Elsie Smeaton Munro
Born
Elizabeth Smeaton Munro

1880
Glasgow
Died20 December 1961
Glasgow
Other namesElsie S. M. Bilsland
Occupation(s)Writer, singer
SpouseWilliam Inglis Bilsland
Parent

Elizabeth "Elsie" Smeaton Munro (1880 – 20 December 1961) was a Scottish writer, singer, and performer.

Early life

Munro was born in Glasgow, the daughter of John M. M. Munro and Margaret Dunlop Smeaton.[1][2] Her father was a noted electrical and civil engineer, as was her older brother, Donald Smeaton Munro.[3] Her younger brother, Ion Smeaton Munro, was a diplomat, journalist, and book collector.[4][5] Neil Munro was a relative.[6]

Career

"Hitherto I Have Performed it Myself"; a W. Heath Robinson illustration for Munro's "Six Dead Secrets" in Topsy-Turvy Tales (1923), from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Munro starred in a 1904 production of La fille de Madame Angot in Glasgow in 1904.[6] She wrote a comic operetta, The Kink, performed in Glasgow in 1910, with music by George Henry Martin.[7][8] Her short plays Rosemary and The Cottage of Content were performed in Glasgow in 1916, as a wartime benefit for the Limbless Sailors' and Soldiers' Hospital.[9]

Munro wrote scripts for the Children's Hour programme on BBC Radio,[6] and gave recitals and reports for broadcast.[10][11] She also wrote two books, Glasgow Flourish (1911), and Topsy-Turvy Tales (1923), a collection of "utterly ridiculous"[12] fairy tales called "refreshingly original" in The Publishers' Circular.[13]

Publications

  • Glasgow Flourish: Short Sketches (1911)
  • Topsy-Turvy Tales (1923, illustrated by W. Heath Robinson)
  • "Passing Sheep" (poem, in a 1971 anthology of Scottish verse)[14]

Personal life and legacy

Munro married engineer William Inglis Bilsland in 1913.[2] Her husband died in 1953,[15] and she died in 1961, at the age of 79.[6] The Elsie Smeaton Munro Collection of Theatre Memorabilia is in the Scottish Theatre Archive at Glasgow University Library.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Beaton, Duncan. "The Notable Descendants of John Munro" The Kist 45(Spring 1993): 4.
  2. 1 2 "Marriages". Kirkintilloch Gazette. 27 June 1913. p. 2. Retrieved September 22, 2023 – via The British Newspaper Archive, via The Wikipedia Library.
  3. ↑ "Obituary: Death of a Distinguished Scottish Engineer" The Electrician (January 8, 1926): 41.
  4. ↑ Munro, Ion Smeaton (1933). Through Fascism to World Power: A History of the Revolution in Italy. A. Maclehose & Company.
  5. ↑ "An Important Collection of Jacobite Books". Lyon & Turnbull. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Elsie S. Munro" The Stage (4 January 1962): 37; via The British Newspaper Archive, via The Wikipedia Library
  7. ↑ "Glasgow Musician's Death; Composer of Songs and Operas". The Scotsman. 24 April 1936. p. 9. Retrieved September 22, 2023 – via The British Newspaper Archive, via The Wikipedia Library.
  8. ↑ "'The Kink': Clever Operette by Glasgow Artistes". Daily Record. 16 December 1910. p. 3. Retrieved September 21, 2023 – via The British Newspaper Archive, via The Wikipedia Library.
  9. ↑ "Athenaeum Theatre (advertisement)". Daily Record. 1916-12-20. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-09-22 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Glasgow (programme listings)". Edinburgh Evening News. 1 November 1927. p. 2. Retrieved September 22, 2023 – via The British Newspaper Archive, via The Wikipedia Library.
  11. ↑ "Today's Glasgow Wireless Programme". Paisley Daily Express. 8 July 1926. p. 2. Retrieved September 22, 2023 – via The British Newspaper Archive, via The Wikipedia Library.
  12. ↑ Bonner, Mary Graham (1925). A Parent's Guide to Children's Reading. Funk & Wagnalls Company. p. 25.
  13. ↑ "Mssrs. John Lane Ltd." The Publishers' Circular and Booksellers' Record 119(November 17, 1923): 627.
  14. ↑ Hamilton, William Hamilton (1971). Holyrood; a garland of modern Scots poems. Internet Archive. Freeport, N.Y., Books For Libraries Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-8369-6314-4.
  15. ↑ Fairfull-Smith, George. "March 1953: Death of William Inglis Bilsland" Glasgow's Cultural History (July 2022).
  16. ↑ "Elsie Smeaton Munro Collection of theatre memorabilia, c1900-1962". University of Glasgow Collections, Scottish Theatre Archive. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
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