Bruce Alfred Williams was born on 23rd November
1902 at 25 Great George Place L1 (now demolished), the son of William Robert Williams, a
carriage proprietor, and his wife Jean. Bruce’s father had established a funeral
director business, trading as W R Williams and Bruce would eventually run the business
alongside his brother Stanley. They had premises close to Toxteth Park
Cemetery, on the corner of the Smithdown Road -
Hartington Road junction. In 1928 he married Josephine Hazeldon and they
had a number of homes in South Liverpool, eventually spending over 30 years at 10
Druids Cross Road L18, a pleasant semi close to Calderstones Park. He died on
the 21st July 1972, probate records showing his estate as £11,965. It
seems a tidy life in an essential but somewhat sombre line of work. But there
was more to this man than meets the eye.
Enter his alter ego, Eddie Latta. It is hard to imagine a
stranger second string for an undertaker to pursue but under this name Bruce
Williams wrote a host of comedy hit songs for the film and musical star George
Formby. His compositions include some of Formby’s biggest hits, such as Grandad’s
Flannelette Nightshirt, Aunty Maggie’s Remedy, and Mr Wu’s An Air Raid Warden Now. Many
of the songs he wrote for Formby featured in the star’s hugely successful
films.
In his autobiography comedy writer Eddie Braben recalled
meeting with Bruce Williams who was a close friend of his ‘Uncle Billy’ (Billy
Matchett). When he found out about the existence of the Eddie Latta side of his
life he was greatly surprised, “I have this picture of Mr Williams the
undertaker standing in church next to a client and as the congregation is
singing ‘Now the day has ended’ Bruce is thinking ‘I might write a song about a
window cleaner’ (although that song wasn’t one of Latta’s)
His two roles merged when he was asked, due to his close
association with Formby, to make the arrangements for his funeral in 1961.
Williams’ family lived at 1 Menlove Avenue L18. After his marriage
their first home was 46 Ferndale Road L15, moving to 179 Brodie Avenue L18 in
the 1930’s and then 10 Druids Cross Road L18 from the late 1930’s until his
death in 1972.
