Aubrey Hopwood (4 April 1863 – 25 October 1917) was a British lyricist of

Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy is a genre of British musical theatre that thrived from 1892 into the 1920s, extending beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions. It began to dominate the English musical stage, and even the American musical ...

and a novelist and author of nonsense books for children. He co-wrote the lyrics for the musicals ''

A Runaway Girl ''A Runaway Girl'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts written in 1898 by Seymour Hicks and Harry Nicholls. The composer was Ivan Caryll, with additional music by Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Harry Greenbank. It w ...

'' (1898) and '' The Lucky Star'' (1899), among others, and wrote additional lyrics for the 1900 revival of

Henry Savile Clarke Henry Savile Clarke (14 February 1841 – 5 October 1893) was an English dramatist, journalist and critic. He produced and wrote the lyrics and book for the first professional dramatisation of ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and ''Throug ...

's 1886 operetta ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

''."Hopkinson-Hornby" ''Who's Who'', Volume 57 (1905), p. 795
published by

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing ''Who's Who'' since 1849 and the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' between 1827 and 1903. It offers a wide variety of boo ...

12 July 2011

Early life

Born Henry Aubrey Hopwood in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1863, he was the second son and one of nine children of Mary Augusta Henrietta Coventry, (born 1841, the granddaughter of

George Coventry, 8th Earl of Coventry George William Coventry, 8th Earl of Coventry (16 October 1784 – 15 May 1843), styled Viscount Deerhurst from 1809 to 1831, was a British Peerage, peer and Tory Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament. Early life Coventry ...

, and

John Turner Hopwood John Turner Hopwood (1829 – 1 January 1900) was an English Liberal Party politician, and barrister. He was the only son of Robert (1800–1860) and Elizabeth (née Turner) Hopwood (d. 1874). His paternal grandfather, also named Robert, was ...

(1829‒1900), then Member of Parliament for

Clitheroe Clitheroe () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ribble Valley, Borough of Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England; it is located north-west of Manchester. It is near the Forest of Bowland and is often used as a base for to ...

in Lancashire. He attended

Cheam School Cheam School is a mixed preparatory school located in Headley, in the civil parish of Ashford Hill with Headley in Hampshire. Originally a boys school, Cheam was founded in 1645 by George Aldrich. History The school started in Cheam, Surre ...

and

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...

.Biography of Aubrey Hopwood (1867–1917)
Stella & Rose's Books: Specialists in Rare & collectable books His younger brother was

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Ronald Hopwood (1868‒1949), referred to as the "Poet Laureate" of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine.

Career

After a short period in which he served as a Lieutenant in the

Northamptonshire Regiment The Northamptonshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1960. In 1960, it was amalgamated with the Royal Lincolnshire Regiment to form the 2nd East Anglian Regiment (Duchess of Gloucester's O ...

, in 1884 he travelled to Orange County in Florida with his older brother, Robert Coventry De Vere Hopwood (1859‒1911), returning to the United States in 1886 and 1888. Hopwood was the Secretary of Arthur's, a

gentlemen's club A gentlemen's club is a private social club of a type originally established by males from Britain's upper classes starting in the 17th century. Many countries outside Britain have prominent gentlemen's clubs, mostly those associated with the ...

in London (1893–1907), and in 1897 he wrote the romantic adventure novel ''Down by the Suwanee River''. With

Harry Greenbank Harry Greenbank (11 September 1865 – 26 February 1899) was an English writer and dramatist best known for contributing lyrics to the successful series of musicals produced at Daly's Theatre by George Edwardes in the 1890s. Life and career Harr ...

he wrote the lyrics for the

'' (1898) to a book by

Seymour Hicks Sir Edward Seymour Hicks (30 January 1871 – 6 April 1949), better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, actor-manager and producer. He became known, early in his career, for writing, starring in and p ...

and

Harry Nicholls Henry or Harry Nicholls may refer to: * Henry Richard Nicholls (1830–1912), Australian journalist and newspaper editor ** H. R. Nicholls Society, a right-wing Australian think tank on industrial relations * Henry Nicholls, explorer and member o ...

and a score by

Ivan Caryll Félix Marie Henri Tilkin (12 May 1861 – 29 November 1921), better known by his pen name Ivan Caryll, was a Belgian-born composer of operettas and Edwardian musical comedies in the English language, who made his career in London and later N ...

and additional music by

Lionel Monckton Lionel John Alexander Monckton (18 December 1861 – 15 February 1924) was an English composer of musical theatre. He became Britain's most popular composer of Edwardian musical comedy in the early years of the 20th century. Life and career E ...

