Charles Allen Du Val

Performing In London

The Times 23 May 1883

Daily News 7 May 1883

In 1883 Charles Henry Du Val brought his show "Odds and Ends" to London after an arduous tour of England and Ireland.

At first he had to appear in minor venues, and and as part of other performances.





By the end of 1883, however, he was performing in the St James's Great Hall (1) and at major London venues. Charles Henry Du Val had become a great success.

Freeman’s Journal & Daily Commercial Advertiser 31 January 1884

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The inclusion of the dramatic reading of the long poem Shamus O’Brien by Le Fanu was indeed very daring.

Shamus O’Brien took part in the 1798 uprising in Ireland led by Wolfe Tone. He was about to be hanged when the priest secretly untied his wrists and O’Brien made a spectacular escape from the scaffold. Lord Frederick Cavendish, the newly appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland, had been assassinated in Dublin in the previous May, and his killers were tried in 1883.

However, Charley’s performance won over his London audience.

On 7 July 1884 came his greatest triumph, when he gave a Command Performance before the Prince and Princess of Wales at Marlborough House in London. The occasion was the birthday of their daughter Princess Victoria. The event was fully reported in the London newspapers and Charles Henry Du Val had become the leading solo entertainer (2).

In triumph re returned to Dublin for a well-earned holiday, followed by a tour of Ireland with his show.


And then, in the summer of 1885, the press reported that "Mr. Charles Duval, the well-known author of "With A Show Through Southern Africa," sailed yesterday, per Union steamship Trojan, for Capetown and Natal, en route for India" (3).

Charles Henry Du Val had embarked on yet another overseas tour.

(1) The St James’s Hall in Piccadilly was opened in 1858, with a Grand Hall on the first floor and two smaller halls on the ground floor. It was demolished in 1907.
(2) Du Val Tonight! The Story of a Showman by Vivien Allen (1990)pages 144 and 147.
(3) Birmingham Daily Post Saturday 1 August 1885.

For a collection of the press reports on Charles Henry Du Val see Charles Henry Du Val Press Cuttings.