She ran away to go on the stage.........

[Jasmine2]

This is a bit of a long shot!

According to family "history" one of my great aunts ran away to London when she was 16 "...to go on the stage...". According to her granddaughter, she worked as a "caberet dancer" at some time.

She was born Eliza Jane Bell in Stourbridge in 1885. In 1901, she would have been 16, but I cannot find her on the census. I did find her marriage in 1904 in Brentford when she lied about her age (22, rather than 19), called herself Jenny Bell and gave her brother's name rather than her father's!

I can trace her from then on until her death.

I would really like to find her in 1901. I have searched under her birth name, her marriage name, and any combination of them I can think of.

I assume that she wasn't a West End actress! I wondered if anyone knows of any information regarding "stage" work in London in the early 1900s which might help.

As I said - a bit of a long shot.......

[Jan1954]

Welcome to Brit-Gen,

Maybe she was using her middle name of Jane?

RG13; Piece: 2753; Folio: 67; Page: 33

24 Hagley Road, Stourbridge

Elizabeth Emery, Head, wid, 78, Living on Own Means, b Warwick, Birmingham
Mary M Emery, dau, unm, 46, Pianist & Teacher of Music, b Warwick, Kenilworth
Jane Bell, servant, unm, 16, General Servant domestic, b Worcs, Stourbridge

[Jasmine2]

Thanks for that, Jen. I hadn't really considered that she may still have been in the local area - I guess I was rather fixated on her being in London by then.

The fact that the daughter is a music teacher may be of interest - given that Eliza Jane went into some sort of stage/dance work.

The problem with fairly common names is that it is difficult to identify particular individuals and there are many Bell families in and around Stourbridge!