Charles du Val

Charles du Val (1846-1889) was a 19th century British born elocutionist, performer and journalist.

Also found as Charles Du Val or Charles Du-Val

Biography

Born in Manchester of Irish parents in 1846, Manchester, England. Became one of the most popular solo entertainers of his day. Living in Dublin for many years, making his debut there and giving the first of his famous female impersonations. He also travelled widely in Ireland and England with it, before moving to London.

He wrote his own material, including the music and had several long seasons in London’s West End, even being commanded to appear before the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII).

As a journalist he wrote for many journals, including the Weekly Irish Times and the Pall Mall Gazette.

He died in 1889.

Du Val in South Africa

According to D.C. Boonzaier (1923), Du Val was most admired in South Africa as a transformation artist, but was also a fine singer, dancer, reciter and mimic.

He and his business manager and long-time associate, Arthur Fry, arrived in Cape Town at the end of 1879. They toured South Africa until 1881, with his one-man show Odds and Ends, claiming to have visited every "dorp" (= town) in the process. Twenty two of the shows were done in Cape Town, then they travelled to Kimberley for 20 performances in the Theatre Royal. On to Bloemfontein, Middelburg, Senekal, reaching Pretoria at the start of the first Anglo-Boer war in 1880, where he was asked to perform in the camp and they joined the Pretoria Carabineers, also known as D’Arcy Horse.

On 25 December 1880, a thrice weekly news-sheet called News of the Camp was published, with Du Val as editor, was distributed thrice weekly and the last edition was printed on the press of De Volksstem and published on 9 April 1881. Du Val also took part in the skirmishes at Sesmylspruit, Swartkoppies, and Elandsfontein during the siege of Pretoria by the Boer commandos.

In April 1881, the company departed for Kimberly where they resumed their performances after an interval of five months. He also performed in Durban and later came to Tarkastad and Port Elizabeth, before they headed for home in 1882.

Before Du Val’s return to England in 1882, he lectured in Cape Town on the war. Once home he wrote a two volume chronicle of his journey called With a Show Through Southern Africa, and personal reminiscences of the Transvaal War (London : Tinsley Brothers), which remains a valuable source of information about South Africa, the war and the siege of Pretoria.

Boonzaier (1923) gives a full description of a performance by Du Val which he claims to have seen in the Old Mutual Hall, Darling Street, Cape Town, in November 1888, though this seems highly unlikely.

Sources

http://www.vivien-allen.co.uk/duval_tonight.htm

http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/charles-du-val

Charles du Val. 1882. With a Show Through Southern Africa. And Personal Reminiscences of the Transvaal War (Volume 1) London : Tinsley Brothers.(Facsimile version, HathiTrust Digital Library)[1]

Charles du Val. 1882. With a Show Through Southern Africa. And Personal Reminiscences of the Transvaal War (Volume 2) London : Tinsley Brothers. (Facsimile version, HathiTrust Digital Library)[[2]

Charles du Val from South African History Online (SAHO), www.sahistory.org.za [3]

D.C. Boonzaier. 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p. 396.

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