Elsie and Doris Waters were so convincing as a couple of cockney characters that some fans actually believed they were Gert and Daisy.

The sisters, who lived together for many years in Goring Road, Steyning, started off in the East End of London and based their character’s on real women.

But in later life they couldn’t have been more different from their creations, with their clothes made by Norman Hartnell, dressmaker to the Queen.

“Some people think we are like Gert and Daisy but we are not,” said Doris. “Normie has made our clothes for us for years.”

The sisters were part of a large family born in Bow to Edward Waters, an undertaker, and his wife, Maud. Elsie arrived in 1893 and Doris six years later.

Edward and Maud started an amateur minstrel show called E W Winter And His Bijou Orchestra, consisting of the two girls and four sons.

Elsie and Doris then formed a double act, making their professional debut in 1923. They were top of the bill in concert parties by 1917 and broadcast for the first time in 1929.

Oscar Preuse, recording manager for Parlophone, heard the broadcast and asked them to make three double sided records. They found five songs but were stuck for material for the last side.

They warbled a short song called Wedding Bells, and then chatted together for two minutes or so as cockney women watching a marriage from outside the church.

Elsie later said they called the characters Gert, because she liked saying the name, and Daisy, because there was always a woman of that name in any cockney group.

After the broadcast they were asked to play both women when they arrived at the Savoy Hotel in London for a concert and readily agreed.

Soon they began dressing for the parts and added characters. Gert had a boyfriend called Wally while Daisy had a simple husband, Bert. There was also a nosy neighbour known as Old Mother Butler.

They started out compiling their own material but later employed scriptwriters.

In 1934 they made a successful appearance on the radio programme Henry Hall’s Guest Night and soon starred in their first royal variety performance. Their second was in 1938.

They were favourites of Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, and were often invited to royal functions.

During the Second World War they worked on wartime recipes, which were broadcast. They also toured India and the Far East to entertain troops. Later they were made OBEs and two elephants at London Zoo were named after them.

The sisters made three films but their act was better suited to the stage and radio. They continued to perform live into the 1970s and one of their last appearances was at the Palace Pier Theatre in Brighton where they topped the bill in a summer season.

Their brother Jack changed his surname to Warner from Waters to avoid trading on their reputation and became a radio comedian.

But he eventually gained an international reputation from his role in films and on television as the policeman Dixon of Dock Green with his catch phrase of “evening all”.

Elsie and Doris never married and always lived together. They both died from cancer, Doris in 1978 and Elsie in 1990.

They were well known in Steyning, where they often opened the village fete. They called the magnificent outlook from their bungalow “the Constable view”. Their unique double act is fondly remembered by many today.

  • Visit Steyning Museum to see their Elsie and Doris Waters display. For details visit www.steyningmuseum.org.uk