Untold History of WA: The Governor, two journalists and a piano

It is a scene which it is hard to imagine could take place today. The State’s governor and a colourful and controversial journalist sit around a piano and work on a light opera, which is then performed to an audience of the city’s elite. But back in 1882 that is exactly what happened. Jerry Hart and Governor Sir William Robinson collaborated on the piece Unfurl The Flag. A colourful front page to the sheet music declares the “patriotic song” features music by Robinson and words by Hart. And it is possible to imagine they worked together on the Bechstein boudoir grand piano dating to 1876 that was installed at Government House during Robinson’s first term of office from 1875-1877 and which remains in the foyer. The collaboration was part of a flowering of the musical and dramatic arts in the small and still remote Swan River Colony. WA historian and writer Brendan Kelly has dug deep into the story, explored in a series of essays and a book which examines amateur entertainment in WA between 1875 and 1895. And he draws together many of the various threads of the time which circle around the central figure of Francis Hart, known as Jerry, as well as his talented and influential wife, newspaper columnist Lillian (nee Mitchell) who was an “influencer” of her time. In an article on the Theatre Heritage Australia site, Kelly wrote that London-born Hart had arrived in the Swan River Colony in 1878 to be third master at the Perth High School for Boys, and drifted into journalism in 1882. “Nicknamed ‘Cocky’ for his garrulous and shoot-from-the-hip newspaper commentary, he was at one time tagged as the best hated man in the community,” Kelly wrote. Hart was a talented musician and librettist (writer of the text or words of an opera or other extended musical composition), an actor and impresario. “He became a devotee of the dramatic arts . . . (and) in lockstep with his newspaper profession, Jerry ensured advertising, opening night publicity and great theatre reviews, all the time stroking the egos of amateur ladies and gentlemen, yearning for the footlights,” Kelly wrote. The arrival of Robinson in 1875 had begun a golden era of amateur entertainment. “The wonderful age of the ‘amateurs’ created a level of exhilaration in Perth that waned only after Robinson departed in 1895. “Over three separate terms (1875–1877, 1880–1883, 1891–1895) Robinson was the dynamic patron of the musical and literary arts. “His personal ability to write and perform music — playing the violin and piano, singing and composing — demonstrated talent beyond that of the average amateur. “A star of his time, he was renowned for his popular songs that could be sung around the piano in home parlours. “Sheet music of his compositions sold in the thousands: Remember Me No More; I Love Thee So; Imperfectus; Severed; Thou Art My Soul. He was a superstar,” Kelly wrote. St George’s Hall in Hay Street was a celebrated venue. “Erected in 1879, the hall was the first purpose-built theatre building in Perth, signalling a new era of entertainment,” Kelly wrote. “The solicitors’ firm Stone & Burt sponsored the building, while Edward Stone was an enthusiastic amateur actor and singer, choirmaster of St George’s Cathedral, and part-founder of the Perth Musical Union. “The cast of amateurs and their associated supporters from the upper class read like a who’s who of Perth,” Kelly wrote. The first successful collaboration between Hart and Robinson came with the release of Unfurl the Flag, which was presented as part of a program at St George’s Hall in 1882. The song begins, “Australia’s sons your flag unfold, and proudly wave the banner high, that every nation may behold, our glorious standard in the sky”. The collaborations continued and in 1894 their operetta The Handsome Ransom was performed at Government House and then St George’s Hall. A review in The West Australian on January 20, 1894, of The Handsome Ransom being performed at the hall said there was “a most excellent house”. “The chairs were nearly all filled, there was a fair number at the back, while the gallery was as usual largely patronised,” the paper reported. “The audience included His Excellency the Governor, and a party from Government House. “To say that the audience which occupied these places were appreciative hardly expresses their regard for the performers and their performance. “Encores were the order of the evening, and the persistency with which they were demanded was equalled only by the vigorousness of the demand and the obliging good-nature with which it was responded to. “Before the performance closed Mr Hart briefly addressed the audience and thanked them for their attendance. “He expressed the pleasure it had been to him to collaborate with such a distinguished composer as Sir William Robinson,” the paper reported. Hart’s output was matched by his wife Lilian, who had met him after he became a partner in the mid-West’s Victorian Express newspaper, Kelly wrote on the Theatre Heritage site. “Jerry Hart’s interest in music and the stage immediately drew him to Lilian’s incredible gift as a pianist,” he wrote. They married in 1885, and in 1888 moved to Perth from Geraldton with their daughter. Lilian worked in journalism at first with the WA Bulletin and then the Western Mail, writing The Ladies’ Page, filing under the name Cora. “Lilian knew no peer as an observer of Perth society,” Kelly wrote. “Cora reported on society balls, social entertainment, stage plays and musicals, parlour meetings and house parties. “In many cases Lilian was an attendant at these functions, as well as being the reporter and editor.” Cora gained readers of both sexes and also commented on the status of women, writing at one time that she “could not help thinking, as I looked at the mixed assemblage in the small (Legislative) Council chamber, of the (I hope) not far distant time when the two sexes will sit together and legislate for their country”. In an essay for the Friends of Battye Library Newsletter, Kelly wrote that in their third term, “Sir William and Lady Robinson effortlessly established a rolling schedule of receptions, garden parties and soirées”. “They hosted performances and events on a weekly basis. Being closest to the action, Lilian Hart as the ubiquitous Cora, walked a delicate line. “She did not shirk her opinion about the need for upkeep and modernisation of the Governor’s mansion. “For guests at Government House, Lilian ensured that their attendance and dress found the way into the public eye. “The Ladies’ Page was the most eagerly read social news in the city. Pressing for an upgrade at Government House, she argued that “it is fully time that the aid of Electra was called in at Government House”. And furthermore: “The present system of lighting the drawing-room of Government House by means of wax tapers is not only behind the time, but ruinous to the ladies’ dresses. The grease fell in absolute showers from the chandelier and grievously spotted many dresses and dress coats.” Kelly wrote for the Theatre Heritage site that by the end of 1895 there were signs Perth had outgrown its taste for amateur entertainment. And the Harts’ relationship drew towards a close too, as Jerry’s life, dogged by “financial carelessness”, spiralled downwards. Cora’s final Ladies’ Page ran in September 1895. “Jerry Hart was brought to court on a petty charge of using a railway ticket, for which the time for its proper use had expired. Although he was acquitted, it was a dramatic fall from grace. In 1896 he would desert Lilian and return to England,” Kelly wrote. In a new biography of Hart: Jerry Hart, sex & drugs & Gilbert & Sullivan, Kelly wrote that with their daughter Geraldine, Lilian joined Jerry in London in 1898 but the attempted reconciliation failed amid Jerry’s philandering and shady failed business and financial dealings. Lilian finally ran out of patience and filed for divorce in 1904. She married physician and surgeon Louis Wheeler in London in 1906. Kelly wrote that in 1919 there was a reference to Jerry living in the United States but there were no visible records of his death.