Unlike the accepted view that Anne and Webster were losing popularity because of the rise of American entertainers and rock ‘n roll, they still had plenty of work from 1953 to 1956. Through no fault of their own they were struggling with the Inland Revenue so decided to move to South Africa in July of 1956.
18 February 1953 Ash Wednesday.Elected Joint presidents of Concert Artistes’ Association.
Webster Booth was the guest of Roy Plomley on Desert Island Discs on the BBC Home Service on 3 April 1953.
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Opening of Desert Island Discs script. Sadly the recording is not available on the BBC webpage.11 April 1953 – hardly something to commend him!
Anne as Mistress Knight and Webster as King Charles II in And So to Bed.
24 April, 1953 Coventry Hippodrome, poor review.Diamond Wedding anniversary of Anne’s parents April 1953.Anne and Webster went on an extensive tour of And So to Bed in the midst of many other commitments, particularly Merrie England in the Coronation Year.Booths sing in concert version of Merrie England in Calgary on May 9 1953.Merrie England at Luton Hoo with Douglas Fairbanks Junior
Merrie England at Luton Hoo.CAA dinner 1953 Anne and Webster as presidents.Advert – 1954
8 April 1954
15 April 1954
30 April 195416 May 1954
May 1954
Hiawatha concert had been cancelled for lack of interest. It was replaced by an extract from Aida.
21 September 1954 – Attack of Shingles. Far from “staying indoors for four or five days,” the pain troubled him periodically for many years to come.
28 October 195424 November 1954 – Victoria Congregational Church, Derby from Webster’s score.15 December 1954
Webster’s score 10 December 195431 December 1954I do not know whether Webster and Anne had any singing pupils in the UK.
27 May 1955 Gilbert and Sullivan concert.29 April 1955 – Sir Malcolm Sargent’s birthday concert.24 June 1955 – St Andrew’s Hall, Glasgow.27 July 1955. Anne and Webster were presented to Princess Alexandra.
13 August 1955 Promenade Concert.13 October 1955 Lady Audley’s Secret.25 October 1955 November 1955 0n the way to South Africa for tour of Cape Province.
12 December 1955 – Arriving back in the UK again.
15 December 1955 Messiah, Huddersfield.
Huddersfield Town Hall
Return to South Africa for a further tour.
2 February 1956 Crit by Dora L. Sowden in Rand Daily Mail.
On “platteland tour”. Having tea in Bethal with accompanist, Arthur Tatler.27 June 1956
Passenger List, Pretoria Castle – 12 July 1956.
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Anne and Webster sailed to Cape Town on the Pretoria Castle on 12 July 1956. They had been having trouble with the Inland Revenue because of unpaid tax on American record sales. This had not been settled by the accountant acting for their agent, Julius Darewski. By the time the fault was discovered Webster told the Inland Revenue that he could not afford to pay the full amount and they were facing having some of their belonging being taken by the taxman. They therefore decided to immigrate to South Africa.
The Booth’s joint autobiography was published in 1951 and is now long out of print. I digitised the book several years ago and John Marwood was kind enough to proofread it for me. It is now available in paperback and as an epub at: https://www.lulu.com/duettists
30 March 1952 – Merely Players at Drury Lane23 March 1951April 1951May 1951 from a talk on the BBC.HIAWATHA – Croydon – 31 May 195111 July 1951 12 July 19513 August 1951, Webster and Anne with accompanist, Geoffrey Parsons. Unfortunately the photo is very poor but the only one I could find of them together. Geoffrey Parsons went on to be the natural successor to Gerald Moore. 15 September 1951 – BlackburnFrom Webster’s score – 20 October 1951
Duet – first published on `15 September 1951 by Stanley Paul.
The Booth’s joint autobiography was published in 1951 and is now long out of print. I digitised the book several years ago and John Marwood was kind enough to proofread it for me. It is now available in paperback and as an epub at: https://www.lulu.com/duettists
16 October 1951.
Webster’s voice was heard twice – dubbed in a scene from Yeomen of the Guard and at the end, singing an echoey version of A Wand’ring Minstrel. He was not very pleased with his billing in the film.
22 January 1952
Creation 29 April 1952 – Sir Malcolm’s birthday.May 1952 – Anne and Webster featured in an article in the magazine.Photo in the John Bull article. Anne and Webster with Smokey.22 June 1952Anne in Merrie England at Chichester. 21 August 195227 October 1952
26 December 1952 – Warwick Castle. Webster’s second cousin, Trevor Luckcuck and a friend cycled to the event from their home in Solihull.
