A public fund has been launched to raise money for the erection of a blue plaque to commemorate Ashton-under-Lyne born music hall star George Formby senior.
George Formby (senior) was born James Booth at 26 Hodgson Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire in 1875. Today Ashton-under-Lyne is in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester.
Tameside MBC has a 'Blue Plaque' scheme to commemorate local people and places of importance to the borough and yet has refused a nomination for George Formby (sr). The proposer was local resident Trevor Rowley who was amazed when his nomination was not successful for he felt Formby’s story was one of merit. His story is one of the ordinary ‘little’ Lancastrian born in to poverty, hardship and deprivation in the mean back streets of a bleak northern cotton town, yet able to rise above it by sheer hard work and determination. Mr Rowley said, “One of the reasons the council gave for their refusal was that in their opinion George Formby senior was ‘not unique’ – whatever that means”.
At the suggestion of Ashton writer-brothers Philip & David Williams a fund has now been launched to raise enough money to privately fund the plaque. The aim is appox £300. Permission has been secured for the erection of the plaque from ‘Ashton Pioneer Homes’ who today own the modern property on Hodgson Street. Mr Peter Marland of ‘Ashton Pioneer Homes’ said, “It’s a wonderful idea and we would be delighted to recognise the career of George Formby senior by allowing this tribute”. Donations can be sent to
Perhaps another reason why Tameside MBC were reluctant to recognise Mr Formby is the fact that it has often erroneously been said that he had no love for the town and ran away from Ashton at an early age. Setting up home in Wigan, and later Warrington - towns he certainly had great affection for. However, although he did have a miserable childhood this was the fault of his mother and not the town. Mr Rowley’s reseach of censuses reveal that George Formby was in fact still in Ashton when aged 15.
He was born James Booth in the 'west end' area of Ashton, the illegitimate son of Sarah Jane Booth who married his father shortly after giving birth. The marriage however, was a stormy and violent affair and for the young ‘Jim’ the family home was not a happy place. He was often half-starved and continually ill-treated. He developed severe asthmatic and bronchial problems from the age of seven, a condition which remained with him throughout his life. His suffering was not helped by the fact that he was forced to endure many nights sleeping on the doorstep of his terraced home or on the cold stone floor of the communal lavatory. This was while his mother was in the police cells sleeping off an overindulgence of drink.
After performing for while as one half of a double act he eventually went solo. Taking on a new stage name of Formby – which he had apparently spotted on the side of a railway truck – he set off on his new career. How he chose the name George is unclear, perhaps he just thought they sounded good together.
Life on the road for the solo performer trying to make a name was at first hard, however, audiences steadily began to take a liking to his dry humour and comic songs. His reputation and following soon began to grow. While touring he met Eliza Hoy, fell in love and married in 1899. Together they set up the family home in Wigan before eventually moving to Warrington. They brought up seven children, Louisa, Harry, Ella, Frank, Ethel, Ted and of course George (jnr). Eliza was a constant source of encouragement to her husband whenever he became despondent and was always on hand to nurse him through his illness.
With his character creation of ‘John Willie’ he became known as the Wigan Nightingale. He was the first to talk of ‘Wigan Pier’, implying that the land locked industrial town had its own seaside style pier. In reality this was just a small wharf on the Leeds and Liverpool canal, similar to Ashton’s Portland Basin. He also coined the popular adage, still quoted by many today, “It’s not the cough that carries you off, it’s the coffin they carries you off in”. This coupled with his catchphrase “I’m coughin’ better tonight” and his real bronchial cough became his trademark. Throughout the country audiences loved Formby but few realised how he suffered in order to entertain them, yet he never let it be known how ill he really was.
Formby was also one of the earliest performers to record on the ‘modern’ 78rpm shellac records. His first was in 1907 and he continued prolifically ending up with a back catalogue of 180 recordings. These early records were made entirely acoustically, which meant his his head almost vanishing down a large horn enabling the sound to be collected. Even with these contraints and perfoming isolated in a sound proof room he still managed, unlike many of his contemporaries, to give a performance as if he was appearing before a live audience.
