Forum: Actors & Artistes

I would like to hear from anyone who knows anything about a circus act Atrato & Allen, or does the name Culleen ring any bells. The 1881 census lists Walter Allen aged 15 Equestrian performer, John Rowarth Allen, Eliza Allen, Thomas and Francis, Frederick Allen and John George Allen, also a Lidian...

Hi All, I would like to find out more about the above as my great grandfather Harold Walden performed with them in the 1930' - 1940's. He was a Music Hall Artiste/Comdian. I think he may have met his second wife Emily Jackson nee Shepherd (stage name possibly 'Betty Brennan' who may have been...

In this photo. Is my Grandmother Margaret Collins (nee McCluskey)and her sister.Central. Does anyone have any of these people in their family photographs? If so I would love to be able to put names to them. And love to hear from you. The Troupe used to tour Scotland, and farther afield I...

Found in my collection of 'keep this email because it might come in useful one day'. :smile5: http://www. kent.ac.uk/library/specialcollections/ (Scroll down about an inch to see the precise link.) Pam

These are not my people; are they yours? I just happened to see them on the 1901 census, RG 13 Piece 4531 Folio 52 Page 42, Central Ward, Scarborough, North Yorkshire. 58 St. Thomas St. Prince of Wailes Circus Henry B Croft and family.... a number of Lodgers, including: Walter ALLEN 36...

I would like to find out more about Ellen Kemp and her romany roots. She was born about 1840 and was my husband's great great grandmother. I don't know her birthplace but she married a Sunderland man and settled down in n.e. England.Her daughter Emma Johnson was born in Coxhoe 1868ish.

James Harold Graham (b.1873 Yorkshire) and his brother Edgar Hamilton Graham (b.1875 Yorkshire), listed as Acrobats in the census. They must have had a stage name. I am trying to find photos or posters . Ive tried different sites and the Victoria & Albert Museum with no success.Looked at a lot of...

One of my ancestors (Mary Ann aka Mauld (?) Ahearn) is said to have been a tight rope walker for John Scott Circus in London. Can anyone shed any light on where I can find information about this? I think she was born about 1862 in Bristol and married in 1886 in Bristol so I'm assuming it was before...

My Great Grandfather, Albert Bonaventura Ludovico, was born in 1837 and married in 1868, on the marriage certificate it shows his occupation as 'Comedian', whether he put this as some sort of joke I don't know. Is there anywhere I could find out if in fact that this occupation as stated is true? In...

Hi, I'm hoping someone might be able to help me. I am trying to find any info on my grandfather Frederick Dewey Gibson b.1905 d.1954 in Liverpool. He was more well known as the actor Eric Cole in Liverpool and so i believe, also in London. He also managed the Empire Theatre in Liverpool for...

A marriage certificate from 1938 has just produced this wonderful (set of?) names to settle into my very English family tree, which is mainly based in and around London. Ruth Morgan married Mohamed Ali otherwise Ba Thein in August 1938. His address then was given as 5, Old Compton Street W.1 ...

I have recently been given a family photograph album which has a picture of a memorial to Mary jane Allen. It is in Darlington West cemetery and has a large horse on the top. She was rmarried to Fred Allen circus proprietor.Ihave an account of her funeral and there were four small children Masters...

I am having great difficulty tracing anything about my Grandmothers life in Music Hall or the theatre. All I can find is that she was in Margate in 1918 where she married so I suspect she was appearing there at this time. I know not her name if there was a "stage name", only her birth name of Ada...

Hi, I am looking for any information on an act called "Lady Mansel and the Juveniles (sorry for the spelling). I have found a flyer for them preforming in Lancshire but it doesnt till me anything. It was around the 1910-12 time but again I dont have a lot of information. I am pretty sure that...

Hi Good Morning. Can anybody help me with information on Thelma Reiss-Smith. My mother told me that we were related to a 'famous actress' who emigrated to Austrailia. A Google search found Thelma Reiss-Smith violin/cellist. Is this her and did my mum get it wrong as to her profession? Does...

I'm searching for traces of a music hall artist who, according to my late father (who was born in Wilton) came from wiltshire and sang songs in Wiltshire dialect. The only fragment of lyric I can remember, and I suspect it was a monologue rather than a song, is " Whut be price o' hay, Sammy, whut...

This must seem a very stupid post but nothing lost. In an old family photo album we have some photos of a supposed relative, remembered now by older surviving family. However she must have been a distant relative because no one can remember her name. This lady was said to be an actress of some...

In 1907 Samuel Thompson Pearce b.1851 married Nellie Maria Blanche Hammond b.1871. In 1913 they travelled to New York with the Forbes Robertson Theatre company. They were going to perform in the opening season of plays at the Shubert Theatre. This may be a long shot but does anyone out there have ...

Here is the census transcription for 1851 for a ROCHEY and PATTISON family: Rochey James 37 Head Professional Theatrical St Giles, Middlesex Rochey Rebecca 7 MO Daur Westminster, Middlesex Dadfute William 14 Nephew Scholar Bermondsey,...