The two Daveys, Richard and Rose, were well known jugglers in the United States during the 1920s but one of them, Richard, was an Australian Gallipoli veteran..
Richard Davey was born in South Australia in 1894. He was the second son of Elizabeth (nee O Neil) and William Davey, a carpenter. The family was Catholic and very large. There were eight children, five boys and three girls, and Richard was the second born.
When the boys reached adulthood, they all followed a trade. One was a plumber, another was a bricklayer. Richard worked as a stockman, and this was his profession when he volunteered for army service in World War 1
All the Davey brothers signed up for the war, one, Claude, was killed in action and another, Philip was awarded the Victoria Cross (the highest award for bravery). They fought at Gallipoli and in France and were wounded and redeployed constantly.
Richard joined up when he was 22. His army papers described him as 5 foot 6 inches tall, weighing 146 pounds and having grey eyes and brown hair. He was almost immediately sent to Gallipoli and remained there for three months before being transferred to France. During his three years of service, he was wounded several times, including twice in the head which left him with a permanent scar. Late in 1918 he was shot in the chest and shoulder, which left him with broken ribs and permanent limitations of movement in his right arm. These injuries resulted in his discharge from the army.
There is no indication that Richard was a juggler before the war, but by 1918 he identified as one. In his discharge papers the doctor wrote;
‘Loss of muscular tissue right upper arm, limitation of movement little finger will interfere with his occupation as a juggler.’
Somehow the vicissitudes of war had turned the South Australian stockman into a juggler.
Richard in uniform.
Richard later said that he had amused his comrades on the front lines by juggling various objects as they came to hand and that he performed with entertainment troupes whilst in the army. According to the newspapers, even as his comrades rallied to go over the top at Gallipoli, Richard was juggling to the sounds of shellfire and gun shots. Regardless, by the time he came home in 1918, he was a juggler.
His first Australian performance was amateur. In November 1918, a local fair had a talent competition as part of the fun, and Richard won the prize with juggling.
Later that month he made his first recorded professional appearance for Fullers at the Majestic Theatre in Adelaide.
His juggling was ‘clean, quick and full of surprises’ according to reviews. He wore his uniform as a stage costume with a medal on his beret, and was billed as ‘The ANZAC juggler. Part of the act was a trick where Richard balanced a cannon ball on a billiard cue and then tossed it and caught it on his back. .
This seems to be the only recorded performance of Richard in Australia before he went to the United States.
In 1920 Richard departed from Liverpool in England to New York and from that date it seems that he toured the vaudeville halls of America, occasionally gaining work in reputable and disreputable places.
In 1920 he was listed in Variety Magazine as;
A ten minute act where Davey in Summer attire juggles cane, hat. plates Cigarettes, cannon ball and four knives with sharp points, all the while ad libbing with an Australian accent. He was described as ‘a good opener for the smaller halls’ .
However, it was not until he met his future wife Rose Ritchie, that Richard’s juggling fortunes improved.
Rose was Canadian, born in 1902 in Nova Scotia. When she was 19 she left home to travel to the United States. In 1922 she and Richard paired up for a juggling act they called Davey and Ritchie.
They came to Australia that year under engagement to Fuller's theatres, which was the second most popular vaudeville circuit in Australia. Fullers had extensive theatrical links in New Zealand and in rural towns in Australia. However, Davey and Ritchie played mostly in the major cities.
In February that year they were in Richard’s home town of Adelaide. His juggling was judged as accomplished, but it was his comedic quips that gained the most attention. They visited Melbourne and performed at the Bijou and in April they were in Brisbane appearing as ‘comedy jugglers.’
They travelled to New Zealand in July where Richard performed,;
Some delicate work with a cigarette, a top hat and a walking stick… followed by an amusing and successful attempt to balance a feather on his nose, completing his turn with the hazardous feats of juggling with bayonets and an iron cannon ball.
They returned to Adelaide in August where Richard’s
Dexterity of wit …is fully appreciated when he has a solid iron cannon ball balanced on the end of a steel rod which in turn is swaying on his chin.
The couple were variously described as being ‘American’ or ’ English; but eventually Richard was identified as an Australian with a respectable war record and a war hero as a relative.
They remained in Australia for almost the full year and then returned to North America together,
In 1923 they visited Canada and continued juggling. They performed around North America until 1925 when they returned to Australia and Fullers. This time they carried a new name, The Two Daveys, which celebrated their marriage in the United States that year.
They began in Adelaide where Richard received rave reviews for his juggling prowess and his patter.
One review said ‘He is a wonder.’ His startling feats move one to highest admiration of his skill, and his breezy manner, freshened by a running commentary of really smart, original patter, add much to the attractiveness and merit of the act.’
The act as described by the paper was almost the same as the one they presented two years before. It included a series with a stick, billiard balls and an apple, ‘in which the various objects appear bewitched by reason of the perfect muscular adjustment Davey applies to their handling.’
In March that year the Adelaide newspapers reported that Davey juggled 8 balls as part of the act. This is an early recorded example of an Australian juggling eight balls.
Overall Adelaide provided a warm welcome home for the local lad.
They proceeded to Melbourne and from there to New Zealand for two months. In no other place did they receive the same rave reviews as they did in Adelaide.
Rose and Richard considered working conditions in Australia far better than those in the United States. They cited the lower working hours in the antipodes and better opportunities for vaudevillians. Work was decreasing in America due to the influx of moving pictures which occupied most of the bill.
They left Auckland in July and arrived in San Francisco in August that year.
Between that time and their return to Australia in 1929, the couple continued touring the American circuit with occasional stops in the English halls. In 1926 they received ‘glowing notices’ in Chicago according to Australian reports.
In early 1929 they returned to Melbourne and started a short tour on the Tivoli circuit. Reviewers praised Richard’s comedic work and Rose’s role was described for the first time.
Smooth juggling and comedy at the double and both A grade at that. The lady does little but hand ironmongery and a few swords to her lord, but she does give a liberal display of silk ‘all the way up.’
Obviously, Rose’s role was to provide titillation in a typical roaring ‘20s racy display.
This tour was short, only 2-3 months and limited to Melbourne and Sydney, however, it was with the well paying and prestigious Tivoli circuit, which indicated that they were a highly regarded act.
Richard and Rose separated shortly after their return to the United States in 1929, and in 1931 Rose remarried.
Richard became a theatrical producer and died in 1937 in the United States, whilst Rose became an American citizen and worked as a housewife until she passed away in the 1970s
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