Journalism, satire and social writings He returned to England and briefly worked in his father's business, but his interests lay in writing, and he began to write stories and poetry. He began to publish pieces in
Fun in 1874, succeeding editor
Tom Hood and making friendships with fellow contributors
W. S. Gilbert and
Ambrose Bierce. He also contributed early to the
Weekly Dispatch. This was so successful that compilations of his verses from the paper, published as
The Dagonet Ballads (1879) and
Ballads of Babylon (1880), sold in hundreds of thousands of copies and were constantly in print during the next thirty years. He also wrote amusing and popular travelogues, also as Dagonet. These efforts were important in raising public opinion on the subject and led to reform legislation in the
Housing of the Working Classes Act 1885. Sims was appointed as part of an 1882 study of social conditions in
Southwark in 1882 and as a witness before the 1884 royal commission on working-class housing. Sims also raised public awareness of other issues, including white slave traffic in a series articles published in the
Daily Telegraph, later in book form as
London by Night (1906) and
Watches of the Night (1907); and the maltreatment of children, writing
The Black Stain (1907). He also worked to promote the boys' clubs movement and campaigned to open museums and galleries and permit concerts on Sundays as part of the National Sunday League. One of the Dorcas Dene stories, 'The Haverstock Hill Murder', was dramatised for BBC Radio in 2008. At Arthur Lambton's Crimes Club, Sims took pleasure in discussing cases with
Max Pemberton,
Conan Doyle and
Churton Collins. He was consumed with the murders of
Jack the Ripper and even became a suspect. A modern edition of his poetry,
Prepare to Shed Them Now: The Ballads of George R Sims, was published in 1968. All of the cast and crew survived the fire, which mostly killed audience members in the pits and gallery, and the tour continued, although at the following performance, costumes and scenery had to improvised and borrowed as they had all been lost in the blaze. In the early 1880s, Sims became the first playwright to have four plays running simultaneously in West End theatres. He also had a dozen touring companies playing his works by that time. He collaborated on many of his plays, and his co-authors included Barrett,
Sydney Grundy and
Clement Scott. Their next hit was
Carmen up to Data (1890). Both of these were composed by the Gaiety's music director,
Meyer Lutz. With
Cecil Raleigh, he wrote the hit burlesque opera,
Little Christopher Columbus (1893), and among his other musical plays were
Blue-eyed Susan at the
Prince of Wales Theatre (1892, starring
Arthur Roberts) and
The Dandy Fifth (Birmingham, 1898)
Robert Buchanan and Sims co-authored five melodramas at the Adelphi between 1890 and 1893, including
The Trumpet Call (1891), starring
Mrs Patrick Campbell early in her career. On stage, one night, Mrs. Campbell's costume collapsed which, her biographer suggests, extended the run of that play. Sims and Mrs Campbell had an affair, but she tired of it before he did. In 1896, Sims wrote the melodrama
Two Little Vagabonds with Arthur Shirley (an adaptation of
Les deux gosses) which was a hit at Princess's Theatre and enjoyed many revivals. He also co-wrote some
pantomimes, including
Puss in Boots produced at the
Drury Lane Theatre. Sims's other famous melodramas included: •
The Golden Ladder •
Master and the Man •
The Star of India •
The Gypsy Earl •
Scarlet Sin •
The Silver Falls (1888) •
The English Rose (1890) •
The Trumpet Call (1891) •
The White Rose (1892), starring Mrs. Patrick Campbell •
The Lights of Home (1892), starring Mrs. Patrick Campbell •
The Black Domino (1893) His other notable comedies included: • *
Memoirs of a Mother-in-Law (1881) •
The Member for Slocum (1881) •
The Gay City (1881) ==Later years==