Charlie Chaplin and Lambeth

 

The piano played by Charles Chaplin Snr 
The Jolly Gardeners, Vauxhall

We had a family meal out last week in a pub/restaurant named The Jolly Gardeners in Vauxhall. I had read on their website that Charlie Chaplin's father often used to play the piano there and that the piano was still in the bar. The meal was gorgeous, by the way. The same could not be said for the piano. What a sad specimen of a musical instrument.

The pub was built in the 1880's on Black Prince Road and back then there would have had a sawdust floor and the clientele would have been potters from the Doulton Factory down the road. Part of the job of Charles Chaplin Snr was to make the punters stay longer to boost profits.

The Doulton Factory, Vauxhall

I knew the Chaplin family lived around the area and the background to Chaplin's early life, but this part was new to me.

Charlie Chaplin had such a sad start. He was born in Walworth and later lived in Kennington. His parents were both musical hall artists, but his father became an alcoholic (I don't suppose working in a bar helped) and was of no support to his family. He later died of cirrhosis of the liver. His mother struggled with mental health and was in and out of mental institutions. Charlie ended up in Lambeth Workhouse, Kennington. The old workhouse is still there and is now the site of the Cinema Museum, a very interesting place to visit. The original workhouse was also on Black Prince Road before it moved.

Cinema Museum, Kennington
Former Workhouse where Charlie Chaplin spent time

It was through his half brother Sydney that Charlie Chaplin got a two-week trial period with Fred Karno's Comedy Company, roughly in 1908. Sydney was already a key performer. Charlie went off to the USA to join him, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I have a little interest in music hall, as my grandmother's sister married into a family of performers, and some worked with Fred Karno, travelling around the USA, and may well have met Charlie Chaplin, though I can't find any evidence they ever worked with him. They never became that famous, though one was mentioned in a book about Fred Karno and his performers. 

Tribute to Charlie Chaplin, Cinema Museum

It was my son who booked the table for the meal. I'm not sure he knew the history, but it was an added bonus. It made me think about Charlie Chaplin and how he made good after such a bad start in life. He and his brother were very close and in fact Sydney eventually became Charlie's business manager.

Quite an 'entertaining' evening out, and I can recommend the food at the pub.