fred monument - ozvta.files.wordpress.com · in 1919 monument left australia to tour the east with...

FRED MONUMENT

AUSTRALIAN VARIETY THEATRE ARCHIVE: RESEARCH NOTES

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(-1954) English-born singer (baritone), songwriter, teacher (singing), entertainer,

radio host, stage and musical director, character actor, film prologue specialist.

Born at Wood Green, London, possibly in the mid to late-1880s, Fred Monument

intended pursuing a business career after he completed his schooling. A passion for

singing led to him being trained by Bernard Flanders and in 1906 he won a gold medal

at the East London Musical Festival. After making the decision to become a

professional singer Monument reportedly found initial success through appearances at

the Queen's Hall under the direction of Henry J. Wood (later Sir Henry J. Wood). In

1910 he accepted an engagement with Herbert Fordyce's Patchwork Musical Company

as principal baritone and the following year moved into variety entertainment as a

member of Roland Henry's Comedy Entertainers. 1912 saw him win the Grand Prix at

the London Musical Festival1 and visit the USA. He then decided to try his luck in

Australia. Within days of his arrival he secured an engagement with Edward

Branscombe that involved touring Australia with the entrepreneur's Green Dandies

troupe for two years beginning November 1912.

Shortly before the Dandies opened for a season at St Kilda, Melbourne October 1914, Monument left to take up

residence in Brisbane for a year. During his time in the Queensland capital he became involved with such

organisations as the Brisbane Musical Union, Queensland Irish Association, Brisbane Liedertafel, and Royal Society

of St George. He also performed in, and sometimes helped produce, charity concerts and patriotic fundraising events.

One of the highlights of 1915 was his starring role in the world premiere production of The Stenographer Girl (1915).

The comic opera, which he also directed, was put on by the Brisbane Patriotic Comic Opera Company at the Tivoli

Theatre (31 July - 6 Aug.). In October 1915 Monument left Brisbane to rejoin the Green Dandies in Sydney.

After severing his association with Edward Branscombe in mid-1917 Monument initially found employment with J.

and N. Tait (1917-1918) and Harry Rickards Tivoli Theatres Ltd (1918). As a member of the Tait's musical comedy

company he appeared in such productions as The White Chrysanthemum, Very Good Eddie, Aladdin (1917) and Jack

and Jill (1918). His time on the Tivoli circuit (Sydney and Melbourne only) included the revues Honi Soit and Time

Please. The 1910s also saw Monument establish his reputation as songwriter. One of his biggest original song hits of

the decade was "Wattle-Blossom Time in Australia." It featured in the Fullers' 1916 pantomime, The Bunyip.

All images courtesy of the National Library of Australia2

1 "The Dandies." Northern Miner (Charters Towers, Qld) 27 July 1914, 6.

2 1. "Wattle Blossom Time in Australia" was co-written with George Hurdle and published by W.H. Paling (Sydney) ca. 1916.

2. The "Heart Songs" collection published by W.H. Paling (Sydney) ca. 1919. 3. "Sunrise" published by Suttons Ltd (Sydney) ca.

1928. Although the Oscar-winning Sunrise (1927) was a silent film, theme music was often used when it was shown in America

and elsewhere. Monument and John Merton may have been commissioned to write the song by its Australian exhibition company.

Telegraph (Brisbane) 8 June

1932, 6.

1 2 3

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http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article79195667

In 1919 Monument left Australia to tour the East with Athol Tier's company. Known destinations were Java and the

Straits Settlement. Late the following year, after concluding seasons in Perth and Fremantle, Monument co-founded

the Futurists Costume Comedy Company with ex-Royal Strollers comedians Cyril Northcote and G.W. Desmond. The

eight-member ensemble then spent some three years touring overseas. Newspaper reports indicate that they travelled

extensively through Java, the Federated Malay States, Ceylon, Burma, India, Afghanistan, Uganda, Rhodesia, and

South Africa among other countries.

Upon his return to Australia in late-1923 Monument worked in vaudeville and as a between-films entertainer before

securing a role in Ada Reeve's Aladdin pantomime. A tour of Australia and New Zealand (1923-1924) with Reeve's

company was followed by a New Zealand engagement with George Story's Revue Company. By early 1925

Monument was back in Brisbane, the city which then became his permanent home. Over the next five years he was

largely associated with the Cremorne Theatre, appearing with such companies as the Topics of 1925 and the Crackers.

