Chaplin's mother, Hannah Hill, was, on her mother's side, part-gypsy. Her father, Charles Hill, was an Irish émigré who owned a bookmaker's in East Lane, Walworth.

Hannah was a soubrette on the music-hall stage, working under the name Lily.

Historian Barry Anthony has traced engagements for Hannah from at least as early as 24 and 31 may 1884, at the Bijou Music Hall, Blackfriars Road.

A seeming absence thereafter may be explained by her subsequent claim to have gone South Africa with a wealthy Jewish man named Sydney Hawker by whom she bore an illegitimate son in march 1885.

It was believed that Hawkers have been no more than a deceiver, his reputed wealth mere a fabrication; also in doubt was the child's birthplace; reportedly usually as being in South Africa, but said by others to have been in London, after a hasty return of a disillusioned Hannah.

There months after giving birth, Hannah married Charles Chaplin Sir, whom she had known previously.

The child was given his stepfather's surname, and thus became Sydney Chaplin.

In July 1885, 'Lily Harley' was listed among the attractions at the Castle Music Hall, Camberwell, and is believed to have appeared in Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow from December 1885 to January 1886.

In the short term, Hannah's career on the halls, thrived rather more than is popularly supposed; again the Entr'acte furnishes details, her Scottish engagements occupying at least the first two months of 1886, than a return to London at the Peckham Varieties; from the summer until the end of the year, she could be seen in Bristol, Glasbow, Belfast, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee.

Her cards in the Entr'acte included the following announcement:

Something like success, girls eh? Lily Harley has made a most brilliant hit at the Gaiety and Star, Glasbow, four or five turns every night and heaps of flowers…

David Robinson's Chaplin: His life and Art, note the disappearance of Hannah's engagement s from another theatrical paper, the Era.

The reason for this is suggested in the Entr'acte of 29 January 1887, which published this message:

To Charles Chaplin - send address to "L.H", 56 Darwin street, Old Kent Road, Very ill.'

The implication is that Hannah's health problems, and Charles casual attitude towards his wife, may have commenced at an earlier date than is often assumed.

The younger Charles Chaplin was born in April 1889, thought it is evident that his father had left the family home within about a year of the birth.

Charlie recalled her violet-blue eyes and long, brown eyes and make it plain that her skills in performer and storyteller, albeit at home, influenced most of his later work.

Hannah did not need to rely on her husband's income, until her own career began to falter, the result of escalating problems with her throat

During 1891, she was both working on stage and involved music-hall singe, Leo Dryen.

Hannah gave birth to Dryen's illegitimate son, Wheeler Dryen on 31 August 1892, but the child was taken from her the next spring.

Charlie's debut, in 1984, was a surprise deputy when his mother's voice failed.

As Hannah's circumstances declined, she took increasingly to religion, moving more in church circles than those in music hall

Her merge living was made primarily as seamstress, but this income fall away as her health declined.

She was actually in a private care at Peckham, but a problem arose at this time, reportedly to a mistake, rather than through neglect, concerning Charlie and Syd not paying the necessary fees,

Charlie and Syd later arranged for Hannah to be taken to the USA, where she arrived in 1921.

Hannah was provided with a house by the sea and suitable care for the last seven years of her life. Hannah's year of birth was given as 1865.

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