Born Ella Maria Lingham on this date (10 April) in 1854, Nelly Power was a child star, comedienne, mimic, principle boy in pantomime and male impersonator. She was one of the biggest stars of the music halls. Vesta Tilley was her understudy. Marie Lloyd, Jenny Hill and others went on to cover her song The Boy in the Gallery. She died from pleurisy on 19 January 1887, aged only 32, and was buried at Abney Park cemetery in Stoke Newington, near the grave of George Leybourne. Her funeral attracted over 3,000 mourners and a further great crowd at the start of the procession from her home, 97 Southgate Road, where a blue plaque was erected in 2017 by the Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America.
A Blue Fire Theatre Production about Nelly Power, titled "Marie Lloyd Stole My Life", was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 2019. Here is brief excerpt:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXA4m7I8DgE
And here, from the Islington Guided Walks website is a brief synopsis of her life and her connection with that area:
www.islingtonguidedwalks.com/the-stolen-life-of-nelly-power/
![Image](https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Music-Hall-Guild-Founder-Director-Adrian-Barry-with-Nelly-Powers-Blue-Plaque-2017.jpg)