During the final years of the silent film era he also established his reputation as a prologue specialist in Brisbane,

presenting introductory and/or explanatory segments, either alone or in company with other actors, to such films as

Don Juan and Mare Nostrum. His career in Brisbane during the 1930s and 1940s included a final professional

engagement - with Graham Mitchell's Serenaders (1935) - and appearances at numerous community events, concerts,

smoke nights, as well as work at various city and suburban cinemas as a between-films entertainer.

Western Mail (Perth) 1 Dec.

1916, 28.

Mirror of Australia (Sydney) 22

Jan. 1916, 15.

Punch (Melbourne) 12 Dec. 1918,

17.

Although settled in Brisbane with his family from 1925 onwards, Monument occasionally left the city to work

elsewhere for brief periods. In late-1927, for example, he accepted an engagement in Sydney with Clay's Theatres.

The following year he toured North Queensland with the Billy Cass Revue Company (aka The Cameos) and

reappeared in Sydney at the new Empire Theatre (along with Fred Bluett), followed by a season at the Garden Theatre,

Darlinghurst (for Norman Barrington and Leonard Stephens).

Monument is believed to have made his radio debut on 21 March 1926 with 4QG. The broadcast was an attempt to

connect with American radio stations. In 1929 he established a highly popular "argumentative" radio partnership with

comedian Bert Harrow. Monument became an announcer for 4BK when it began broadcasting in October 1930 and

moved to the newly-formed Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in 1933, remaining with its Brisbane station,

4QG, as an announcer until at least the end of 1935. His later radio commitments included such plays as The Unlucky

Lady (1942), Cracked Ice (1946), and Finish Under Fire (1946).

Monument also recorded a number of his own songs for the Parlophone label, notably "Wandering On," "The

Prisoner's Child" (1927) and "Hustling Hinkler" (1928). These were given national airplay during the late-1920s.

Although he retired from the professional stage in 1936, Monument continued to be active as a community

entertainer/emcee and radio actor/performer/ soundman (mostly for 4QR) up until the late-1940s. He also reportedly

worked as a traveller for Edward Dunlop at some stage.

► See also: Edward Branscombe's Dandies (Green Dandies) • The Futurists

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Prahran Telegraph (Melbourne) 5 Apr. 1913, 6.

Additional Notes:

1. For the 1918 Australian premiere of Honi Soit, Monument was one of several cast members who were involved

in a five-minute novelty film that preceded comedian Barry Lupino's entrance into the show. Shot in Albert Park

and Collins Street, the film starred Lupino. Hugh Steyne, and Billy Rego were also featured.

Charles Porter. Broadcasting in Queensland (1961), 756-757.

► "Hustling Hinkler." Written and sung by Fred Monument. Parlophone A 2418 (1928). Access via "The

Popularity of Aviator Songs." National Film and Sound Archive. [sighted 22/10/2017]

https://www.nfsa.gov.au/latest/our-heroes-air

1912-1916

► See also Edward Branscombe's Dandies (Green Dandies)

1912

Earliest known Dandies advertisement to include Fred Monument

Punch (Melbourne) 24 Oct. 1912, 40.

Punch (Melbourne) 19 Dec. 1912, 27.

1913

Table Talk (Melbourne) 13 Feb. 1913, 23.




Prahran Telegraph (Melbourne) 5 Apr. 1913, 6.


Telegraph (Brisbane) 22 Nov. 1913, 14.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/176946216



1914

Ballarat Star (Vic) 14 Sept. 1914, 8.


Monument left the company before the season began.

Public Opinion (Melbourne) 24 Sept. 1914, 8, 10.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/153583440/178

93281

cont...

Prahran Telegraph (Melbourne) 3 Oct. 1914, 5.


Brisbane Courier 3 Oct. 1914, 7.


Brisbane Courier 3 Oct. 1914, 6.


"Music and Drama." Brisbane Courier 28 Nov. 1914, 12.


Brisbane Courier 16 Dec. 1914, 2.








1915

Queensland Figaro (Brisbane) 16 Oct. 1915, 16.


Brisbane Courier 24 Feb. 1915, 8.


Telegraph (Brisbane) 23 June 1915, 3.

Telegraph (Brisbane) 24 July 1915, 3.

Brisbane Courier 12 Aug. 1915, 7.


1916

Sun (Sydney) 16 Jan. 1916, 15.


Sun (Sydney) 23 Jan. 1916, 13.







1917

Perth

WA Sportsman (Perth) 2 Feb. 1917, 4.


