The Eight Lancashire Lads was a troupe of young male clog dancers who toured the music halls of

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and

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in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Founders

They were founded by Bill Cawley and J.W. (William) Jackson (1863–1940) of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

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. As they became more successful, they recruited other members such as Charlie Chaplin, who got his first professional break with them at the age of eleven.

Former members

* Charlie Chaplin *

Nat Jackley Nat Jackley (born Nathaniel Tristram Jackley Hirsch; 16 July 1909 – 17 September 1988) was an English comic actor who starred in revue, variety, film and pantomime from the 1920s to the mid-1980s. His trademark rubber-neck dance, skeletal fr ...

* Brothers Richard, Eric and Clem White went to Sydney, Australia in the 1910s and formed theatre companies including Edgley and Dawe. They had changed their names from White and the Australian theatrical empressarion Michael Edgley is descended from Eric Edgley. His brother, Richard White, was for a period the choreographer of the women's chorus at the Tivoli revue theatre in Sydney. * Percy Joshua Norman (Pip) was in the troupe 1921. * Gabriel Winestein was another of the lads. Born in Leeds, Gabriel joined the troupe in about 1905. * Percy Frederick Kenyon Connor (later Percy Frederick Smith) was in the group and was a friend of Charlie Chaplin's in London. Percy went on to become a professional dancer who danced all over Europe with his wife Edith Elsie Smith (née Roy). Percy's brother-in-law was Ernest G Roy, the film producer. When Edith died in about 1925, Percy disappeared and no further information about him is known. *

Gordon Stretton Gordon Stretton (5 June 1887 – 3 May 1983), born William Masters, was an English singer, dancer and musical director of mixed Irish and Jamaican descent. He became one of the first Liverpool-based musicians to gain international acclaim,Dani ...

The dancer Josie Woods trained with the group in the 1920s.

Records

All of the Eight Lancashire Lads performances which featured Charlie Chaplin are listed in A. J. Marriot's book ''Chaplin: stage by stage'' (2005).

References

Dance companies in the United Kingdom Culture in Lancashire History of Lancashire {{art-org-stub