Contacted by Grandson
In February 2026, I received an email from Simon Hoyle. He had seen material on the web site about Fred Harrison Slater, the well-known speaker and elocutionist, who was his paternal grandfather. He thought it was lovely to see how much his grandfather was appreciated by my family and others.
Biographical Information
Simon provided me with some biographical information and personal memories. Born in 1892, he lived until 1986. He carried on giving recitals into his eighties. As a Methodist he was a conscientious objector in the first world war war, but served as a non-combatant medical orderly in France. Simon recalled that he often stayed with them in Sheffield when working in the area. He remembered him as a “lovely man“.
Simon added that he had only heard him perform once himself in around 1968 doing “Goodbye Mr Chips“. He also shared that he worked as a conventional elocutionist and one of his early clients was Mollie Sugden who, as a girl, was sent to him to lose her native Yorkshire accent which she later exploited in her most famous part in “Are You Being Served?“. Harrison Slater always referred to her as “Little Mollie”.
Speaker and Elocutionist
My family went to hear Harrison Slater speak at Bourne Chapel on multiple occasions, see Chapter 38. Mum kept a programme of his from a visit he made in 1949 and he also signed her autograph book.
Well-known in Kirkby
He was relatively well-known in Kirkby. In her book(let) “I Remember“, Edith Searson wrote, “during this period up to the second world war, we had several visits from the eminent elocutionist Harrison Slater. He would come for the weekend giving a Dickens recital on the Saturday evening, short recitals on the Sunday afternoon and another recital after the evening service. This enabled friends from other churches to come and enjoy these wonderful recitals.”
Similarly, in his book “Horses, Herbs and a Cockatoo“, Mark Ashfield wrote, “the great days of… chapel coincided with the popularity of Saturday evening concerts… Wasn’t Harrison Slater a star attraction offering monologues and scenes from the classics?”
In later years, my grandfather did not attend church regularly but he did go if there was a particular musical item or speaker he wanted to hear. Harrison Slater was one of the speakers he most enjoyed.
The Day the Lights Went Out
There was one incident in November 1950, see Chapter 54, when Harrison Slater was speaking at chapel, the electricity failed or as mum put it, “the lights conked out”! The power cut lasted for almost two hours and they had to have candles. From the report in the local paper, two other church services were affected and a concert by the Kirkby Old Band at the Festival Hall was cancelled.
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