Charles Sloman
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Charles Sloman (1808 – 22 July 1870) was an English comic entertainer, singer and songwriter, as well as a composer of ballads and sacred music. He was billed as "the only English ''Improvisatore''".


Biography

Born in
Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
into a
Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish family originally named Solomon, he began singing in
tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...
s at a young age, and made one of his first professional appearances at the
Rotunda A rotunda () is any roofed building with a circular ground plan, and sometimes covered by a dome. It may also refer to a round room within a building (an example being the one below the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.). ...
in
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 ...
in 1825. In 1834 he went into partnership with his brother, the actor Henry Sloman (1793–1873), in managing the Rochester Theatre, and four years later was briefly the manager of the Colosseum Theatre in
Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George IV of the United Kingdom, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash (architect), J ...
. He was also
Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
at the Mogul Tavern in
Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...
. He specialised in improvising
doggerel Doggerel, or doggrel, is poetry that is irregular in rhythm and in rhyme, often deliberately for burlesque or comic effect. Alternatively, it can mean verse which has a monotonous rhythm, easy rhyme, and cheap or trivial meaning. The word is de ...
verse about current topics or about issues raised by members of the audience. Most popular in the 1840s and 1850s, he maintained a career as a performer for over forty years. He performed regularly at venues such as Evans' Supper Rooms and the Cyder Cellars in
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
, the Coal Hole in the
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, the Eagle tavern in
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, the Temple of Harmony in
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 ...
, the
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, and the Cremorne Gardens in Chelsea.Peter Gammond, ''The Oxford Companion to Popular Music'', Oxford University Press, 1991, , p.534Richard Anthony Baker, ''British Music Hall: an illustrated history'', Pen & Sword, 2014, , pp.122-123 The diarist Charles Rice described Sloman as "the great, the Only, extemporaneous singer... his wonderful Genius is one of the most unassuming characters that ever entered the field of Public Criticism...". David Conway, ''Jewry in Music: Entry to the Profession from the Enlightenment to Richard Wagner'', Cambridge University Press, 2011, p.104
/ref> His popular songs included "Charming Sue" and "Social Bricks". He also wrote songs for other entertainers, including Sam Cowell and J. W. Sharp, and wrote much of the material used by "Chief Lord Baron"
Renton Nicholson Renton Nicholson (4 April 1809 – 18 May 1861) was an English impresario, businessman, actor, and writer. He is best known for his Judge and Jury Society performances and for his ownership of the newspaper ''The Town (newspaper), The T ...
in his Judge and Jury Society performances. Some sources describe him as the composer of " Pop Goes the Weasel".
Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray ( ; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was an English novelist and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1847–1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
used Sloman as the basis of the character of "Little Nadab" in his 1854 novel ''
The Newcomes ''The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family'' is a novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, first published in 1854 and 1855. Publication ''The Newcomes'' was published serially over about two years, as Thackeray himself says in one of t ...
''. "Charles Sloman", ''Oxford Reference''
Retrieved 26 September 2020
According to historian Harold Scott, Sloman was "the most respectable, the most ubiquitous and in some ways the most typical of tavern concert artists. As a performer, in spite of certain versatility, he may be regarded as negligible... ut.it was rather as a personality with the gift of popularity that he succeeded in attaching himself to history." The majority of Sloman's songs were serious in nature and included religious songs such as "The Maid of Judah", published in 1860 as part of a collection, ''Sacred Strains, Hymns, etc.'', as well as romantic ballads."Sloman, Charles", ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
Retrieved 26 September 2020
He supported Jewish charities, and in 1866 proposed setting up a provident society to help support entertainers who had fallen on hard times. His health declined following his wife's death, and he was not given any money from the fund which he had helped set up, possibly because he had received some money from the
Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
.Harold Scott, ''The Early Doors: Origins of the Music Hall'', Nicholson & Watson, 1946, p.45 In 1870, after becoming destitute, he was admitted to the Strand Union Workhouse in Cleveland Street,
Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...
, where he died seven weeks later.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sloman, Charles 1808 births 1870 deaths British music hall performers English comedy musicians 19th-century British composers