Scottish-American composer and lyricist
W. Augustus Barratt (3 June 1873 – 12 April 1947) was a Scottish-born, later American, songwriter and musician.
Early life and songs.
Walter Augustus Barratt was born 3 June 1873 in Kilmarnock, the son of composer John Barratt; the family later lived in Paisley. In 1893 he won a scholarship for composition to the Royal College of Music.
In his early twenties he contributed to "The Scottish Students' Song Book", with three of his own song compositions and numerous arrangements.
By the end of 1897 he had published dozens of songs, such as "Sir Patrick Spens", "The Death of Cuthullin", an album of his own compositions, and arrangements of ten songs by Samuel Lover.
He then, living in London, turned his attention to staged musical comedy, co-creating, with Adrian Ross, "The Tree Dumas Skiteers", a skit, based on Sydney Grundy's "The Musketeers" that starred Herbert Beerbohm Tree. He co-composed with Howard Talbot the successful "Kitty Grey" (1900).
He continued to write songs and to receive recognition for them. The 1901 and 1902 BBC Promenade Concerts, "The Proms", included four of his compositions, namely "Come back, sweet Love", "The Mermaid", "My Peggy" and "Private Donald".
His setting of "My Ships", a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, was performed by Clara Butt and republished several times. It also appeared four times, with different singers, in the 1913 and 1914 Proms.
America.
In September 1904 he went to live in New York City, finding employment with shows on Broadway, including the following roles:
1921 in London.
Though domiciled in the US, he made several visits back to England. During an extended stay in 1921 he played a major part in the creation of two shows, both produced by Charles B. Cochran, namely
Back to Broadway.
Back in the US he returned to Broadway, working as
Radio plays.
In later years he wrote plays and operettas mostly for radio, such as:
Personal.
In 1897 in London he married Lizzie May Stoner. They had one son. In 1904 he emigrated to the US and lived in New York City. His first marriage ended in divorce in 1915 and, in 1918, he married Ethel J Moore, who was American. In 1924, he became a naturalized American citizen. He died on 12 April 1947 in New York City.
Note on his first name.
The book "British Musical Biography" by Brown &amp; Stratton (1897) in its entry for John Barratt refers to "his son William Augustus Barratt" with details that make it clear that Walter Augustus Barratt is the same person and that a "William" Augustus Barratt is a mistake. For professional purposes up to about 1900 he appears to have written as "W. Augustus Barratt", and thereafter mostly as simply "Augustus Barratt".
References.
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