Mary Egerton was born in Dublin in 1863, arriving in Liverpool in the 1890s and managed the Egerton's pub in Cases Street, the American Bar in Lime Street before taking over a pub in Pudsey Street. Built in 1846 it had originally opened as the Eagle Hotel, but the establishment took its current name from its now Irish landlady Mary 'Ma' Egerton who resided over the premises for many years. Mary was so popular, the pub was known as Ma Egerton's by locals and regulars long before the official change of name.
She ran the pub, which stood directly behind the famous Empire Theatre in Lime Street, for about 20 years from the 1930s, becoming good friends with visiting showbusiness luminaries including Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and Judy Garland. She encouraged the stars from the nearby Empire Theatre to come and visit and to this day, on the walls of the lounge, are many autographed images of legendary figures of stage and screen. In fact 'ol’ Blue Eyes', Frank Sinatra, was seen standing at the bar enjoying half a pint of Guiness in Ma Egerton's back in the summer of 1953. In the first half of the twentieth century the Lime Street area of Liverpool resembled London’s West End and Piccadilly Circus, bustling with Theatres, Picture Houses and other related film and entertainment businesses, and Ma Egerton's was a well-known theatrical hub because, as well as running various pubs in Liverpool, Mary Egerton was a registered theatrical agent for the Variety Theatrical Association. A close friend of the Music Hall star Marie Lloyd, she was accustomed to entertaining many of the visiting performers from The Empire Theatre, as well as The Royal Court, The Shakespeare and The Paramount.
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Mary is standing next to her friend Marie Lloyd, seated with a black dress and pearls.
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Ma Egerton's was also the very first place in the UK to use a cash register. An American salesman had docked in Liverpool, and made his first sale here in this pub with a new machine then called the Incorruptible Cashier. At Ma Egerton's, the barmaids were not allowed to handle cash and give change; Ma would perch on a barstool during busy times alongside the till with the barmaids handing her the money to ring through and work out the change. Another fascinating piece of history surrounding Mary and her pub is that observations made and provided by Mary Egerton led to the conviction of the Victorian mass murderer Dr Crippen. She had visited London on business after the death of Crippin's wife Belle Elmore who was a singer and friend of Mary. She came across his lover, Ethel le Neve, who she also knew, and noticed she was wearing Belle’s favourite piece of jewellery and, her suspicions aroused, Mary contacted the police.
The pub was eventually taken over by her daughter, Mamie, who ran it for another 20 years or so.
see also - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2020/12/a-liverpool-exemplar-robert-james.html
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