Norah Blaney

Norah Blaney (16 July 1893 – 7 December 1983), born Norah Mignon Cordwell was a pianist, composer, comedienne and music hall performer. She recorded hundreds of songs between 1921 and 1935, many with her performing partner Gwen Farrar. Blaney was born Norah Mignon Cordwell in Shepherd's Bush, London on 16 July 1893. Her father, Walter Henry Cordwell was a musician and her mother was Mary Jane (Molly), née Thatcher.In 1906, she was awarded the Erard pianoforte scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music followed by a scholarship at the Royal College of Music. She began using her stage name in 1910, after her maternal grandmother.On 10 October 1914, she married pianist, Albert Charles Lyne, however, 4 years later he died while serving with the London Scottish regiment in France. In 1922, she married for a second time, to Philip Barron Bruce Durham; they divorced in June 1931. She married for a final time to Basil Hughes on 20 February 1932.Blaney died on 7 December 1983 at the Actors’ Retirement Home in Northwood, London.