Walter de Frece

Sir Abraham Walter de Frece (7 October 1870 – 7 January 1935) was a British theatre impresario, and later Conservative Party politician, who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1920 to 1931. His wife was the celebrated male impersonator Vesta Tilley.

Early life Abraham Walter de Frece was one of four sons of Henry (Harry) de Frece, of the Gaiety Music Hall in Camden Street, Liverpool, who was a prosperous agent in the Roscoe Arcade, a prominent theatrical manager, and a pioneering actors' agent from a large theatrical family. Henry de Frece had his sons educated well in order to keep them out of theatre, with Walter attending the Liverpool Institute and a school in Belgium.

Walter fell for Tilly, and against romantic competition that included Sir Oswald Stoll, managed to take Tilly to a dance and secure a kiss. This inspired Walter to resign his apprenticeship, and leaving home secured himself a job in the office of Warner's Theatrical Agency. Walter married Tilley at Brixton Register Office on 16 August 1890.

Noting the decline in popularity of melodrama, and the increase in music hall revenues, de Frece secured the lease on the Metropole Theatre at Camberwell. Leaving Warner's, he turned it into the Camberwell Empire, a modern music hall. After this success, he began building a tour circuit by buying out the leases of other theatres which had fallen on hard times, including: the Grand Theatre, Margate; the Grand Theatre, Colchester; the Prince of Wales, Southampton; and a theatre at Boscombe managed by his brother-in-law, Harry Ball, junior. All were refurbished and renamed "Hippodromes," with music hall productions run by his company "The South of England Hippodromes, Ltd.," where his wife Tilley was a regular performer. However, based on entries in Hansard, Sir Walter did make a number of contributions to debates in the House of Commons, initially representing his constituents in Ashton-under-Lyne (from 1920 to 1924), and latterly those in Blackpool from (1924 to 1931).

Later life

In light of the poor health of his wife, he retired from the House of Commons at the 1931 general election, and went to live in the home they had in Monaco. Walter died before his wife, at the age of 64. He is buried in Putney Vale Cemetery, where his wife, who died in 1952 at the age of 88, was later laid to rest beside him. A black granite memorial marks the spot.