ERNEST HENRY HART 1867-1931

[phillip]

This post provides data on the death of Ellen Doris Hart nee Neale wife of Lionel Lewis Hart see #9 of this thread:

Burial Ellen Doris Hart 8 March 1996 death 3 March 1996 Age 88 Johannessburg Gauteng South Africa -Alser? Village Bedford? -cause of death pneumonia- Familysearch South Africa Records

[phillip]

In this post I will provide a series of data from newspaper records relating to Ernest Henry Hart 1867-1931. These newspaper articles ( there are significant numbers dating between 1891-1904) which record his bankruptcy, paternity claim, imprisonment.
In addition, as previously referred to in this thread there are the divorce records which show the respective claims and comments made between himself and his wife Adelaide Gertrude Yzerman.

The newspaper articles portray a man who chose to become a club owner, turf accountant and comedian. His business acumen appears to have been very limited given the issues he had running various clubs which were a front for unlicensed gambling, drinking and dancing.

The articles include fines and imprisonment he was given between 1891-1904. Among these issues was the paternity claim made against him while he was still married in 1894.

The newspaper article 'End of a Remarkable Career' ( Westminster Gazette 13 February 1893) relates to his bankruptcy and stated that Ernest Henry Hart a comedian,in December 1891 started the Portland's Club, Castle Street East as a club proprietor and Turf accountant. The club was given up after 12 months and he took on the Agar Club 70 Strand, raided by police and fined £50 for allowing betting on the premises. The club closed April 1891.He then took on the Eldorado Club,Haymarket which he sold in July 1892 for £115 and in March 1892 he started the Quadrant Club,Regent Street which he sold in June for £600 and of which he was acting manager until it was wound up in November following.
His unsecured debts 31104 and assets £135. ' He attributed his failures to losses in connection with the company,on his turf accounting agency and to law costs in connection with the police, divorce and other proceedings.'

In April 1891 he and his wife (called Gertrude in the newspaper articles) were fined £50 for keeping a gaming house known as the Agar Club,Strand. Ernest stated to the police during the raid that ' I am the manager;in fact I am the proprietor.. I have been doing very badly; in fact the other day I had to pawn my watch. Here is the ticket. It only wanted a raid to finish me up'. Canterbury Journal Kentish Times and Framers Gazette 18 April 1891.

The later newspaper accounts clearly indicate that he learned little or nothing from the incidents because in 1901 he was charged with keeping a disorderly night club... " At the Clerkenwell Sessions, Alfred Elman was sentenced to six months imprisonment; Ernest Hart to four months.. for offences in connection with carrying on at the New Pelican Club. The club was a disorderly night club. The men pleaded guilty to having a house for public music and dancing without a licence from the London County Council". The Herald Saturday September 28 1901. The Liverpool Weekly Courier 30 March 1901 added that Alfred Elman was 35 a club proprietor and Ernest Hart 35 a commission agent.

The situation for Ernest became worse because he became the proprietor of the Internation Athletic Club where boxing contests were held but after the contests ended a number of persons remained in the club where the game of fare was played.Ernest Hart escaped during the police raid but broke his ankle and his whereabouts were being sought by the police. The Morning Post 17 February 1904.

Sometime between this incident and his wife's divorce petition Ernest had left the UK and was in South Africa circa 1905 with his mistress Elizabeth Shaw and his daughter Winifred born in 1903.

I will post further on the Paternity Claim in 1894.

[phillip]

This post provides newspaper data on the paternity claim made by Daisy Wheeler against Ernest Henry Hart in 1894.

First of all as a follow up to the 1891 police raid on the Agar Club referred to in the previous post there is a sketch of Adelaide Gertrude Hart nee Yzerman in The Penny Illustrated Paper 18 April 1891. The newspaper reporter also made a sketch of some of the defendants in the trial and also of the police sergeant and superintendant.

The paternity case appears in one newspaper under the heading A story of the Eldorado Club Reynolds Newspaper London 28 October 1894 and in Lloyds Weekly Newspaper 28 October 1894.

In the court case Daisy Wheeler age 19 was seeking paternity damages against Ernest Henry Hart for the birth of a child ( name and sex not recorded) born 8 September 1894. Ernest Hart was originally the proprietor but now the manager of the Eldorado Club 51 Haymarket. Daisy Wheeler was formerly a barmaid at Frank Slavin's Rose Public house Jermyn Street Piccadilly.

Hart had been a frequent customer at the Rose. He was accused of having 'intimacy' with Daisy Wheeler on several occasions at different locations. When she was expecting the birth of the baby she didn't go near Hart because she 'much ashamed of myself'. Hart in the company of Daisy Wheeler's sister said he was not the father of the child but if he were he should certainly do something for her. He offered to find Daisy a situation. Daisy's sister was Nellie Pitt, married residing at 23 Harwood Road Fulham.
Hart claimed that the story was a fabrication and he was a married man and the complainant took advantage of the situation by bringing him to court simply because he would not give her money. In the court case Hart claimed that he was not accused of being the father until a month after the child was born. The case was adjourned.

Currently, I have not seen a newspaper article updating the court case or confirming whether or not the paternity complaint was upheld. I also have yet to identify who Daisy Wheeler was and the name of her child.

[phillip]

This post provides further data on the burial of Elizabeth Hart nee Shaw ( there is an issue regarding her surname on the death certificate. This shows her maiden name to be Hart with a note stating 'correct' on the surname. However, the Divorce application by Adelaide Gertrude Hart nee Yzerman refers to Elizabeth as Elizabeth Shaw. Similarly, the birth certificate for Winifred the daughter of Ernest and Elizabeth refers to the maiden name of Elizabeth as Hart).

Familysearch have 2 sets of records for the burial of Elizabeth. The first is the Register of Persons buried at Brixton Cemetery 1922-1924 Johannesburg Gauteng South Africa. This register gives the age of Elizabeth as 41 b abt 1882 burial 13 January 1923 Brixton Cemetery Johannesburg Private folio 201 Grave number 7211
The second register South Africa Johannesburg cemetery records 1840-2019 Brixton Cemetery Johannesburg Private Graves Register shows that Mrs F O Larsen 10-12th Street Malvern 1277 purchased a burial plot 18.12.1961 in the Cemetery for Elizabeth Hart. This plot was purchased by Marie Louise Larsen nee Hart the daughter of Ernest and Elizabeth. Ernest Hart is buried in Brixton Cemetery Jewish section and JewishGen have a record of his burial in 1931. Elizabeth has a note of E.C. for her religious denomination suggesting she was not buried with Ernest nor in the Jewish Section.

The purchase of this burial plot may suggest a re-burial post 1961. There is no record of a re-burial and further research would be required to look at other burial records at Brixton Cemetery.