#nellie small

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This is Nellie Small, known in the first half of the 20th-century as one of Australia’s best jazz singers, but barely recognised today.

Nellie performing in male dress, sporting a wardrobe of at least a dozen tailored suits, ranging from bright crimson to pure white. From the late 1920s, Nellie lived with her manager Edith Meggitt, and Edith’s family. The two women were extremely close, and Nellie was considered a part of the family.

Check out our podcast if you want to learn more about Nellie!

Nellie Small | Queer as Fact

We're back! Today's episode is on the Australian singer and male impersonator, Nellie Small. Join us to hear about the experiences of people

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Nellie Small: the trailblazing, cross-dressing cabaret star who Australia forgot

When women weren’t even allowed in Sydney’s pubs, Small was there singing the blues, dressed in a masculine suit.

Nellie Small: the trailblazing, cross-dressing cabaret star who Australia forgot

When women weren’t even allowed in Sydney’s pubs, Small was there singing the blues, dressed in a masculine suit. But her remarkable life wa

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Nellie Small (right in both pictures) met Edith Meggitt in Sydney in the late 1920s. At the time, Nellie was an out-of-work performer, making ends meet working as a caretaker in a block of flats and running a private library out of her home. Edith was a housewife raising two young children.

The two women immediately became close, and not long after that first chance meeting, Nellie moved in with Edith and her family. She lived with the Meggitts for the rest of her life.

Nellie went on to become a successful male impersonator, recognised throughout Australia as one of the country's best jazz singers, while Edith supported her from the front row of every show, and picked out her socks and ties behind the scenes.

Learn more about Nellie and Edith

[Image source: State Library New South Wales]

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Happy pride!

Nellie Small was a successful performer in early 20th-century Australia, recognised as one of the country’s best jazz singers. Performing in male dress, Nellie built up a wardrobe of at least a dozen tailored suits, ranging from bright crimson to pure white.

Born to parents from a Caribbean background, Nellie often expressed her frustration that people doubted she was Australian. She spoke out against this racism in interviews, and stood up for other black performers.

In the late 1920s, Nellie met Edith Meggitt, a housewife raising two young children. The two women immediately became close, and soon Nellie moved in with Edith and her family. She lived with the Meggitts for the rest of her life, with Edith acting as her manager.

Check out our podcast to hear more about Nellie!

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Born in Sydney in 1900 to parents from a Carribbean background, Nellie Small was a successful male impersonator. She often expressed her frustration that people doubted she was Australian simply because she was Black. Nellie lived for most of her life with the family of her manager, Edith Meggitt, with whom she had a very close relationship.

Learn more about Nellie in our podcast

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"The comfort of male dress appealed to her and for the past 25 years she has worn nothing else. For street wear, she has well-cut tweed and pinstripe suits; at home she wears slacks, shirts and men’s comfortable cardigans and jackets. She wears a man’s wristwatch. She has a weakness for gaudy ties and socks, which are chosen for her by Mrs. Meggitt.”

-People, 5 November 1952

Listen to a podcast on Australian male impersonator Nellie Small

[Image sources: State Library New South Wales; Coogee Media]

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We're back!!

New episode coming tomorrow on the Australian singer and male impersonator, Nellie Small. Can't wait to be sharing queer history with you all again!

Find the episode from 1 June on our Podbean. We're also on Instagram and Bluesky now as well as our regular haunt on Patreon, so come say hi there!

[Image source: State Library of New South Wales]

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Playwright Alana Valentine learnt about male impersonator Nellie Small from her own grandmother, who had seen her perform in Sydney in the 1930s.

She’s now written Send for Nellie, a cabaret show about Nellie which was staged in Sydney in 2023 and 2024. Alana also advised the State Library New South Wales on their 2023 exhibition Pride R(evolution), which feature Nellie.

Without Alana’s decades of dedication to uncovering and sharing Nellie’s story, it would have been lost to time. Thanks to Alana, we were lucky enough to learn about Nellie, and were able to make a whole podcast on her life and work!

Listen to our podcast on male impersonator Nellie Small here

You can check out some snippets of Send for Nellie here

[Images: Elenoa Rokobaro as Nellie Small in Send for Nellie - Elenoa is posing with a microphone in a moodily-lit room, wearing a white suit and matching top-hat; Nellie Small - Nellie is a butch, Black woman wearing a pale suit and bow tie, standing in front of a microphone, smiling with hands raised]