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Annie Dunbar (Annie Jane Fairbrother)

12 of 12 portraits by Thomas Packer

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Annie Dunbar (Annie Jane Fairbrother)

by William Spalding, printed by Thomas Packer, published by Francis Brothers & Day
chromolithograph, 1886
14 in. x 10 in. (355 mm x 255 mm) paper size
Given by John Hall, 1972
Reference Collection
NPG D42801

Sitterback to top

Artistsback to top

  • Francis Brothers & Day (active 1880s), Musical publishers. Artist or producer associated with 7 portraits.
  • Thomas Packer (active 1855-1880s), Lithographic printer. Artist or producer associated with 12 portraits.
  • William Spalding (active 1870s-1880s), Proprietor of design studio. Artist or producer associated with 7 portraits.

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Sheet music cover for 'That's where the money goes' by Joseph Tabrar.

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Events of 1886back to top

Current affairs

The Liberals win the election after the Irish Nationalists, including John Dillon, side with them over Home Rule, and Gladstone resumes the seat of Prime Minister. The failure of the first Home Rule Bill divides the Liberal party; those opposed to Home Rule break away to form the Liberal Unionist Party, supporting the Conservatives. This results in a Liberal loss at an emergency election called, and the Marquess of Salisbury becomes Prime Minister for the second time.

Art and science

The Severn Tunnel is opened, freeing up the route between London and South Wales.
Pears' soap company buy the copyright to John Millais's painting Bubbles, using it in an iconic and enduringly recognisable advertisement. Millais, however, attracted strong criticism from the art community, who protested against the debasement and commercialisation of art.

International

The American poet Emily Dickinson dies, aged 54. Dickinson wrote over 1,700 poems, which first came to light in 1890, and is recognised as one of America's most important writers.
The Statue of Liberty, designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, is erected on Bedloe's island. The huge copper statue, a gift from the French to the United States to commemorate the centennial of American independence, is an iconic figure of liberty, and America itself.

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John Culme

24 August 2020, 17:27

Annie Dunbar (1861-1936), English music hall serio-comic singer and dancer.

The Marylebone music hall, Marylebone High Street, week beginning Monday, 28 September 1885
'The audience welcomed a warm favourite in Miss Annie Dunbar, who returns to the Marylebone time after time to entertain an admiring audience. Miss Dunbar looked very fetching in some triumphs of the modiste's art. In personating a young lady, who evidently knows how to take care of herself, she sang with much verve and animation ''You mustn't try your tricks on me,'' and then in a semi-satirical ditty ''That's where the money goes'' won further favours. Her neat dancing in a concluding hornpipe emphasised her success, and she was not allowed to retire without abundant evidence of the general enjoyment of the audience during her stay.'
(The Era, London, Saturday, 3 October 1885, p. 10b)

Miss Dunbar, whose real name was Annie Jane Fairbrother, was the youngest child of Walter Benjamin Fairbrother (1829-1904), a printer's compositor/printer, and his wife, Emily (née Wade, 1831-1903). She was, therefore, a member of the well-known Fairbrother theatrical family which included her great-grandfather, Robert Fairbrother (1769-1841), pantomimist, actor and entertainer, as well as the dancer Louisa Fairbrother (1816-1890) (NPG D22106, D22385, D36631 and D36632), who married the Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904); Sam Cowell (1820-1864), actor and music hall comedian; George Giddens (1845-1920), actor (NPG Ax9348 and x197879; and Sydney Fairbrother (1873-1914), actress.

Annie Jane Fairbrother (Annie Dunbar) was married twice. Her first husband was Thomas Philip Slater, otherwise Philip Thomas Slater (baptised, Holy Trinity, Mile End Old Town, 6 June 1847), variously described as a clerk and government messenger, whom she married at St. Mary, Newington, Surrey on 23 May 1880. They had one child, Emily Maud (1881-1883). (The Era, London, Saturday, 3 February 1883, p. 4c) Mr. Slater, however, was professionally known as Frank Estcourt and as such he was a familiar figure to London audiences, both as a singer and writer of comic songs and as chairman in a succession of music halls, the last being the Queen's, Poplar, where he had presided for about 14 years when he suddenly died after a short illness on 30 October 1893. (The Era, London, Saturday, 4 November 1893, p. 17a, Saturday, 11 November 1893, p. 23c; will proved by Annie Jane Slater, London, 4 January 1894)

Annie Jane Slater (Annie Dunbar / Mrs. Frank Estcourt) was then married a few months later in 1894 to a publican, Joe Hamilton Craig (circa 1850-1917), after which for a short time she became the landlady of The Old King's Head, corner of Bear Street, Leicester Square, opposite Daly's Theatre (The Music Hall and Theatre Review, London, Friday, 24 August 1894, p. 19c) She died at Peterborough, Huntingdonshire early in 1936.