. It was produced by

George Edwardes George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond. Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...

at the Gaiety Theatre in London, opening on 21 May 1898 and ran for a very successful 593 performances. The piece ran at

Daly's Theatre Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937. The theatre was built for and named after the American impresa ...

in New York City in 1898 for 216 performances and again in 1900. The production starred

Edmund Payne Edmund James "Teddy" Payne (14 December 1863 – 15 July 1914), was an English actor, comedian and singer best known for creating comic roles in a series of extremely successful Edwardian musical comedies. He was often paired with the comic act ...

and Hicks's wife,

Ellaline Terriss Mary Ellaline Terriss, Lady Hicks (born Mary Ellaline Lewin, 13 April 1871 – 16 June 1971), known professionally as Ellaline Terriss, was a popular British actress and singer, best known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies. Sh ...

. With

Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific English writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th ...

he wrote the lyrics for the

Savoy Opera Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which imp ...

'' The Lucky Star'' (1899) to a score by

and dialogue by Charles H. Brookfield (revised by

Helen Lenoir Helen Carte Boulter (born Susan Helen Couper Black; 12 May 1852 – 5 May 1913), also known as Helen Lenoir, was a Scottish businesswoman known for her diplomatic skills and grasp of detail. Beginning as his secretary, and later marrying, impre ...

).(14 July 1890)
Notes
''New York Amusement Gazette'', p. 542Stubblebine, Donald J
Early Broadway Sheet Music
p. 154 (2002) ''The Lucky Star'' was produced by the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. The ...

and opened at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy ...

on 7 January 1899 for a run of 143 performances. The opera starred the usual Savoy Theatre cast from that period, including

Walter Passmore Walter Henry Passmore (10 May 1867 – 29 August 1946) was an English singer and actor best known as the first successor to George Grossmith in the comic baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. Passm ...

Henry Lytton Sir Henry Lytton (born Henry Alfred Jones; 3 January 1865 – 15 August 1936) was an English actor and singer who was the leading exponent of the starring comic patter song, patter-baritone roles in Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1909 to 193 ...

Robert Evett Robert Evett (16 October 1874 – 15 January 1949) was an English singer, actor, theatre manager and producer. He was best known as a leading man in Edwardian musical comedies and later managed the George Edwardes theatrical empire. In 1892, ...

Ruth Vincent Ruth Vincent (born Amy Ruth Bunn, 3 December 1873 Emmie Owen Emily Mary Owen (28 November 1871 – 18 October 1905) was an English opera singer and actress, known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. She is best remembered for originating the ro ...

and

Isabel Jay Isabel Emily Jay (17 October 1879 – 26 February 1927) was an English opera singer and actress, best known for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and in Edwardian musical comedy, Edwardian ...

. Hopwood wrote the lyrics for the musical farce ''The Merry Go-Round'' (1899) to the book by

and score by

Meyer Lutz Wilhelm Meyer Lutz (19 May 1829 – 31 January 1903) was a German-born British composer and conductor who is best known for light music, musical theatre and Victorian burlesque, burlesques of well-known works. Emigrating to the UK at the age o ...

, with additional songs by

, among others. It was produced by Edwardes at the Gaiety and then toured the British provincial theatres in 1899, and it also was popular in Europe and the United States. In 1900 Hopwood published his children's nonsense book ''The Bunkum Book'', illustrated by Maud Trelawny. In 1900, he wrote additional lyrics for a revival of

's 1886 stage adaptation of the ''Alice'' books by

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

; the original composer,

Walter Slaughter Walter Alfred Slaughter (17 February 1860 – 2 March 1908) was an English conductor and composer of musical comedy, comic opera and children's shows. He was engaged in the West End as a composer and musical director from 1883 to 1904. Life a ...

, provided additional music, and the show opened before Christmas 1900 starring Ellaline Terriss as Alice and Seymour Hicks as ''Mad Hatter''. The musical one-act farce ''You And I'', with a book by Hicks and lyrics by Hopwood to a score composed by

opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on 24 April 1901. ''

The Cherry Girl ''The Cherry Girl'' was an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts based on a book by Seymour Hicks with lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and music by Ivan Caryll. It opened at the Vaudeville Theatre in London's West End on 21 December 1903. The original ...

