Frederic Weatherly

Frederick Edward Weatherly was a lawyer, songwriter, radio entertainer and author. He was born at Portishead, Somerset, in 1848. There is now a plaque to him on the house in Woodhill Road. The family later moved to Bath. He was educated at Hereford Cathedral School and at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he took his M.A. degree in Classics in 1871. He was called to the Bar in 1887 and became a King's Counsel in 1910. He composed the lyrics for an Opera (Mirette by André Messager),"took silk", and saw his first great-grandson born in his 77th year. In "Piano And Crown" he wrote his reminiscences; but he was well-known as a delightful song writer for half a century. Weatherly wrote over 3,000 popular songs, including the hymn "The Holy City" set to music by the British composer Stephen Adams and published in 1892. Weatherly's most popular song was the wartime ballad "Roses of Picardy". He composed it while serving as an officer in the British Army in 1916. It was set to music by Haydn Wood. He wrote the lyrics of the well-known ballad Danny Boy which is set to the tune Londonderry Air and was published in 1913. Weatherly also wrote fantasy novels and adult science fiction and over 50 books for children. The first signed illustrations by Beatrix Potter were published in A Happy Pair, a book of verse written by Weatherly.