Tom Major-Ball

Tom Major-Ball (born Abraham Thomas Ball; 18 May 1879 – 27 March 1962) was a British music hall and circus performer.

[1][2] He was a son of Abraham Ball, a bricklayer, and his wife Sarah Ann Marrah or O'Marrah who was of Irish and possibly Welsh descent.

[4][5] Circa 1896 the family moved back to the UK, to the Walsall area, where Tom Major developed a successful music hall career.

In July 1903 he and Kitty toured for a year in South America, where Major worked for a period as a ranch-hand in Argentina and later at a casino in Buenos Aires, before getting caught up in a civil war in Uruguay, where he was forced to enlist in a local militia.

[11][9] On the couple's return to the United Kingdom in April 1904 they resumed touring music halls and their performing careers flourished.

[19] Tom married the dancer Gwendolyn (Gwen) Minny Coates on 4 May 1929, who had helped nurse Kitty in her final weeks.

[22] By the early 1950s the business was in such serious trouble that Tom Major was forced to seek out a loan which was then recalled, resulting in severe financial difficulties for the family.

[23] The family were no longer able to afford to live in Worcester Park, and they moved to a cramped rented flat at Coldharbour Lane, Brixton owned by Tom Moss, Major's (illegitimate) son.