Sidney Grapes

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Sidney Grapes
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Born
Potter Heigham,Norfolk

(1887-06-06)June 6, 1887
DiedApril 28, 1958(1958-04-28) (aged 70)
Occupation
  • Entertainer
  • Singing
  • Comedian

Sidney Grapes (6 June 1887 - 28 April 1958) was a Norfolk dialectic comedian, famous for his "Boy John" letters written between 1946 and 1958.

Early life

Sidney Samuel Grapes was born at Potter Heigham in Norfolk on 6 June 1887, the son of Solomon Samuel Grapes[1] and his wife, Sarah Elizabeth (nee Grapes).[2]


Grapes' forebears had lived in Potter Heigham since at least the sixteenth century[3], and he was to live in the village his whole life. During that time, he witnessed profound changes as the small community developed into a centre for boating and angling.[4]


His parent's social status was that of rural traders and craftsmen. His father (who liked to be known as "Samuel"[5]) was a carpenter, wheelwright, and farmer. [6]His mother was the daughter of George Grapes, a licensed hawker who lived in the nearby village of Ludham. [7]As a young woman, she had been in domestic service at Witton Hall, near Norwich.[8]

Samuel and Sarah were second cousins[9] who had married only four and a half months before Grapes was born.[10] When they married, Samuel was 38, and Sarah was ten years younger.[11]

Grapes was probably born in his parent's home next to the Falgate Inn.[12] His sisters, Gladys Eliza [13] and Mabel Emma [14] were probably born there too. This house remained the family residence until 1903, when Samuel bought a villa called "The Limes" for £380.[15]

Grapes would have attended the village school: initially, the old school built in 1844, and then the new Board School built in 1894.[16] As in other places, the village school taught standard English that contributed to the decline of the local dialect.

In August 1907, Grapes played the role of Alick in a historical pageant about the last days of St Benet's Abbey written by Louis N. Parker. He and other rustic characters spoke dialogue in "the Broad Norfolk of pre-School Board days" added by the Rev. Maurice Bird, the Norfolk Field Naturalist.[17] Bird's use of dialect may have influenced Sidney's later writings.

The pageant's organiser, the Rev. Charles Wilton Prangley, was a great benefactor to the village, working tirelessly to raise funds to repair the church.[18] He also supported the Social Club where Grapes' early comedy talent was fostered.[19] On 3 March 1908, Sidney sang songs at an end-of-season Club concert at which the members presented Vicar and his wife with a rose bowl to thank them for their kindness and support.[20]

As well as being a talented performer, Grapes was a good organiser. In 1911, he arranged a Coronation concert at Potter Heigham, [21] and in 1921, he organised whist drives to raise money for local hospitals.[22]

Grapes was also a keen cyclist. As a boy, he participated in bike races at the Ludham annual sports event, often winning prizes.[23] By the age of 20, he had become an agent for Raleigh Cycles,[24] and he went on to expand this business, becoming a motorcycle agent,[25]motor engineer, and garage owner.[26]

During the First World War, he was probably exempted from military service because his engineering work was vital to the local economy.

In January 1915, Grapes sang two songs at a concert in aid of the Belgium Relief Fund.[27] Performing sketches in the same show was Ella Ostler, a schoolteacher from Lincolnshire who probably worked locally.[28] In late 1916, Grapes and Ella were married, probably at Weston, Lincolnshire, where Ella’s father was the stationmaster.[29]

By 1938, Grapes was a Freemason.[30] During the Second World War, he served as a Special Constable, and Ella was an APR warden.[31]

Entertainment career as an entertainer

Grapes' first experience as an entertainer was singing songs at local concerts.[32]

In his early twenties, he began making a reputation for himself as a comedian. His earliest comic performance may have been at a Church concert in the nearby village of Ludham in April 1909.[33] By February 1910, the audience at Potter Heigham Social Club were enjoying his "clever impersonations".[34]

His early performances were limited to places within a five-mile radius of his home.[35] His first performance further afield was a Conservative and Unionist dinner held at Great Yarmouth in February 1925.[36] This engagement came after a hiatus in his career of several years, during which time he may have concentrated on his garage business.[35]

From the early 1930's, his engagements became more frequent and he travelled further afield, going all over Norfolk and into parts of Suffolk.[35]

He often appeared at events for Conservative Associations, his first being at a meeting of the newly-formed Potter Heigham Conservative and Unionist Association in 1912. Of his 121 appearances found in newspapers, 17 (14%) were at Conservative Association events.[35]

Other significant sources of bookings were Bowls Clubs (9%), local businesses (8%), the British Legion (7%), Over-Sixties Clubs (7%), local churches (7%), and Cricket Clubs (6%).[35]

Grapes typically performed at dinners and small gatherings, where his comic stories evoked nostalgia for a lost world. He did not often perform in theatres and when he entered a variety talent show at the Regal Theatre, Yarmouth, in 1935, he won joint third prize with a speciality dancer.[37]

In the 1940's and 1950's, radio broadcasts boosted Grapes' reputation. A newspaper report of December 1949 noted that he had broadcast on the radio several times,[38] and in 1956, he was a guest on "Women's Hour," broadcast from the Assembly House, Norwich.[39]

In the 1950's, he often performed at Over-Sixties Clubs, which were opening in great numbers.[40]

From 1946, Grapes began writing letters to the Eastern Daily Press using the persona of "Boy John", a farm labourer who told stories about himself and his eccentric relatives and neighbours. Displaying a masterly use of dialect, these stories were enormously popular.[41] In about 1959 a selection of the letters was printed as a book.[42]

