Sam Cowell

Samuel Houghton Cowell (5 April 1820 – 11 March 1864) was an actor and singer of comical songs. He was born in England and raised in the United States.

Biography Born in London, he was the son of Joseph Cowell, a British actor who took him to the United States in 1822. He was educated in a military academy near Philadelphia, and worked as a child actor in the United States. He first appeared there aged nine in Boston as Crack in The Turnpike Gate, a play by Thomas Knight, in which he sang a duet with his father "When off in curricle we go". As his career developed, he became primarily a music hall artist, performing comical songs and burlesques in London song and supper rooms. Songs that he made famous included "The Ratcatcher's Daughter" and "Villikins and his Dinah".

Cowell became extremely popular and successful, and is credited with establishing the music hall, a new form of entertainment.

He toured throughout England, staging a concert almost every night between 1857 and 1859. His schedule led to overwork, and to alcohol dependence. Eventually his failing health made it impossible for him to continue performing and, in 1863, he was declared bankrupt. He moved with his family to stay with friends in Blandford Forum, Dorset, to recuperate.

Sam Cowell died in the following March and was buried in the cemetery at Blandford Forum, where there is a monument to him erected by his friends.

Private life He married Emilie Marguerite Ebsworth and they had eight children. Three of their children became actors: daughters Sydney (1846–1925) and Florence and son Joseph.