. Findlater & Tich, p. 59

{{. Findlater & Tich, p. 61

{|. "Biography of a Water Rat" .

{}. Findlater & Tich, p. 52

|~. Findlater & Tich, p. 54

|u. "Little Tich at the Theatre Royal", Edinburgh Evening News, 19 October 1897, p. 2

|v. Quoted by the author; Findlater & Tich, p. 54

|w. Quote taken from Findlater & Tich, p. 62

|x. Findlater & Tich, p. 62

|y. Rohmer, p. 80

|z. Findlater & Tich, p. 56

|{. "Little Tich at the Lyceum Theatre", Edinburgh Evening News, 17 May 1898, p. 2

||. "Little Tich in Paris", Aberdeen Evening Express, 12 April 1899, p. 3

|}. Quoted in Findlater & Tich, p. 62

}~. Findlater & Tich, p. 57

}u. Findlater & Tich, p. 98

}v. Findlater & Tich, p. 100

}w. Findlater & Tich, p. 151

}x. Findlater & Tich, p. 109

}y. Findlater & Tich, p. 111

}z. Findlater & Tich, p. 149

}{. Findlater & Tich, p. 150

}|. Findlater & Tich, p. 102

}}. Findlater & Tich, p. 99

u~~. Little Tich (Harry Relph) , Who's Who of Victorian Cinema (online edition). Retrieved 9
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u~u. MacQueen-Pope, p. 110

u~v. "Little Tich And His Audience", The Cornishman, 15 January 1903, p. 2

u~w. Findlater & Tich, p. 106

u~x. Findlater & Tich, p. 103

u~y. Findlater & Tich, p. 104

u~z. Findlater & Tich, p. 133

u~{. Quote from Paul Relph; Findlater & Tich, p. 107

u~|. Findlater & Tich, p. 117

u~}. "Little Tich in South Africa", Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser, 27
December 1907, p. 13

uu~. Gillies, p. 171

uuu. MacQueen-Pope, pp. 131–132

uuv. "Little Tich Dislocates His Knee on the Stage", Evening Telegraph and Post, 6 August
1909, p. 4

uuw. Findlater & Tich, p 115

uux. Findlater & Tich, pp. 113–115

uuy. "Little Tich And French Order", Hull Daily Mail, 24 June 1910, p. 11

uuz. Rohmer, p. 87

uu{. "Little Tich at the King's Theatre", Evening Telegraph, 13 December 1910, p. 4

uu|. Little Tich – WINDYCDR9 – In Other People's Shoes , Musichallcds.co.uk. Retrieved 9

September 2013

uu}. "Little Tich To Pay £103 For Breach of Court", The Western Times, 26 March 1915, p.
12

uv~. Findlater & Tich, pp. 119–120

uvu. Findlater & Tich, p. 119

uvv. Findlater & Tich, p. 121

uvw. Findlater & Tich, pp. 122–123

uvx. Findlater & Tich, p. 128

uvy. Findlater & Tich, pp. 126–127

uvz. Findlater & Tich, p. 127

uv{. Findlater & Tich, pp. 128–129

uv|. Findlater &Tich, p. 131

uv}. Findlater & Tich, pp. 132–133

uw~. Findlater & Tich, p. 107

uwu. Findlater & Tich, pp. 134–135

uwv. Findlater & Tich, p. 136

uww. Description given by his daughter Mary; Findlater & Tich, p. 136

uwx. Findlater and Tich, pp. 137–138

uwy. Findlater &Tich, p. 142

uwz. Findlater &Tich, pp. 138–139

uw{. Findlater & Tich, p. 139

uw|. "Little Tich To Marry", The Bath Chronicle and Herald, 10 April 1926, p. 22

uw}. Findlater & Tich, p. 144

ux~. Findlater & Tich, p. 147

uxu. Findlater & Tich, p. 148

uxv. "Little Tich Critically Ill", Aberdeen Press and Journal, 10 February 1928, p. 7

uxw. "Little Tich Dead", Western Gazette, 17 February 1928, p. 16

uxx. "Little Tich Dead: Remarkable Career" , The Daily News (online edition), 30 March
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uxz. MacQueen-Pope, p. 178

ux{. Jacob, p. 214

Sources

Anthony, Barry (2010). The King's Jester. London: I. B. Taurus & Co. ISBN 978-1-84885-
430-7.
 Findlater, Richard; Tich, Mary (1979). Little Titch: Giant of the Music Hall. London: Hamish
Hamilton Ltd. ISBN 978-0-241-10174-2.

Gillies, Midge (1999). Marie Lloyd: The One And Only. London: Orion Books Ltd.
ISBN 978-0-7528-4363-6.

Holloway, Stanley; Richards, Dick (1967). Wiv a little bit o' luck: The life story of Stanley
Holloway. London: Frewin. OCLC 3647363 .

Jacob, Naomi (1972). Our Marie, Marie Lloyd: A Biography. London: Chivers Press.
ISBN 978-0-85594-721-7.

Macqueen-Pope, Walter (2010). Queen of the Music Halls: Being the Dramatized Story of
Marie Lloyd. London: Nabu Press. ISBN 978-1-171-60562-1.

Rohmer, Sax (2007). Little Titch: A Book of Travels and Wanderings. London: A&B
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External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Little Tich.

Little Tich (Harry Relph) at Who's Who of Victorian Cinema.

Little Tich on IMDb

Sax Rohmer and Little Tich:Chapter Sixteen , taken from Little Tich: A Book of Travels
(And Wanderings).

A collection of Harry Relph (Little Tich) volumes is held by the Victoria and Albert
Museum Theatre and Performance Department.