Balmbra's Music Hall was an early Music Hall in the centre of Newcastle, England, in the middle of the 19th century. In about 1848 a first floor room of the Wheatsheaf Public House at 6 Cloth Market, Newcastle, was opened and in later advertisements was called "The Royal Music Saloon" (this name appears in advertisements dated 1859).
- Venue
- Balmbra's Music Hall
- Address
- 6 Cloth Market, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, England
- Town
- Newcastle upon Tyne, GB
Balmbra's Music Hall was an early Music Hall in the centre of Newcastle, England, in the middle of the 19th century. In about 1848 a first floor room of the Wheatsheaf Public House at 6 Cloth Market, Newcastle, was opened and in later advertisements was called "The Royal Music Saloon" (this name appears in advertisements dated 1859). Around 1862, the room was rebuilt/converted, and the proprietor at this time was John Balmbra. It was here that the song "Blaydon Races" was first performed by George "Geordie" Ridley in 1862, The song referring to the Music Hall by name, as the starting point of the trip - "I took the bus from Balmbra's and she was heavy-laden, Away we went along Collingwood Street, that’s on the road to Blaydon."” In 1864 The Wheatsheaf was taken on by Mr T Handford. Thomas Handford (1835-1876) and his elder brother, Henry (1829-1888), blackface artistes, were the sons of John Handford (b.1801), who in 1841 was the licensee of The Green Man in Jackson’s Row, Manchester. In May 1856, or thereabouts, the Brothers Handford, as they were known, worked a six-month engagement in the Saloon at the Wheatsheaf with John Balmbra who had been running the place since 1850, if not before. The Handfords took their customary, farewell benefit at which, 'The Era' reported on 9 November, ‘Mr Thos. Handford danced in a pair of splendid Morocco clogs the extraordinary number of 150 steps, and was most rapturously encored.’ In 1857, the Handfords were back in harness at Balmbra's Wheatsheaf. On 11 October 'The Era' decided that they had ‘established themselves as public favourites, and appear to be the chief attraction.’ They took their benefit before a bumper house on 3 December 1857. In 1863 Balmbra, whose health was ailing, struck a deal with Tom Handford - now known as 'The Black Diamond' - to take on The Wheatsheaf for a year. It seems likely that John and Isabella Balmbra may have retired to Alnwick where Isabella Balmbra died in 1870, two years after her husband's