Dear Neal, Your mention of North East Theatres interested me and I wondered if you could have a look at your father's playbills for any mention of my husband's ancestors. His grandfather was known as Charles HILT and we have him in 1887 playing a minor part in Elliston and Arthur's 'A Mother's Sin' which toured the country but particularly the northern theatres. He was also assistant stage manager with the company. In 1890 he married Ellen Sophia Wallett known as Nellie and they acted with travelling theatres throughout the 1890s until settling in Felling, Gateshead in about 1902. They were in Houghton le Spring in Jan 1895, Earsdon in Northumberland in Feb 1897 and in Chester le Street in the 1901 census (just before the Theatre there burnt down!). Their daughter, Ada Roberts (or Hilt) travelled with Alfred Denville and the Denville players as a child actress from the early 1900s until about 1915. Many thanks Ann Hartley

Hi Ann Unfortunately, my father's playbills only start around the early part of the 20th C. I think the earliest stuff I have of his is a set of daybills from a season in his father's portable theatre in 1903. (Exactly 100 years old -- I've been spending the summer going "exactly 100 years ago to this moment, my Dad was going on stage to play Little Willie in East Lynne", and similar phrases. A very strange sensation, I can tell you ...) Anyway, I won't have anything from the dates you mention, though I'll certainly have a look through his stuff for the names anyway. My Dad certainly knew Alfred Denville -- I suspect through his own father -- but whether either of them actually played with the Denville players I'm not sure. I do know that Dad had moved away from portables by about 1904. There are people on the list who know more about the Denvilles than I do, so maybe they'll have some info? Cheers -- Neal ----- Original Message ----- From: "annthoralcott" <annthoralcott@sagainternet.co.uk> To: <THEATRE-UK-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 11:00 AM Subject: [THEATRE-UK] Neal Look up please > Dear Neal, > Your mention of North East Theatres interested me and I wondered if you > could have a look at your father's playbills for any mention of my husband's > ancestors. > His grandfather was known as Charles HILT and we have him in 1887 playing a > minor part in Elliston and Arthur's 'A Mother's Sin' which toured the > country but particularly the northern theatres. He was also assistant stage > manager with the company. > In 1890 he married Ellen Sophia Wallett known as Nellie and they acted with > travelling theatres throughout the 1890s until settling in Felling, > Gateshead in about 1902. They were in Houghton le Spring in Jan 1895, > Earsdon in Northumberland in Feb 1897 and in Chester le Street in the 1901 > census (just before the Theatre there burnt down!). Their daughter, Ada > Roberts (or Hilt) travelled with Alfred Denville and the Denville players as > a child actress from the early 1900s until about 1915. > Many thanks > Ann Hartley >