Help with Actors and a missing marriage

[Merry]

BK6 updated from this thread


Charles Alfred Spalding was b in Paddington in 1853.

In 1861 he is with his grandparents and in 1871 I can't find him.

In 1881 he is a scenic artist and his wife is a comedienne. In 1891 and 1901 they are both actors, as is one of their sons, also Charles Alfred Spalding, b 1885 Deptford.

Charles's wife is Ellen Appleby, dau of James (E) Appleby b London abt 1800. James is an actor. Ellen's age fluctuates a lot, but I think this is her:

Births Jun 1847
APPLEBY Ellen Rosa Bolton 21 112

I can't find a marriage between Ellen and Charles.

I've had a look in the Gale newspapers for sightings of Charles and Ellen and their son without any success. Where else can I look?

[kiterunner]

Charles senior seems to have been calling himself Charles Alfred Percy Spalding, according to the entry for the son's baptism on the FamilySearch Record Search pilot site, assuming it's them - he was baptised 24 Feb 1886 Sutton near Croydon, Surrey.

[Merry]

I seem to have completely forgotten about the pilot site today! lol Thanks again!

Charles's first son was Percy Sutton Spalding and I see there's one of those Andrews newspaper clippings on Ancestry saying could he or his chidlren come forward to learn something to their advantage (they say he had been 'missing' for 29 years, but I think he was dec'd)

[samesizedfeet]

From my vast collection of theatricals I can offer the following advice:

They ALL lie about their age. Constantly.

They generally abandon their children in random places to go off on tour. If this is with a relative you're very lucky.

They all try their hand at most things in the theatre so going from scenic artist to actor is quite normal. It's whatever their main role was at the time of the census.

Being pregnant won't stop them going out on the road if there is work so expect to find children born in unlikely places.


Try searching google books for them under "Mr" or "Miss" e.g. my 3x great grandmother appears loads as Miss Kate Hodson right into her old age desptie marrying in her 20s. She would have been plain old Miss Hodson but that was taken by her elder sister who was on stage first. Men would tend to use an initial so my 3 x great grandfather was Mr C Fenton or occasionally Mr CH Fenton (actor, comedian, artist, acrobat). This is how they would appear in adverts and on playbills/programmes so you can quite often get them on google by adding "theatre" or "stage".
If you can get some clue to where they worked using this method they would very often be employed by the same theatre year in year out.

Gale used to have The Era where they would advertise their availability for work.



The Theatre Museum will usually look up a name for you if it's your first time of asking and let you know if they have any record of them - they're now part of the V&A.




A quick look reveals a Mr Spalding active in the 1830s who may be a relative to your Charles.

[Merry]

Thanks Zoe. I've not found anyone else in his tree doing anything remotely like this! I also noticed that his wife's father never died (James E Appleby).

I was reading though the WW1 army records for Charles and Ellen's son Percy who joined the army when he was 16 (said he was 18) before the Boer War (he was a musician). By the time he finished in 1919 he had lost track of his family stating that after his wife his next of kin were his father and brother (both Charles Spalding) addresses unknown. I think his father had been dead about 15 years by then. Sad.

Thanks for all the tips Zoe. I've been looking in The Era without any success yet. Maybe they were not very good actors!

[samesizedfeet]

The problem with them being London based is that there were so many theatres, music halls, penny gaffs etc that they don't need to have been brilliant to be able to make a decent sum from doing it

[Margaret in Burton]

My grandad's brother was "on the stage" a vocalist. I can't find him in 1911 at all. He is on a passenger list in 1912 coming back from the USA. He disappeared soon after that. He left his son in care of foster parents and never returned. Can't find his death either.

[Joy Dean]

A actress relative of mine changed her name to Stella Merrill. I, and cousins, have learned quite a lot about her, but I am still endeavouring to discover more. That is useful about the Theatre Museum, thank you.

[KateHaas]

Hello,
I do not know what your relationship to Charles Spalding is but his wife Ellen Rosa Appleby is my great great aunt. Her parents were James Edward Appleby b. 1802 in Shoreditch and he married Sarah Ann Calvert b. 1817 in Manchester on August 28, 1837 in Greenock, Scotland. They had 8 living children, out of 13 pregnancies, and all but 2 were on the stage. Sarah Ann Calvert was the oldest child in the London based (originally) Calvert family that ran theatres in Dublin and Glasgow.
I did not find a marriage for Charles and Ellen either but had not looked in Scotland yet. They had three children, Percy, Charles Alfred, and Daisy. Percy joined the army, the other two were theatre folk. Charles Alfred married Violet Crocker of St. Austell and settled there, where his mother Ellen eventually moved. Ellen died in August in 1923 in St. Austell, and her son Charles died shortly thereafter. He and Violet had one son Charles, who was born in in April 1923 and died in 2008. His daughter xxxxxx married a Mr. xxxxx and she, her husband, son, and her mother still live in St. Austell. Hope this helps your research. Kate Fraser Haas

[Merry]

Hi Kate, Welcome to the forum!

It's a very long time since I was researching this line - I have not been back to it since this thread, so I will take another look at it over the weekend to get myself up to speed!

Charles Alfred Spalding (b 1853) was my 4th cousin once removed and is a descendant of one of the most difficult branches of my tree. As I said before, he seems to have been the first in his family to be involved in the theatre so the information you have given me about his wife's family is very interesting. Thanks!