Tintypes of Fawdon Vokes, né Walter Fawdon, ca. 1872

Fawdon Vokes poses as some of his characters, probably in Philadelphia, ca. 1872.

“[He] joined the ranks of the Vokes Family, a group of London performers who toured the United States beginning in 1872. Somewhere on tour, perhaps in Philadelphia, Vokes stopped at a portrait studio to act his roles before the camera.”

Fawdon Vokes (1844 – 1904) was a British music hall, pantomime and burlesque actor and dancer who performed as a member of the Vokes Family of entertainers popular in the 1870s in Great Britain and the USA. For more than ten years they were the central attraction at the annual pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane from 1868 to 1879 when their popularity began to wane.

He was born as Walter Fawdon in Soho in London and on joining the Vokes Family troupe changed his name to Walter Vokes, being billed as the “foster brother” of Fred, Jessie, Rosina and Victoria Vokes. In the 1871 Census he was living with the Vokes’ above the family business at 19 Henrietta Street in Covent Garden in London on which he was listed as “no relation.”