Bella Burge (born Leah Belle Orchard; 29 September 1877 – 3 September 1962) was an American-born British

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

performer and actress and friend and colleague of

Marie Lloyd Matilda Alice Victoria Wood (12 February 1870 – 7 October 1922), professionally known as Marie Lloyd (), was an English music hall singer, comedian and musical theatre actress. She was best known for her performances of songs such as "The Boy ...

and her sisters. Later in life she was the world's first female boxing promoter when she rang The Ring in London's

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. During this period she became known as "Bella of Blackfriars".

Early life

She was born as Leah Belle Orchard to British parents in New York in 1877. After the death of her solicitor-father in 1882 when she was 4 years old she and her mother returned to

Whitechapel Whitechapel () is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough tow ...

in London's East End where she became known as "Bella" by her schoolfriends.

Stage career and the Lloyds

At an early age she determined on a career in the

s and made her first known appearance in 1888 aged 11 at the

Pavilion Theatre, Whitechapel The Pavilion Theatre at 191–193 Whitechapel Road, London, was the first major theatre to open in London's East End. It was destroyed by fire in 1856 and rebuilt as the New Royal Pavilion Theatre, which operated until 1935. History The theatre ...

. Here she came to the notice of the Lloyd Sisters - Gracie and

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

- and in 1890 rented a room in the home of

, at the same time acting as her theatrical dresser, touring the music halls with her. Lloyd's husband Percy Courtenay became jealous of his wife's close relationship with her young protégée, a contributing factor along with various others to the eventual breakdown of their marriage. Later, calling herself Bella Lloyd, Burge joined Marie Lloyd's sister Rosie in the act the Sisters Lloyd, while at the same time continuing to act as Marie's dresser, who was at the top of the same bill on which the Sisters Lloyd appeared. In 1889 Burge was on the same bill as Lloyd's other sisters

and Grace, who were starring in a Christmas

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 ...

at the

. In 1907 Burge was a witness at the marriage of Marie Lloyd and Percy Courtenay's daughter Marie Courtenay (

Marie Lloyd Jr. Marie Lloyd Jr. (born Marie Matilda Victoria Courtenay; 19 May 1888 – 27 December 1967) was a British entertainer, composer and actress notable for her performances impersonating her mother, the music hall performer Marie Lloyd. Early l ...

). Marie Lloyd and Burge remained close until Lloyd's death in 1922.Bella Burge (Bella Lloyd) (Bella of Blackfriars) (née Leah Belle Orchard) (1877-1962), Music Hall entertainer, dresser to Marie Lloyd and boxing promoter at The Ring

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

Collection

Marriage

In June 1901 at the age of 24 she met Richard "Dick" Burge (1865—1918), a former professional boxer and English Lightweight Champion between 1891 and 1897 who had fought unsuccessfully for the World Lightweight Title in 1896 and who had also boxed for the English Middleweight and Heavyweight Crowns. He had retired from the ring in 1900, and after a whirlwind romance the two married in September 1901 at Brixton Register Office. Dick Burge quickly found himself in financial difficulties and to remedy this he made the mistake of joining the Liverpool Bank Fraud, a scheme which involved using the cash obtained from forged cheques to make high-stake bets at racecourses.From Prayer to Palestra: The Ring at Blackfriars
Black Cab London History Page The fraudulent scheme was quickly uncovered by the authorities, and having only been married for three weeks Dick Burge was arrested in October 1901 for his part in the fraud and received a sentence of 10 years with hard labour. Bella Burge returned to her former career in the music halls, appearing as Ella Lane, performing and saving as much of her salary as she could until her husband was released from prison in 1909.

Boxing promoter

In May 1910 the two opened The Ring on Blackfriars Road in

, the first boxing venue to charge prices within the pocket of the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

es. The Ring was in the by then derelict Surrey Chapel, a former chapel built in 1783 to a circular design by the Reverend

Rowland Hill Sir Rowland Hill, KCB, FRS (3 December 1795 – 27 August 1879) was an English teacher, inventor and social reformer. He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, based on the concept of Uniform Penny Post and his solu ...

, who it is said chose the unusual design so that there would be no corners for the devil to hide in.History of The Ring, Suthwark
The Ring Boxing Club website Nevertheless, the building's circular design made it ideal for a boxing venue. For 30 years some of the biggest names in boxing from around the world competed here. In 1912 these included the Americans Frank Moran and "Battling" Jim Johnson, both of whom boxed Jack Johnson in World Heavyweight Title fights. In 1914 Bella Burge became the first woman to break the taboo of women attending boxing matches and soon her friend

and other actresses became regular attendees at bouts. In 1915 during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Dick Burge enlisted in the 1st Surrey Rifles, leaving Bella to manage their boxing business alone. He died of pneumonia in the

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

epidemic on 15 March 1918,Morton, James
''East End Gangland''
Hachette Digital (2009) and after his death Bella continued to manage The Ring, maintaining its reputation as London’s leading fight venue for twenty years after her husband's death. At first she worked with Ted Pritchard, her late husband’s business partner, and after his death in 1925 she appointed Dan Sullivan as general manager, a boxing promoter with links to the London-based mobster Charles Sabini. In 1928 the Prince of Wales, later to become King

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

, requested for a boxing contest to be arranged at The Ring between Jack Hood and Len Johnson. The Prince was very interested in boxing and had a desire to visit The Ring, so the bout was specially arranged for his visit. Her association with Sullivan caused her great financial difficulties and brought her to the brink of bankruptcy, and after his departure she worked with Victor Berliner during the 1930s. From 1932, no longer being able to compete with the boxing promotions of Jack Solomons, Burge changed the use of The Ring into a venue for wrestling and live theatre.

Later years

Bella Burge continued to run and manage the Ring until it was destroyed in October 1940 during

the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...

. She is believed to be the world's first female boxing promoter. As such, in 1958 Bella Burge was the subject of an episode of '' This Is Your Life'', a series hosted by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...

. Among the studio guests was

Her

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

, ''Bella of Blackfriars'' by Leslie Bell, was published by Odhams Press, London in 1961. Bella Burge died in Blackfriars in London in 1962 aged 84. She was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and is one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £136,000 in 2021), ...

where her ashes are held in a marble urn with those of her husband. A play based on her life, ''Bella – Queen of the Blackfriars Ring'', was performed at the Unity Theatre in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 2014.Review of ''Bella – Queen of the Blackfriars Ring''
Liverpool: Sound and Vision website

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burge, Bella 1877 births 1962 deaths Actresses from London British boxing promoters English women comedians English women singers Entertainers from London Golders Green Crematorium American music hall performers British music hall performers 20th-century people from New York (state) People from Whitechapel American vaudeville performers English vaudeville performers 19th-century English actresses