There cannot be many pubs in Liverpool named in honour of their landlord/landlady. Peter Kavanagh’s on Egerton Street is one and Ma Egerton’s on Pudsey Street is another. Dublin-born Mary Egerton came to Liverpool in the 1890s and managed the American Bar in Lime Street before taking over The Eagle in Pudsey Street, behind the Empire Theatre. Her bar became the favourite haunt of performers and she became friends with many, including Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy and, later, Judy Garland.
One of her claims to fame is that her observation led to the arrest of the infamous Dr Crippen. But first to the photographs. The bottom image is of an older Ma enjoying the company of visiting sailors. The top photograph is of her in the company of visiting performers including her friend Marie Lloyd (seated with a black dress with pearls, Ma is standing next to her). Marie was a superstar of her time, a bawdy singer whose use of double-entendre thrilled audiences yet shocked the moralists. A typical song line ‘I sits among the cabbages and peas’ outraged her critics – so she agreed to change the line to ‘I sits among the cabbages and leeks’ to even greater audience approval. A strong supporter of workers’ rights, she was at the forefront of a strike by theatre workers for better pay. Picketing outside a London theatre, her attention was drawn to a young actress, Belle Elmore, crossing the strike line. ‘Don’t worry about her – she will empty the theatres faster than us’ Marie shouted .. and here the story of the top photograph unfolds.
Belle Elmore was married to Dr Crippen and less than three years later was murdered and dismembered by her husband, who took up with his lover, Ethel le Neve. At some point after the murder, Ma Egerton visited London, where she came across Crippen, who was an old friend. She noticed that le Neve was wearing Belle’s jewellery and, her suspicions aroused, contacted the police. Crippen realised that he was under threat of being exposed, fled to Belgium with le Neve, where they boarded SS Montrose which was bound for Canada. To cover their tracks, le Neve dressed as a young man. Unfortunately for the pair, the SS Montrose was one of the first ships to have the newly invented Marconi wireless installed and the ship’s captain, suspicious of the couple who were seen holding hands, contacted his base, who in turn called in Scotland Yard. Crippen was arrested on arrival and returned to Britain where he was tried and hanged. So there is a bit of criminal history in one photograph (and one overlong blog).
