The St Aubyns’ performers

Today marks the birthday of the highly successful music hall artist, Vesta Tilley, born on 13 May 1864. In the very last years of her long life, she had a flat in St Aubyns Mansions, King’s Esplanade, a grand late Victorian block that, unusually for most of the seafront, sits on the beach side of the coast road - with uninterrupted views of the pebbles and the sea. Half a century earlier - when the block was still new - another stage performer, Clara Butt, a contralto singer, also resided there for a while.

Matilda Alice Powles was born in Worcester, began performing at the age of three, and adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley by age 11. She was best known for her work as a male impersonator, gaining national fame for her convincing portrayals of men, particularly dandies, soldiers, and comic characters. She became one of the highest-paid and most influential entertainers of her time, peaking during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. She was especially popular during WWI, when she performed patriotic songs and encouraged enlistment. After retiring in 1920 she published her autobiography Recollections of Vesta Tilley in 1934. She married Walter de Frece, a theatre impresario who later a Member of Parliament and knight, making her Lady de Frece. She lived in St Aubyns in her eighties, and died in London in 1952.

Some 50 years earlier, Clara Butt, born nearby in Southwick in 1872, lived in St Aubyns, then a new block of flats. She had trained as a singer at the Royal College of Music and had studied in Paris and Berlin. She became increasingly well known in the 1890s, particularly for her concert performances and oratorio work in pieces by Edward Elgar (who composed songs specifically for her, including Sea Pictures). She married the baritone Robert Kennerley Rumford in 1900, moving into St Aubyn’s for a few years before relocating to London. Butt toured internationally and - similar to Tilley in fact - was known for her patriotic (and charity) performances, especially during WWI. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1920 for her contributions to music and war efforts.

Dating from 1900, St Aubyns Mansions - painted yellow and white - was stuccoed after WWI. During WWII, it became part of HMS King Alfred (the name for the King Alfred leisure centre after being requisitioned by the Navy), but remained semi-derelict for several years after. Blue plaques for both Tilley and Butt were unveiled on the building by Brighton Council in 2011, though they were paid for by the residents and funds from the Brighton and Hove Commemorative Plaques Panel - see the BBC report. See also My Brighton and Hove.