Thomas Foy (1866 – 7 August 1917) was an English

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 comedian. He was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

of Irish parents. Although some sources give his year of birth as 1879, official records (as well as his gravestone) indicate that he was probably born in or around 1866; his age at marriage in 1893 was given as 25.Liverpool Record Office; Liverpool, England; Reference Number: 283 CST/3/3 Prior to his entertainment career he served as an apprenticeship as a sign painter, and set up in business in Halifax, while training as an

acrobat Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro d ...

in his spare time. He joined a circus as a clown and scene designer, and made his first music hall performance in Manchester as a lightning cartoonist. He developed a song and dance act, and also joined a

Wild West show Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of co ...

, before becoming a comedian with a

stage Irish Stage Irish, also known as Drunk Irish, or collectively as Paddywhackery, is a Stereotype, stereotyped portrayal of Irish people once common in plays.

persona. He appeared in pantomimes in the

north of England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...

before heading to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and finding fame as a comedian and pantomime performer. As a comedian he was famous for his Yorkshire-based sketches such as 'Tom Foy and his Donkey', in later years bringing a live donkey on stage. His first successful sketch was "The Yorkshire Lad in London", which eventually became "The Yorkshireman in London". He was billed as "The famous Little Comedian". As a pantomime performer he specialised in "Idle Jack" and pantomime dames. On 23 July 1917, whilst onstage at the Argyle Theatre in

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, he collapsed. He died two weeks later, in

Billericay Billericay ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Basildon in Essex, England. It lies within the London Basin, east of the City of London. The town was founded in the 13th century by the Stratford Langthorne Abbey, Abbot of West Ham, ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. He is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

in London, on the east side of the main central path, not far from the main north entrance.

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