Uno Ishikawa, a Japanese juggler born in 1889, came to Australia in 1916 as one of the juggling Royal Togos. The Togos toured the country for several years and I have written about their exploits before. In 1919 Uno married Australian woman Glory Numm. Uno performed in Australia for almost a decade until he and Glory settled in England with their three children.
Much of the information here is following up information provided on the excellent Ninjin website. The information about Glory’s early life in Australia comes from my own research.
Horace Lacy Numm
Glory Ishikawa, born Glory Numm, was the daughter of Horace Lacy Numm, a Chinese interpreter and prominent member of the Chinese community in Sydney. Horace's father came from Guangzhou, then known as Canton, and settled his family in Victoria, Australia.
As an adult, Horace lived in Launceston, Tasmania and married Mary Sing who bore a daughter, Glory, in 1900. Mary died shortly after Glory’s birth and Horace moved to Sydney. Whilst there he worked as a Chinese- English interpreter and the Sydney Morning Herald called him ‘the best interpreter in the state.’ Horace campaigned for the Chinese Republican cause in Sydney, and organised events for the community, such as the annual Confucius Birthday celebration. In 1903 Horace remarried and had a son, Darwin, in 1905. Tragically Darwin died in 1920 in Newtown. Horace died in 1942 in Sydney.
Glory
Glory Mona Peal Numm was Horace’s first child and only daughter. After her mother’s death, Glory moved to Victoria where her grandparents and father’s relatives lived. Glory studied music in Melbourne and was a very good pianist, but by 1919 she was in Sydney working as a typist, probably for her father. There are no accounts of how Glory met Uno, but the 19 year old married the 29 year old Japanese juggler in Sydney. The pair stayed in Australia after the other member of Royal Togos, George, left the country and Uno worked as a solo act known as the ‘slick six stick juggler’. Glory had three children, two in Australia, Billy and June, and one, Peter, in England.
In 1942, on Horace’s death notice, Glory was described as Mrs Taro Togo. It was one of many names she used through the years.
Uno Togo Juggler
Unotaro Ishikawa, born in Japan, arrived in England in 1910 for the Japanese Exhibition. He teamed with George Togo, to become the Royal Togos and the pair arrived in Australia in 1916. George performed the slide for life and Uno juggled with sticks and umbrellas. (More here)
He branched out as a solo performer in the early 1920s. As a solo he had a long and successful career in Australia. Around 1926 he and Glory moved to England with their two children.
Uno was a skilled juggler and well liked in Australia. He received positive press wherever he performed and was on friendly terms with the theatrical community. He was also an astute businessman who vigorously protected his tricks. In 1924 Uno copyrighted his top spinning feats, in particular he copyrighted balancing a top on a board, a fan and on a sword. He claimed he had invented these feats in 1919, and advertised his ownership of them in the Australian newspapers.
Despite being unique, Togo faced the same problems that all performers in Australia faced. The Australian population was small and after a short time an act grew stale. It was necessary to constantly refresh the performance because audiences wanted novelty. In addition, overseas acts earned more than local performers, even if their quality was similar. Togo after 10 years in Australia was probably considered local. The family returned to England in 1926 probably for greater opportunities, Togo had connections there, and Glory was a British subject being born in Australia.
When Uno and Glory and their children left Australia they were an established partnership and Uno was a very successful professional performer.
England
When they arrived in England, Uno immediately obtained consistent work. He worked in music halls across the country and was constantly busy. In 1937 he was filmed by British Pathe and was an established part of the British music hall scene.
But in 1939, Togo, the Japanese juggler, disappeared.
In 1939, Glory and Uno were living in Islington and registered there, but the entry was corrected several times. Firstly both were listed under the name Ishikawa, this was crossed out and replaced with Togo, which was crossed out and replaced with ‘Sydney Lee’. A note at the side has a date, 1941. (See the first two entries below- probably needing enlargement)
It seems certain that Glory and Unotaro changed their name to ‘Lee’, probably in 1941, to avoid internment. 1941 was the year Japan entered the war. The choice of ‘Sydney’ for a name may have related to their association with the Australian city.
Was Uno Togo, Syd Amoy?
So what happened to Uno’s juggling career?
According to the theatre website Ninjin, Togo aka Uno Ishikawa aka Sydney Lee, became Syd Amoy, a juggler who performed with umbrellas and tops. Syd was billed variously as the ‘Siamese umbrella man’ or as a ‘Chinese ‘ juggler. He was steadily employed throughout the Second World War and up to the early 1950s.
There does not seem to be any direct evidence that Syd Amoy and Sydney Lee were the same person, but internal evidence suggests the possibility.
The last mention of Togo the Japanese Juggler was in December 1939. Syd Amoy started appearing in English theatrical newspapers in May 1939. Noticeably the names Togo and Amoy did not appear simultaneously in the trade papers.
Togo the juggler disappeared from the record from the end of 1939 and Syd Amoy was more frequently mentioned from that date.
The acts of Syd Amoy and Togo were also similar.
Syd Amoy was variously described as the ‘Siamese umbrella man’ or the ‘umbrella man’. In 1921 in Australia, The Adelaide Mail described Togo performing with an umbrella, saying that his ‘manipulation of various coins and discs on a Japanese umbrella is almost incredible.’
In addition Syd Amoy specialised in the feat of spinning a top on a sword. A feat that Uno had patented in Australia and performed in the Pathe film.
Finally, here are samples of the two men's handwriting 21 years apart, is there a similarity?
Below is part of Uno's application for copyright in 1924.
Of course, it cannot be proven that Unotaro Ishikawa was Syd Amoy, but the circumstantial evidence is suggestive.
Internment of enemy aliens in England began shortly after the declaration of war in 1939. After 1941, Uno was at high risk of being interned. He was the sole provider for Glory and his three dependent children and his loss would have been catastrophic for the family. Perhaps Uno’s pre-emptive solution to this dilemma was to become Syd Amoy, the ‘Chinese’ or ‘Siamese’ juggler.
Sydney and Glory Lee aka Uno and Glory Ishikawa, lived long lives in England. Sydney Lee died in 1981 and Glory Lee, died in 1986. Their descendants still thrive today.
No comments:
Post a Comment