Nelly Power

Nelly Power
Born	10 April 1854(1854-04-10) London
Died	20 January 1887(1887-01-20) (aged 32) Islington, London
Resting place	Abney Park Cemetery
Occupation	Music hall singer & actress

Nelly Power^[1] (10 April 1854 – 20 January 1887), was an English singer, actress and performer in music hall, burlesque and pantomime.^[2] Her funeral attracted three to four thousand spectators at Abney Park Cemetery and a further great crowd at the start of the procession from her home.^[3]

Career

Power appeared in the music halls from the age of 8,^[4] and developed a comic style mimicking that of George Leybourne, which brought her fame by the age of 15^[5] and the offer of principal parts in pantomimes. She made her first appearance on the London stage in 1868 in the pantomime Robinson Crusoe.^[6] She then moved to the Vaudeville Theatre performing in a number of burlesque plays. After a further spell in pantomime, (where, for example in 1881 she had the title role in Sindbad the Sailor, with Vesta Tilley as Captain Tralala at Drury Lane^[7]) she achieved national fame in the music halls with an act in which she caracatured dandies with comic songs such as "La-di-la".^[2] She was the original singer of "The Boy I Love Is Up in the Gallery" which was written for her by songwriter and composer George Ware.^{[citation needed]}

Nelly Power died of pleurisy^{[citation needed]} on 20 January 1887. Her grave at Abney Park Cemetery is cared for by the theatre charity The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America.^[3]

Notes and references

1. ^ Spelled Nellie on a few publications, but mainly Nelly, and this is on her gravestone.
2. ^ ^{a b} The Era, 22 January 1887 "Death of Miss Nelly Power"
3. ^ ^{a b} The Era, 29 January 1887 "Funeral of Miss Nelly Power"
4. ^ London Music Hall Database
5. ^ Aberdeen Weekly Journal, 24 January 1887 Death of Miss Nelly Power
6. ^ Birmingham Daily Post, 25 January 1887 "Gleanings"
7. ^ Pantomimes at Drury Lane

External links

• Footlight Notes includes picture and obituaries

Persondata
Name	Power, Nelly
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	10 April 1854
Place of birth	London
Date of death	20 January 1887
Place of death	Islington London