Frederick Dewey Gibson aka Eric Cole

[jogib01]

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 period in about 1944 when the then-current manager fell ill. I also know that he once starred opposite the famous actress Jessie Matthews.

The only info i have about him is his birth and death dates (mentioned above) and a clipping from the Liverpool Echo of his obituary in which he was mentioned as a well known and respected member of the community.

He married Constance Eunice Sloane (widower- previously Cook) in 1948. His parents were George Dewey Gibson- a Tenor with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company (b. 1876 d.1954) and Clara Cole.

Can anyone help???????

I would appreciate ANY other information including productions he was in etc.

Thanks in Advance!

[pejay]

not sure - but would a search engine show anything? any Liverpool newspapers that may have an advertisement. Or theatres - not sure how much info they would have though. Do you think he must have been in a Guild for actors & could you get any info from them?

[Kerrywood]

You could try The Stage archive.

www.
thestage.co.uk/archive

Free index and thumbnails. Full details are pay per view, with various packages (including a low-cost 24 hour pass).

[malcolm99]

You could try The Stage archive.



That’s definitely the site to use e.g. in 6th May 1948 edition there’s a note that Ralph Plumbley was appointed successor to Eric Cole at the Empire, Liverpool.

[jogib01]

Thank you so much for suggesting The Stage archive. I have just found countless mentions of both my Grandfather and Great-Grandfather!!!
You were so helpful in my search!


Do you know of any other websites/ archives like this? (I'm getting greedy now and i want to know more! haha)

Thanks

[malcolm99]

I looked through loads of theatre related history websites yesterday but there didn't seem to be any where you could usefully search for 20th century individuals which related to your enquiry. I'll try and send a list of those I looked at.

malcolm99

[malcolm99]

This is a list of sites I looked at. Remember to check any ‘Links’ pages within the webpages below.

Lots of the sites will not be relevant to you but have a scout around and you might come upon a nugget!

THEATRE/ACTING etc SITES


www.
arthurlloyd.co.uk
is run by the great grandson of Arthur Lloyd, Victorian Music Hall Artiste and writer. An invaluable source of information here on Theatres and Music Halls throughout the UK, many of them long ago demolished.

http://www.mander-and-mitchenson.co.uk
The Raymond Mander & Joe Mitchenson Theatre Collection has catalogued a huge range of material, from playbills, programmes and music scores to reviews, prints and photgraphs. It contains around 1,850 collection level records, as well as 6,000 item level records for material relating to London theatres before 1890. - - click on ‘links and learning resources’

www.
vam.ac.uk
The V&A's Theatre Collections hold the UK's national collection of material about live performance in the UK since Shakespeare's day, covering drama, dance, musical theatre, circus, music hall, rock and pop, and other forms of live entertainment.

www.
nationaltheatre.org.uk
The National Theatre Archive is the repository for the administrative and technical records of the National Theatre. The collection covers the period from the inception of the company in 1963 to the present day.

Univ Kent http://www.kent.ac.uk/library/specialcollections/theatre/search.html?k[0]=gibson

www.
roguesandvagabonds.co.uk/Links/hist_links.html

www.
str.org.uk/ - click on ‘Info’ tab then click on links

http://www.tapra.org/ - see links

http://www.theatreinfo.specialistnetwork.org.uk/collections

www.
collectorspost.com/GoldenAge.htm

www.
theatreinfo.specialistnetwork.org.uk/

Entertainer
www.
entertainer-genealogy.org.uk/hc3.asp

http://www.westminster.gov.uk
Westminster Reference Library, based in Leicester Square, at the heart of London's theatre and cinema world, has a collection of some 15,000 books covering the performing arts, a third of which are available to borrow.

malcolm99

[patk]

I am, circuitously, related to George Dewey Gibson, although not by blood. Briefly:

John Clarke (b. 1855 at Newcastle) married Eleanore Cole in 1876. Eleanore Cole was the sister of Clara Cole who married George Dewey Gibson. John Clarke is my great grandfather by marriage. My stepfather is still alive in his 90s and remembers Clara and 'Dewey' (as he refers to him) coming to visit the family home, and Dewey giving impromtu recitals which greatly impressed the neighbours.