PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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GORDON DAVIES (1901-1944)
Mr Gordon Davies was the musical director at the New Palace Theatre, Plymouth, from 1936 until his death in 1944. [1] Officially his real name was Mr William Frederick Florence and he was born at Ilford, Essex, at the end of 1901. He adopted the name Gordon Davies because his father, also a Mr William F Florence, managed the Leven Theatre, in Fifeshire, Scotland, under the name of William Davies. [1] His father was an oil and colourman living at 111 Belgrave Road, Ilford, in Essex, in the 1911 census so it would be interesting to know how he got into theatre management. [2] Mr William Frederick Florence, otherwise Mr Gordon Davies, died in Plymouth on August 27th 1944 at the age of 42 years [1]. His father had died in Plymouth in 1940 at the somewhat grander 61 years of age [3].
During his lifetime he had
played or conducted at most of the principal theatres in the United Kingdom
as well as those in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and France.
he was the composer of a number of pantomime songs and re-arranged and
orchestrated a number of West End comedies before they went on tour.
He had also been a keen member of the Special Constabulary during the
Second
World War. [1] Sources:
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