All prospects of entering for the Bar disappeared, and it was my
father's own suggestion that we should try an entertainment
together. He was an enormous favourite in the country as a humorous
reciter; and he thought my piano and songs would prove more
attractive if given with him, as it might otherwise have been
thought that I was starting a rival entertainment--a thought which
neither of us desired to encourage.
We accordingly worked out a trial programme, and in May, 1873, we
gave our joint recitals at the Masonic Hall, Birmingham. The papers
of May 12th spoke most highly of the entertainment; and the result
was, my father decided that in the autumn we should start together
with a tour of the provincial institutions. As I previously stated,
I had only visited institutions which I could conveniently reach
after my daily work at Bow Street; but as I was married on May 14th,
two days after the above trial trip, it became necessary for me to
materially increase my income.
I was fortunate in having the permanent assistance at Bow Street of
Mr. H. R. Hollingshead, son of Mr. John Hollingshead, the popular
manager and author; so there was no longer a bar to a continued
tour. First of all, there was my honeymoon to be spent. To take a
trip abroad was quite beyond my means, and no noble Duke in those
days came forward to place his country demesne at our disposal; so,
amidst a shower of rice, my wife and departed for Leamington. Why
Leamington? Well, I will tell you. I had received a very good offer
from my friend, Mr. Wm. Southern, of that town, who though it would
be a good thing for me to give a single-handed recital at the end of
the fortnight I intended staying, and he would see that the
interesting circumstance of my passing my honeymoon was carefully
paragraphed in the papers. The result was a crowded room, and the
cost of my pleasure trip materially reduced.
We visited other places, and wound up our happy month at the
charming residence of one of my wife's relatives at Aigburth, near
Liverpool. Here was another stroke of business on my part; for I
joined forces with Mrs. Howard Paul in a combined entertainment for
a week, at the Concert Hall, Bold Street, Liverpool. In the autumn,
however, the tour with my father commenced. We started in Devonshire
and Cornwall, the result being that I was away from home a
fortnight. We usually got home on Saturdays, that being no day for
the institutions. I did not at all like leaving the girl I loved
behind me, and I always disliked (and suppose I always shall)
travelling.
I append a programme of one of the recitals given in conjunction
with my father during the season 1872-3:
BIRKBECK LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION,
SOUTHAMPTON BUILDINGS, CHANCERY LANE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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