Pollard Lilliputian Opera Company

Overview

Not one of the audience at the crowded Launceston’s Mechanic Institute on 17 May 1880 would have predicted the first performance of this very musically gifted troupe of children of the Pollard Lilliputian Opera Company would continue over the next thirty years to delight audiences around the world. Initially most of the children of the Company comprised of the seventeen talented children of James Joseph Pollard, the Father of the Company, augmented by other local children.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries professional children’s theatre was an established part of public entertainment. Some troupes enjoyed enormous success, roaming the world impersonating roles which had been written for adults. The Pollards was one such company who received world acclaim. They toured many times throughout Australia, New Zealand, the Orient – embracing China, Japan, the Philippines, India, Java and other Eastern countries – the United States, Canada and South Africa.

Being a member of a Pollard Company, of which there were several - managed by different members of the Pollard family - was regarded as an endorsement of outstanding ability. An American theatre manager said that “there was no school in the world for aspirants to foot-light fame like ‘The Pollards.’”¹  Hundreds of young people graduated from its ranks; many followed the path to stardom: Hollywood, as film directors/producers; film stars in silent and moving pictures; musical conductors in leading orchestras; wireless personalities such as Dad and Dave, Mrs Obbs; and theatres such as Drury Lane, Gaiety Theatre, Covent Garden and Carnegie Hall.

Typically of newspaper reports, the Manila Times proclaimed: “it would not be doing justice” to describe them as being “the cleverest aggregation of children on the stage” and “the word clever is not strong enough to depict the talent for the stage with which they are possessed”.² Another boasted the Pollards were “one of the greatest juvenile musical organisations the world has ever known.”³ Such was its fame the Company was used in advertising, endorsing products including the Tasmanian Eucalyptus Oil Company’s Platypus brand of eucalyptus jujubes and extract. One of the managers claimed the jujubes were excellent for strengthening and clearing the voice. Another alleged by rubbing a little of the extract into the ear, night and morning, cured him of deafness.⁴

At the same time there were increasing protests about the employment of children in pantomimes and “juvenile troupes.” Populist movements abounded; their main cause being the halting of “white slave traffic” and “child exploitation.” They grumbled “it is monstrous to see little brats of babies bemuddling their brains before the footlights … all the kindness in the world cannot prevent mental strain.”⁵ Others alleged the children had “occupied the stage to the detriment of their health, and with great injury to the profession.”⁶

There was also criticism in both the press and the Australian Parliaments that “children who should be at school during the day should be in bed, and not before the footlights at night.”⁷ Parents of the children were condemned too for grossly failing in their duty as they regrettably could be found living upon the “earnings of little children” who were reported as being “worked like slaves for the amusement of half coloured audiences.”⁸ Other perils which had not been contemplated initially was “it is one thing for parents to sanction their children going the round of the [Australian] colonies, where they could always be reached, and another thing to allow them – mere helpless infants as they are – to be taken abroad where they might be starved and ill-treated, and might sicken and die without the possibility of an appeal being made to their natural protectors.”⁹

These predictions unfortunately proved to be the case. Travelling the world with a troupe of children brought with it many difficulties and some unfortunate incidents, including illness, death, war, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, fires, diseases, perils at sea and landslides. In addition, there were allegations of child abuse involving paedophilia in at least one case. These incidents overshadowed the unforgettable experiences and a life to be envied and in hindsight were not in the best interest of the child. The children were trained in music, acting and dancing, They had the opportunity to travel throughout Australia and overseas, and continue to prestigious careers in the arts. The travel exposed the juveniles to the real-life education of cities, manners, people, diets, climates, modes of governments as well as financial reward. While this was a wonderful experience the work involved brought about many disadvantages: learning operas (often by rote), homesickness, lack of the routine considered necessary for a child’s development, exposure to disease and cigarette smoke- filled theatres, fear of punishment if a mistake were made during a performance and working in the night when most children were tucked up in bed.

Not only did the Pollard’s Lilliputian Opera Company make a major contribution towards the social and cultural development of Australian and international performing arts but the various incidents were a catalyst to changing attitudes about the responsibility and care of young people. As the populist causes gained in momentum and after cases of child abuse became known, the Australian Federal Government introduced legislation to ensure that children were protected, at least, when they were out of Australia.¹⁰

1. Otago Witness, 15 March 1909
2. Manila Times, 20 February 1901
3. The Voice, Manitoba, Canada, 28 March 1907
4. Clipper, 16 March 1895
5. Launceston Examiner, 20 July 1881
6. ibid
7. The Argus, 18 December 1883, p7c3
8. Launceston Examiner, 20 July 1881 and The Argus, 25 December 1881
9. The Argus, 18 December 1883
10. Emigration Act 1910

How project envisaged to be developed

This will be a very large project. I envisage that there will be different chapters to the synopsis above such as:

1. In the beginning – From England to Hobart Town
2. A Fresh Start in Launceston
3. The Pollard Children Grow Up
4. Branching Out – Let the Opera Begin
5. Pollard’s Lilliputian Operatic Combination Company
6. The first Visit to New Zealand
7. Return to Australia from New Zealand
8. Asian Tour
9. Australian and New Zealand Revisited
10. Tom Pollard Company
11. Charles Pollard Company
12. Overview of what happened to the original members
13. Overview of some of the more famous members
14. Each of the above has photos and a lot of work in revising needs to be done.