Singer, born in Edinburgh, EC Scotland, UK. He started his career on the music-hall stage as an Irish comedian, but made his name as a singer of Scots songs, many of which were of his own composition, such as Roamin' in the Gloamin'. He was knighted in 1919 for his work in organizing entertainments for the troops during World War 1. Some of his biggest successes were in London's famous music halls, but he was also popular abroad, especially in the USA and Commonwealth countries, which he toured extensively after 1907. He wrote volumes of memoirs, the best known of which is Roamin' in the Gloamin' (1928).
Sir Harry Lauder (4 August 1870 - 26 February 1950) was a very famous Scottish entertainer, described by Sir Winston Churchill as "Scotland's greatest ever ambassador!"
Early years
Born Henry Lauder at 4 Bridge Street Portobello, the residence of his mother’s father, he was the eldest son of John Currie Lauder (1851-1882), who had been born in nearby Musselburgh, East Lothian, a descendant of the family of Lauder of The Bass (an island commonly referred to as the Bass Rock), and Isabella Urquhart MacLeod McLennan (1854 -1905) born in Arbroath but whose family had moved there from the Black Isle in Ross and Cromarty. Sir Harry mentions his descent from the Lauders of Lauder and Bass in his autobiography. After the sale of that house Harry's grandfather moved to Portobello where he bought a house at 2 Ramsay lane, and where Harry's father was living when he married.
Most children were then leaving the State sector schools at 11 or 12 to take up employment, but Harry's mother was determined that his schooling should continue.
On 19 June 1891 Harry, as he became known, married Ann (Nance), eldest daughter of James Vallance (1855-1936) a Colliery Manager at Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, and Mary Kerr (1856-1937).
Entertainer
There can be no doubt whatever of Harry Lauder’s tremedous popularity as an entertainer, music-hall and vaudeville artist. Sir Winston Churchill referred to Harry as “Scotland’s greatest ever ambassador”. Harry was the first British entertainer to sell a million records and was a favourite of King Edward VII and an intimate friend of the famous tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton, amongst others.
The Scottish edition of The Sunday Times ran an article Harry Lauder, coming to a ringtone near you (24 July 2005) in which it was stated that "Sir Harry Lauder was the highest-paid performer in the world, pocketing the equivalent of £12,700 a night plus expenses.
A robust patriot, Harry raised huge sums of money for war charities during the Great War (1914-1918) - The Harry Lauder Million Pound Fund - and entertained troops in the trenches in France, where he came under enemy fire. The rightness of the war went without question for Harry Lauder. Even towards the end of that conflict and just afterwards Sir Harry appeared at the docks when American food ships came into Glasgow to publicly thank the crews for coming to Britain’s assistance in her hour of need.
His works
Sir Harry wrote most of his own songs, favourites of which were Roamin' in the Gloamin', I Love a Lassie, A Wee Deoch-an-Doris, and Keep Right on to the End of the Road, and starred in three British films: Huntingtower (1928), Auld Lang Syne (1929) and The End of the Road (1936).
Later years
Sir Harry’s only child, John (b.1891), had attended the City of London School and Jesus College, Cambridge University, and was destined for a career in law. Sir Harry wrote the song "Keep Right on to the End of the Road" in the aftermath of John's death.
Sir Harry’s wife Anne also died on July 31, 1927, a terrible blow to Harry.
Sir Harry's youngest brother, Alexander, had a daughter, Margaret [Greta] (1900-1966), who was fond of Sir Harry and she moved in to keep an eye on him at his beautiful Victorian mansion of 'Laudervale' on the Bullwood Road, outside Dunoon, which he had purchased and restored at the beginning of the century.
Sir Harry later spent his twilight years at his Strathaven, Lanarkshire, mansion, Lauder Ha' (Hall), and died there in February 1950. Sir Harry was unexpectedly interred not with his wife in their private graveyard at Glenbranter, but with his mother, and a younger brother, George, in Bent Cemetery, Hamilton, after that town’s most memorable funeral ever.
After death
The family held on to Lauder Hall until the late 1960s, when death duties forced its sale.
Sir Harry Lauder is frequently mentioned today in a wide variety of programmes, and the Scottish education authorities encourage Scottish dancing to some of his tunes. When the A199 Portobello bypass was opened, it was named the "Sir Harry Lauder Road"
On the 28th July 1987 the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, The Rt. John McKay, CBE, hosted a luncheon at the Edinburgh City Chambers, to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the granting of the Freedom of the City to Sir Harry Lauder, attended by family representative Gregory Lauder-Frost, who, on the 4th August 2001, formally opened the new Sir Harry Lauder Memorial Garden at Portobello Town Hall, and was the principal commentator throughout the Saltire/BBC2 TV (Scotland) documentary entitled Something About Harry screened on Wednesday 30th November 2005.
Further reading
For further reading see the various books by Sir Harry Lauder, including
Roamin' in the Gloamin (Autobiography) by Sir Harry Lauder, (London, 1928), reprinted without the photos, London, 1976, (ISBN 0-7158-1176-2)Others:
Great Scot! by Gordon Irving, London, 1968, (ISBN 09-089070-1). Harry Lauder in the Limelight by William Wallace, Lewes, Sussex, 1988, (ISBN 0-86332-312X), which has a foreword and extensive notes by Sir Harry's great-nephew, Gregory Lauder-Frost. The Ancestry of Sir Harry Lauder, in The Scottish Genealogist, Edinburgh, June 2006, vol.LIII, no.2, ISSN 0330-337X
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