'' was another Edwardian musical comedy based on a book by Hicks with lyrics by Hopwood and music by

. Described as a "children's fairy play", it opened at the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. Opening in 1870, the theatre staged mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. The theatre was rebuilt twice, although each new buildin ...

in London on 21 December 1903. The original cast included Hicks,

Courtice Pounds Charles Courtice Pounds (30 May 1861 Gänzl, Kurt"Pounds of Pyes, or mea culpa No. 2" Kurt Gänzl's blog, 4 May 2018. Note that hibirth registrationis in central London in the third quarter of 1861 – 21 December 1927), better known by the sta ...

and Terriss. From August 1904 the play went on tour to the Theatre Royal in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and other British provincial theatres. The-cherry-girl-score

In the 1901 census Hopwood listed himself as "an author" and in the same year he co-wrote lyrics, with Charles H. Taylor, for the "musical dream play" ''

Bluebell in Fairyland ''Bluebell in Fairyland'' is a Christmas-season children's entertainment described as "a musical dream play", in two acts, with a book by Seymour Hicks, lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Charles H. Taylor, and music by Walter Slaughter. It was produc ...

'' at the

(1901), with a book by

and music by

. The production ran for 294 performances until 26 June 1902"Bluebell in Fairyland"
at ''The Guide to Musical Theatre'', accessed 26 February 2010 and featured Terriss in the title role and Hicks as the Sleeping King;

Phyllis Dare Phyllis Dare (born Phyllis Constance Haddie Dones; 15 August 1890 – 27 April 1975) was an English actress and singer famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre in the first half of the 20th century. Bor ...

was Mab. The critic from ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' described the production as "very dainty and charming", the music as "bright and tuneful", and the libretto as "full of humour". The play was revived in 1905, again in 1916 and was performed regularly during the

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

season in London between 1917 and 1937. The play was adapted from the children's Christmas book ''The Sleepy King'', a fairy tale written by Hopwood in 1898 in collaboration with

and illustrated by Maud Trelawny. ''The Times'' described the book as "closely modelled on ''Alice in Wonderland'', ndis a clever and pretty imitation"; the critic for the ''

St James's Gazette The ''St James's Gazette'' was a London evening newspaper published from 1880 to 1905. It was founded by the Conservative Henry Hucks Gibbs, later Baron Aldenham, a director of the Bank of England 1853–1901 and its governor 1875–1877; the ...

'' wrote that "The story is brimful of excellent fun, such as is bound to appeal to the hearts of children to whom the odd sayings and quaint antics of Blob and Blib, the extraordinary twins, should prove an inexhaustible source of mirth." In 1903 Hopwood published ''Rhymes without Reason'', while in 1905 he published a non-fiction book, ''The Old English Sheepdog: From Puppyhood to Championship, A Handbook for Beginners''.

Later life

In the 1911 census Hopwood is listed as a "private secretary" living in

Malmesbury Malmesbury () is a town and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, which lies approximately west of Swindon, northeast of Bristol, and north of Chippenham. The older part of the town is on a hilltop which is almost surrounded by the upp ...

, Wiltshire, at which time his widowed sister Eleanor Ramsay (1867‒1922) was staying with him.1911 England Census for Aubrey Hopwood
Wiltshire, St Paul Within Malmesbury: Ancestry.com Later his sister rented a house, the Beeches on Burton Hill in Malmesbury, and Hopwood lived with her there until he was admitted to

The Retreat The Retreat, commonly known as the York Retreat, is a place in England for the treatment of people with mental health needs. Located in Lamel Hill in York, it operates as a not for profit charitable organisation. Opened in 1796, it is famous ...

, a centre for the treatment of people with mental health needs in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, where he died aged 54 in October 1917 from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and paralytic dementia (GPI).England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995 for Henry Aubrey Hopwood
1918 Ancestry.com Hopwood never married, and in his will he left his estate of £1,264 15s to his sister, Eleanor Ramsay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopwood, Aubrey 1863 births 1917 deaths British lyricists Musicians from Edinburgh People educated at Cheam School People educated at Charterhouse School Northamptonshire Regiment officers 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis 19th-century English novelists British male novelists English male non-fiction writers English male novelists English children's writers English fantasy writers Tuberculosis deaths in England Deaths from dementia in England 19th-century British Army personnel Writers from Edinburgh Military personnel from Edinburgh