Leo Dryden
Encyclopedia
George Dryden Wheeler was an English
music hall
'vocal comic'. In 1892, he met Hannah Chaplin
(stage name Lilly Harley), mother of Charlie
, and also a music hall performer. They had an affair, and a son, George Dryden Wheeler (31 August 1892), leading to the breakdown of her marriage to Charles Chaplin, Sr. The couple split up and the child was kept by Dryden, leading to Hannah's bouts of mental illness, and admission to the Cane Hill
Asylum at Coulsdon
; this was the end of Hannah's career and the start of a long decline. She was not reunited with her son until the 1920s.
Leo Dryden was best known as the Kipling of the Halls for his patriotic and colonial songs including The Miner's Dream of Home (1891); he also performed parodies, including Shopmates and one on Feniculi Fenicula. He dressed to fit the songs, as a Canadian Indian for The Great Mother, as an Indian soldier for India's Reply, and How India Kept Her Word (1898). Even America did not escape, with America Looking On, about the Boer War
. These examples of colonial fealty were well received by British audiences, and parodied in Rudyard Kipling
's Barrack-Room Ballads
. He was also known for tear jerking ballads such as Don't Go Down the Mine, Dad (1910), possibly inspired by the great 1907 mining disaster at St Genard in South Wales
, and Good-bye, Mary! (1911). At the start of World War I
, he returned to patriotic songs with Call Us and We’ll Soon Be There (1914).
Dryden also appeared in The Lady of the Lake (1925), an early sound film inspired by the Walter Scott
poem.
By the 1930s, with the halls in decline, and his son joining his own half-brothers in America, Leo Dryden was reduced to busking in the streets. He died in London 21 April 1939.
He was the paternal grandfather of rock musician Spencer Dryden
, the drummer for Jefferson Airplane
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
'vocal comic'. In 1892, he met Hannah Chaplin
Hannah Chaplin
Hannah Chaplin was the founding matriarch of the Chaplin family of actors as the mother of Sir Charlie Chaplin....
(stage name Lilly Harley), mother of Charlie
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
, and also a music hall performer. They had an affair, and a son, George Dryden Wheeler (31 August 1892), leading to the breakdown of her marriage to Charles Chaplin, Sr. The couple split up and the child was kept by Dryden, leading to Hannah's bouts of mental illness, and admission to the Cane Hill
Cane Hill
Cane Hill was a psychiatric hospital in Coulsdon in the London Borough of Croydon. Built to care for patients in the eastern part of Surrey, remote from the Springfield and Brookwood Asylums, it opened in 1882 as the Third Surrey County Lunatic Asylum. Following a gradual winding down of...
Asylum at Coulsdon
Coulsdon
Coulsdon is a town on the southernmost boundary of the London Borough of Croydon. It is surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt of the Farthing Down, Coulsdon Common and Kenley Common...
; this was the end of Hannah's career and the start of a long decline. She was not reunited with her son until the 1920s.
Leo Dryden was best known as the Kipling of the Halls for his patriotic and colonial songs including The Miner's Dream of Home (1891); he also performed parodies, including Shopmates and one on Feniculi Fenicula. He dressed to fit the songs, as a Canadian Indian for The Great Mother, as an Indian soldier for India's Reply, and How India Kept Her Word (1898). Even America did not escape, with America Looking On, about the Boer War
Boer War
The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....
. These examples of colonial fealty were well received by British audiences, and parodied in Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's Barrack-Room Ballads
Barrack-Room Ballads
The Barrack-Room Ballads, and Other Verses are a set of martial songs and poems by Rudyard Kipling originally published in two parts: the first set in 1892, the second in 1896...
. He was also known for tear jerking ballads such as Don't Go Down the Mine, Dad (1910), possibly inspired by the great 1907 mining disaster at St Genard in South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
, and Good-bye, Mary! (1911). At the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he returned to patriotic songs with Call Us and We’ll Soon Be There (1914).
Dryden also appeared in The Lady of the Lake (1925), an early sound film inspired by the Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
poem.
By the 1930s, with the halls in decline, and his son joining his own half-brothers in America, Leo Dryden was reduced to busking in the streets. He died in London 21 April 1939.
He was the paternal grandfather of rock musician Spencer Dryden
Spencer Dryden
Spencer Dryden was an American musician best known as the longest-serving drummer for Jefferson Airplane. He also played with New Riders of the Purple Sage, The Dinosaurs, and The Peanut Butter Conspiracy.-Early life:...
, the drummer for Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
.