Truth (Perth) 3 Feb. 1917, 4.


cont...

West Australian (Perth) 23 Feb. 1917, 8.


Adelaide

Critic (Adelaide) 2 May 1917, 11.

Northern Times (Newcastle, NSW) 2 July 1917, 3.

cont...

cont...

Advertiser (Adelaide) 7 May 1917, 7.


Monument's final season with the Green Dandies

Critic (Adelaide) 27 June 1917, 9.


►






Sun (Sydney) 28 Sept. 1917, 7.

Northern Times (Newcastle, NSW) 4 July 1917, 4.


Graphic of Australia (Melbourne) 7 Dec. 1917, 32.


Argus (Melbourne) 26 Dec. 1917, 10.



1918

Mr Fred Monument. As the Slave of the Lamp in "Aladdin" at King's Theatre, Melbourne.

Photo by Talma and Co., Melbourne.

Punch (Melbourne) 14 Feb. 1918, 39.

Sunday Times (Sydney) 26 May 1918, 14.

Sunday Times (Sydney) 16 June 1918, 10.

Scenes from the Five-Minute "Movie" incidental to the action of Honi Soit.

The new revue at the Tivoli is full of quaint novelties; one of these is a film which precedes Barry Lupino's entrance. The above

photos show incidents in the moving picture in which the chief arts were played by Barry Lupino, Hugh Steyne, Billy Rego, and

Fred Monument, and acted at Albert Park and in Collins Street last Tuesday week.

Table Talk (Melbourne) 5 Sept. 1918, 18.



cont...

Argus (Melbourne) 31 Aug. 1918, 34.

Mirror (Sydney) 25 Oct. 1918, 11.


Sydney Morning Herald 26 Oct. 1918, 2.

"Dorothy Leigh, the maid with charms, and Fred

Monument are side by side" (middle right).

Graphic of Australia (Melbourne) 19 Dec. 1918, 18.


A Pantomime Quintette - Some "Jack and Jill" People

That it will be a pantomime of big surprises is the confident boast of the

combined firms, J. and N. Tait and Bailey and Grant for their Christmas

pantomime extravaganza, Jack and Jill. The two top pictures are of Bert

Bailey ("Ginger") and Violet Collinson, who will make a charming

principal girl. From the centre Barry Lupino smiles down at the thought

that he is to be dame for the first time in an Australian panto. In the

bottom row are Gracie Dorran ("Jill") and Fred Monument (the baritone).

Table Talk (Melbourne) 12 Dec. 1918, 18.





1919

Good Friday night (Melbourne).

"Music." Australasian (Melbourne) 26 Apr. 1919, 27.


Daily Mail (Brisbane) 5 July 1919, 2.

"Our Northern Neighbours." Sunday Times (Perth) 7 Sept. 1919, 1.




1920/1921

1920

Daily Mail (Brisbane) 17 Apr. 1920, 3.


Call (Perth) 11 June 1920, 7.


Daily News (Perth) 26 June 1920, 1.

► See also: The Futurists

1921

cont...

cont...

...

...

...

"Young Australia." Voice of the North (Newcastle, NSW) 10

Nov. 1921, 14.




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1923

Sporting Globe (Melbourne) 31 Oct. 1923, 13.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/20629751

Geelong Advertiser (Vic) 21 Nov. 1923, 1.




cont...

Critic (Adelaide) 5 Dec. 1923, 25.


"The Theatre and its People." Table Talk (Melbourne)

27 Dec. 1923, 20.






1924

Mail (Adelaide) 23 Feb. 1924, 13.


Ballarat Star (Vic) 5 Mar. 1924, 6.

Daily Mail (Brisbane) 29 Mar. 1924, 2.

cont...

Sydney Morning Herald 21 Apr. 1924, 3.




New Zealand

Evening Post (Wellington, NZ) 17 May 1924, 4.

cont...

Final Aladdin season

Auckland Star (NZ) 30 June 1924, 8.

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19240630.2.122

Press (Auckland, NZ) 14 July 1924, 1.

Evening Post (Wellington, NZ) 25 Nov. 1924, 10.

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19241125.2.1

27.22

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19240630.2.122

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19241125.2.127.22

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19241125.2.127.22

1925

cont...

New Zealand Herald (Auckland, NZ) 5 Jan. 1925, 10.

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19250105.2.128

cont...

Press (Auckland, NZ) 16 June 1925, 13.