For years he topped the bills at the nation’s most popular theatres including all the major venues in London. In 1913 he was proud to appear before the King and Queen (George V and Queen Mary) at a Command Performance further indicating his status in his profession. ‘The Times’ reported, “His broad humour succeeded with unexpected ease, and their Majesties praised him very highly after the performance. Mr Formby was very delighted, but so exhausted by his performance that he was unable to attend a dinner that was afterwards held in his honour to commemorate the evening”, an indication of how his frailty was affecting him.
Although several years earlier he had felt the need to leave Ashton-under-Lyne he never forgot his birthplace, as was proved by his many return visits to play the town theatres. His affinity for Ashton and its people came to the fore in the wake of the great munitions explosion which rocked the town in 1917. Forty-six people died and over 100 were hospitalised as a result of the disaster which struck on June 13th. A relief fund was established to raise money for victims and families of the bereaved. Formby offered to perform a matinee at the town’s Theatre Royal on June 30th with all proceeds going to the fund. However, due to his ill health his management tried to dissuade him believing an appearance in Ashton may jeopardise his evening performance in Manchester on the same day. However, Formby was determined to feel well enough to return to the town of his birth, which he indeed did. Not only performing his act in front of a full house he proceeded to auction off a signed poster from one of his shows, which sold for £5. He followed this up by inviting bids for a bag of sugar, which at the time was a scarce and rare commodity. This raised an extra £3.10shillings towards the fund. Undoubtedly, doing the Ashton and Manchester shows took their strain on his condition yet he was still happy to have helped.
Over the next few years the Tuberculosis began to affect his health to such a degree that he was forced to leave shows early. This happened several times during 1918 and 1919, yet he always managed to comeback. However, in Newcastle during the Christmas show of 1920/21 he collapsed and was forced to withdraw – on this occasion he never returned. He went back to his Warrington home and although nursed continually by his devoted Eliza, he sadly died on February 8th 1921. Many of Formby’s contemporaries paid him glowing tributes including one from Sir Harry Lauder, “A good, clean star has ceased to twinkle in our firmament”. The death of the Ashton-under-Lyne born star was also carried in ‘The Times’ - not known as a working class paper - which stated, “His humour was often crude, and always simple, but it was always true humour, and, what is more, it was invariably clean. “There cannot be many people who have not heard at some time in their lives either the words or the refrain of ‘John Willie - Come On’…”
Donations can be sent to Mr Trevor Rowley, 23 Crown Hill, Mossley, Ashton-under-Lyne, OL5 9NY. Cheques should be made payable to ‘George Formby Senior Plaque Fund’.
Any queries about this fund can be made using this email link: Info
Mr Trevor Rowley,
23 Crown Hill,
Mossley,
Ashton-under-Lyne,
OL5 9NY.
Cheques should be made payable to
‘George Formby Senior Plaque Fund’.
Sarah Booth was a well-known character in local public houses where customers would reward her attempts at singing by buying her glass after glass of cheap wine. Sarah amassed over 100 convictions for being drunk and disorderly. Jim would often walk Ashton’s streets singing in the hope of earning pennies to buy himself some food. He once said that his childhood was the most miserable that could have happened to any human being. Though again, this was no fault of the town. Although he continually suffered from coughing attacks he never let his condition get him down. However, he was depressed with life within the family home. So much so that according to many biographers he ran away from his family and Ashton at the earliest opportunity. Some say he was as young as seven while others put him at thirteen years old. These claims can be dismissed however, as just a few months before his sixteenth birthday in October 1891, the official UK census had been taken which show that James was still in Ashton living with his mother on Crickets Lane. Although his father had died the previous year his death had little affect on Jim’s home life. Much of his mother’s meagre income from her domestic servant duties went the way of feeding her heavy drinking habit. Some time after his mid-teens he felt of an age where he could at last leave home. This was no reflection on the town itself but was more of an escape from his mother and memories of his miserable childhood. The road from Ashton led to Wigan and eventually to fame.
At the time of his death he had enough advanced theatrical booking in his diary to have taken him well into 1926. Over five years of engagements, that is unique. How many of the acts today can make such a claim. His earning power could also be judged when it was announced he had left over £21,000 - A staggering amount and again something unique for the time. When one considers how he fought off poverty and illness in his rise to fame – and without the aid of mass media – he fully deserves recognition.
