The Tiller Girls
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The Tiller Girls
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Page 2 of our Ex- Tiller girls Betty Brown Alice & Gladys Pittman Lilly Macdonald (Hosgood) Margaret Hunt of Blackpool
Here is an article published in the East Cleveland "Now and Then" about a Redcar ex-Tiller Girl Betty Brown Please open the links to view this, by kind permission of the East Cleveland "Now and Then" Article by Michelle Watson. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alice & Gladys Pittman It was during the late 1900's and early 1920's that Alice & Gladys Pittman first danced with the Tiller Girls. They were initially trained by a dance teacher in Manchester called IRENE ROGAN who looked after a troupe of young Tiller dancers called The Manchester Mites. It looks as though the girls were encouraged to go into show business as it seems that there mother was also a theatrical in her younger days as a bare back rider for the BARNHAM & BAILEY circus under the name of JESSIE DOUGLAS, her full name was JESSICA HARRIOT BASKERVILLE. You can Find more pictures of Alice and Gladys in our Photo Gallery. When they were slightly older the girls went into other Tiller Troupes appearing in Blackpool and Paris. Alice I believe was the head girl of her troupe when they both danced with the Tiller Girls at the Follies Bergere in Paris, it was during their time there that Gladys died as a result of Appendicitis. A third sister called Eve was also preparing to go and join her two sisters already in Paris as a dancer but was stopped from doing so by her mother as a result of the death of Gladys. Following the death of Gladys, Alice went to the USA with the troupe in 1926 for the show Yours Truly in Chicago and New York, she later appeared in a number of films, these were, RIO RITA, BROADWAY MELODY, DANCING YEARS & DESERT SONG. The attached photos show Alice (the blonde) together with another of the Tiller Girls Sadie Hudson and it is Alice who is on the horse see Photo Gallery. . Alice stayed in the US and married into a family of actors called STONE.
Alice Pittman
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lilly Macdonald (Hosgood)
I received an email from Mary Davies about her grandmother Lilly Macdonald who was a member of the 1897 Tiller Troup in the photo above, Lilly is fourth from the left. Mary says she was surprised to see the picture on this site as she has a copy at home in her family documents. She says "It was great to see this as I never actually met my Grandmother as she died before I was born" Lilly, was born in Salford around 1879, and died in 1940, although she was 20 years younger than my Grandfather, William Hearson Hosgood who was a member of the D'Oyley Carte Opera company chorus. They had four sons, my dad, William David was their third son, they lived in Roath, Cardiff.
Lilly Second from left in this 1897 cutting. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Margaret Hunt of Blackpool
Margaret danced with the Tiller Girls in the 1950's her daughter Nicola has contacted me with some great photos and I hope to have a little more information about her dance career very soon. Nicola tells me that unfortunately her mother passed away only a few years ago but remembers a lot of things her mother told her.
Above: Margaret with her troupe in Aladdin at the Embassy Theatre Peterborough, Margaret is second from right. Below: The newspaper clipping is from the Manchester Evening Chronicle dated Friday, March 12th, 1954 with a backstage story about the Tiller Girls at the Hippodrome before the show "Goody Two Shoes". Margaret is the one at the front of both pictures in her robe showing off her fabulous legs. Nicola says she would love to get her hands on a copy of the original photos if anyone knows how to get them.
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Gladys Pittman
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