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19250616.2.110

Brisbane

Telegraph (Brisbane) 25 July 1925, 19.

Telegraph (Brisbane) 17 Dec. 1925, 3.


https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19250105.2.128

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19250616.2.110


1926

Telegraph (Brisbane) 9 Jan. 1926, 4.


Daily Mail (Brisbane) 28 Jan. (1926), 2.

Radio debut

cont...

...cont

Daily Mail (Brisbane) 21 Mar. 1926, 9.


Brisbane Courier 22 May 1926, 15.


cont...

Brisbane Courier 2 July 1926, 10.






Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser

(Qld) 3 Sept. 1926, 4.


Maryborough (Qld)

Brisbane

cont...

Telegraph (Brisbane) 16 Oct. 1926, 3.


Daily Mail (Brisbane) 17 Oct. 1926, 12.

"The Spell of Music: Night of Melody - Philharmonic Concert."

Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser

(Qld) 4 Sept. 1926, 8.


◄




1927

Daily Standard (Brisbane) 20 Jan. 1927, 2.

cont...

Brisbane Courier 1 Feb. 1927, 18.


cont...

Telegraph (Brisbane) 19 Mar. 1927, 3.


Queensland Figaro (Brisbane) 26 Mar. 1927, 4.





cont...

Brisbane Courier 30 Mar. 1927, 24.


cont...



Sydney

Propeller (Hurstville, NSW) 11 Nov. 1927, 3.

Wollongong (NSW)

Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong, NSW) 9 Dec. 1927, 3.





1928

aka The Cameos

Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld) 11 Apr. 1928, 3.

Brisbane

cont...

Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 16 Sept. 1928, 12.


8505185

Sydney

Sun (Sydney) 28 Oct. 1928, 36.


cont...

Sun (Sydney) 3 Nov. 1928, 7.


Brisbane

Truth (Brisbane) 16 Dec. 1928, 22.







1929

Brisbane Courier 19 Jan. 1929 18


Truth (Brisbane) 3 Mar. 1929, 8.


Telegraph (Brisbane) 7 May 1929, 17.


4QG "Night Session" 4 June

4QG "Night Session" 7 June

The Week (Brisbane) 31 May 1929, 37.


Queensland Times (Ipswich) 13 June 1929, 5


Queensland Times (Ipswich) 15 June 1929, 15.






1930



4QG 7 Feb.

Telegraph (Brisbane) 7 Feb. 1930, 17.


4QG 12 Feb.

The Week (Brisbane) 7 Feb. 1930, 34.


4QG 21 Feb.

World's News (Sydney) 19 Feb. 1930, 19.


4QG 7 Mar.

Daily Standard (Brisbane) 7 Mar. 1930, 5.


Queensland Times (Ipswich) 18 Sept. 1930, 9.








1931

Truth (Brisbane) 29 Mar. 1931, 9.






1932






Telegraph (Brisbane) 28 Sept. 1932, 11.




1933


Telegraph (Brisbane) 1 Feb. 1930, 6.



1934-1954

1934

Telegraph (Brisbane) 5 Sept. 1934, 15.


Queensland Times (Ipswich) 17 Oct. 1934, 9.


1935

Telegraph (Brisbane) 4 May 1935, 8.


Daily Standard (Brisbane) 21 June 1935, 12.


►

►





1936

cont...

Courier Mail (Brisbane) 17 July 1936, 21.


1938

Telegraph (Brisbane) 17 Mar. 1938, 17.


1939

Courier Mail (Brisbane) 29 Sept. 1939, 13.


Courier Mail (Brisbane) 15 Dec. 1939, 4.


1942

Courier Mail (Brisbane) 15 Aug. 1942, 6.







1946

Courier Mail (Brisbane) 18 May 1946, 6.


Daily Examiner (Grafton, NSW) 10 Aug. 1946, 4.


cont...

Courier Mail (Brisbane) 1 July 1949, 6.


Brisbane Telegraph 17 Sept. 1949, 3.


1954

Brisbane Telegraph 13 Apr. 1954, 21


Please note: There is currently no explanation for the above

reference to Fred Monument being known on stage and radio

as Leighton Stone. A search of Trove and other online sources

has failed to locate any person by the name Leighton Stone in

being involved in any Australian entertainment industry

between ca. 1920 and 1954. No reference to this being his birth

name has been located either.






Australian Variety Theatre Archive: Research Notes

First published by Clay Djubal: 23/10/2017 • Last updated: 10/05/2018

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