Death

Grapes died on 28 April 1958 28 April 1958, aged 70.[43] Ella remained at the same address, Uptop, Station Road, Potter Heigham, until her death on 1 August 1983, aged 98.[44] By her will, she left the copyright and future royalties of all the "Boy John" books and articles to the Vicar and Churchwardens of Potter Heigham Church.[45]

References

  1. ↑ Civil register of births, Tunstead, Q1 1849: Potter Heigham baptism register 1813-85, entry for 11 March 1949.
  2. ↑ Potter Heigham Baptism register 1871-1976; 1939 register of Potter Heigham; Civil Registration Birth Index 1887 Q2.
  3. ↑ Eastern Daily Press, 30 October 1902, p.9.
  4. ↑ Eastern Evening News,16 August 1906, p.4.
  5. ↑ RG 10, piece 1793, folio 4, p.1; RG 11, piece 1918, folio 108 p.8; RG 12, piece 1506, folio 5, p.2; RG 13, piece 1819 p.1; RG 14 piece 11131; Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1904 p.399.
  6. ↑ History, Gazetteer & Directory of Norfolk, 1890 p.728.
  7. ↑ Great Yarmouth marriage reg. 1886-87, entry dated 27 Jan 1887; RG10 piece 1793, folio 95, p.17.
  8. ↑ RG11, piece 1959, folio 67, p. 16.
  9. ↑ Family reconstitution using information from ancestry.com
  10. ↑ Great Yarmouth marriage reg. 1886-87, entry for 27 Jan. 1887.
  11. ↑ Great Yarmouth marriage reg. 1886-87, entry for 27 January 1887. Samuel's age corrected by reference to Potter Heigham baptism reg. 1813-85, entry for 11 March 1849.
  12. ↑ RG 12, piece 1506, folio 5, p.2; RG 13, piece 1819 p.1.
  13. ↑ Civil registration birth index, Smallburgh, Norfolk, Q2, 1888; Potter Heigham baptism register 1871-1976, entry for 5 August 1888; civil registration death index, Walsham, Q2 1977.
  14. ↑ Civil registration birth index, Smallburgh, Norfolk, Q2, 1892; Potter Heigham baptism register 1871-1976, entry for 5 June 1892.
  15. ↑ Norfolk Chronicle, 8 August 1903 p.10.
  16. ↑ History, Gazetteer & Directory of Norfolk, 1883 p.632; Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1896 p365.
  17. ↑ Downham Market Gazette,10 August 1907, 3; Stowmarket Weekly Post, 4 November 1909, 7.
  18. ↑ Yarmouth Mercury, 12 August 1911 p.8; Lynn Advertiser, 2 November 1928 p.5.
  19. ↑ Eastern Daily Press, 6 March 1908 p.10; Norfolk Chronicle, 7 March 1908 p.6; Yarmouth Independent, 10 January 1914, p.6.
  20. ↑ Eastern Daily Press, 6 March 1908 p.10.
  21. ↑ Yarmouth Mercury, 1 July 1911 p.3.
  22. ↑ Yarmouth Independent, 5 March 1921 p.6.
  23. ↑ Eastern Evening News, 8 June 1901 p.4; Norfolk News, 7 June 1902 p.8; Downham Market Gazette, 23 June 1906 p.6; Eastern Daily Press, 3 June 1907 p.9; Norfolk News, 27 June 1908 p.16.
  24. ↑ Downham Market Gazette, 22 February 1908 p.7.
  25. ↑ Kelly's Directory of Norfolk, 1912 p 414.
  26. ↑ 1934 Kelly's Directory of Engineering, Hardware and Metal Trades - Volume 1 p.573.
  27. ↑ Lowestoft Journal, 6 February 1915 p.6.
  28. ↑ RG 14, piece 19,549; Boston Guardian, 15 November 1913 p.11.
  29. ↑ Civil registration marriage index, Spalding Q4 1916.
  30. ↑ Yarmouth Independent , 22 January 1938, p.12.
  31. ↑ 1939 Register of Potter Heigham.
  32. ↑ Eastern Evening News, 7 May 1907 p.3; Norfolk News, 7 March 1908 p.6; Eastern Daily Press, 6 March 1908 p.10.
  33. ↑ Norfolk News, 24 April 1909 p.8.
  34. ↑ Norfolk News, 12 February 1910, p.14.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 35.3 35.4 Based on references found in The British Newspaper Archive searched August 2023.
  36. ↑ Yarmouth Independent, 21 February 1925 p.4.
  37. ↑ Yarmouth Independent, 9 November 1935 p.18.
  38. ↑ Bury Free Press, 30 December 1949 p.1.
  39. ↑ Birmingham Daily Post, 20 July 1956 p.7.
  40. ↑ Diss Express, 10 March 1950, p.3; Diss Express, 21 December 1951 p.5; Lynn Advertiser,13 June 1952, p.4; Diss Express, 19 December 1952 p.5; Diss Express, 12 June 1953 p.6; Lynn Advertiser, 14 January 1955 p.7; Diss Express, 18 March 1955 p.3; Bury Free Press,16 December 1955 p.9.
  41. ↑ Trudgill, Peter, "Dedialectisation and Norfolk Dialect Orthography," in Writing in Nonstandard English edited by Irma Taavitsaine, Gunnel Melchers and Päivi Pahta (2000) p.324. Accessible via Google Books.
  42. ↑ British Library catalogue.
  43. ↑ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar.
  44. ↑ England & Wales, National Probate Calendar; Civil Registration Death Index.
  45. ↑ Will dated 18 September 1981, proved at Ipswich 20 September 1983.

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