Alfred Beamer and Mary Ann White

Adelaide Street, Stonehouse, Plymouth
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Stephen Richards - geograph.org.uk/p/6083118

Alfred Beamer, son of James Beamer and Rose Anna Smith and half-brother of Loveday Jane Land and John Land, married Mary Ann White (b. 1851), daughter of Alfred Augustus Harker White and Mary Sorton, on 23 Nov 1879 at Saint George's Church, Stonehouse (bombed in the Second World War). Alfred Beamer's rank or profession was listed as Private RM. Alfred Beamer, born 29 Dec 1853, had enlisted in the Royal Marines on 29 Dec 1871.

Alfred and Mary Ann had five children:

1. Alfred Beamer b. 28 Aug 1880 in East Stonehouse [a]
2. Ethel Annie Beamer b. 23 Feb 1883 in East Stonehouse [a]
3. William George Beamer b. 4 Jan 1886 in East Stonehouse [a]
4. Rosa May Beamer b. 7 Jan 1893 in Tiverton [b] (nothing after 1911)
5. Frederick John Beamer b. 7 Jan 1893 (d. 1896, aged 3) in Tiverton [b]

[a] Alfred, Ethel Annie and William George were all baptised, on 19 Jan 1886, at the Anglican Church of Saint Matthew, located in Clarence Place, opposite the former Royal Naval Hospital at East Stonehouse, Plymouth.

[b] Registered at the GRO as Rosa May, this twin was baptised Rosa Mary, when she and Frederick John were both baptised "privately" on the same day they were born, 7 Jan 1893, in Halberton. Their address at this time was Valley House, Halberton and Alfred was employed as a labourer.

Private baptism: "When looking through a baptism register, you’ll sometimes see a note saying that the child was privately baptised. This means the child wasn’t baptised at Sunday service, usually because it was thought too weak to survive until then. [...] but it can mean the child was baptised by the priest visiting the family home, or by the midwife attending the birth. In fact, according to Anglican practice, in an emergency, a baptism may be performed by anyone who is already themselves baptised, so it could be the case that some private, at home baptisms, were performed by a member of the child’s family."

In 1881, Mary A Beamer (29), Marines Wife, was at 47, Adelaide Street, East Stonehouse, with son Alfred (0) and her sister Mary J White (19). (Mary Ann, who's mother was named Mary, and her mother before her was also Mary (her parents married, on 15 December 1850, when Mary Sorton was a minor (19), at St Mary’s Church Plympton) had a younger sister, Mary Jane!)

Again in 1891, Mary A Beamer (38) was listed as the head of the household "Supported by husband", with children: Alfred (10), Ethel A (8) and William G (5), living at Union Place, East Stonehouse.

Alfred completed 21 years service in the Royal Marines, with a final date of 6 Jan 1893, however, both William George and Ethel Annie were registered in the National School Admission Registers at Halberton by Nov 1892.

In 1901, they were back in Plymouth at 19, Cecil Street, Stonehouse, with Alfred Beamer (46), Labourer at Victualling Yard, wife Mary (49) and their two daughters, Ettie (Ethel) (18) and Rosa (8). Son Alfred was away, having joined the Royal Marines, while William was away training in the Royal Navy.

And in 1911, at 40 Neswick Street, Stonehouse, Plymouth, are Alfred Beamer (57) Pensioner Royal Marine Labourer Royal William Victualling Yard, wife Mary Ann (59), Rose May (18) and Mary Jane White (51), Mary Ann's sister.

In 1939, Mary Ann, widow, was living with her married daughter, Ethel Priddle. So far, I've been unable to find a record of Alfred Beamer's death. There are no records beyond 1911 for daughter, Rosa May either.

Mary Ann Beamer of 2 Glendower Road, Peverell, Plymouth, died on 17 May 1950. She was aged 99. A notice of her death had appeared in the Western Morning News on 19 May 1950 and Mary Ann was buried, on 20 May 1950, at The Parish Church of St Gabriel, Peverell Terrace, Peverell, Plymouth. 

Royal William Victualling Yard

John Land

Entrance, Fort Stamford
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © N Chadwick - geograph.org.uk/p/5626178

In 1891, John Land (24), son of James Land and Rose Anna Beamer and brother of Loveday Jane Land, was a Private in the Royal Marines Light Infantry at Fort Stamford, Plymstock, Devon. He enlisted on 3 Jan 1885, served for 21 years until Jan 1906 and then again in 1914-15. That latter period, mostly, at Plymouth Division, but from 12 Sep - 3 Dec 1914, on HMS Jupiter: 

When World War I broke out in August 1914, Jupiter was transferred to the 7th Battle Squadron of the Channel Fleet. During this service, she covered the passage of the British Expeditionary Force from England to France in September 1914. In late October 1914, Jupiter was reassigned to serve alongside her sister ship Majestic as a guard ship at the Nore. On 3 November 1914, Jupiter and Majestic left the Nore and relieved their sister ships Hannibal and Magnificent of guard ship duty on the Humber. In December 1914, Jupiter moved on to guard ship duty on the Tyne.

Interestingly, on his Marines Record, John describes his sister Loveday Jane's daughter, Rose Anna Southwood (née Land) as his sister, whereas she was his niece. This might suggest that the illegitimate child was brought up by her grandparents long enough for him to consider her as such.

In 1911, John Land (45) Horse Man on Farm had been boarding with his niece (who he considered a sister) Rose Anna (30) and her husband, William Henry Southwood (34) at Chieflowman Cottage, Uplowman.

John does not marry and I cannot [yet] be sure of when he died.

Anthony Frederick John Brady and Maggie Dorothy Howes

St Peter and St Paul's Church, Swaffham
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © David Dixon - geograph.org.uk/p/4609546

Maggie Dorothy Howes, youngest daughter of William Harman Howes and Elizabeth Eliza Blazey, married Anthony Frederick John Brady, son of Anthony Brady and Ethel Berry, on 4 Oct 1936, at the same church where her sister Alice May had married in 1922, Holy Trinity, Norwich. The witnesses to this marriage were both William Harman Howes, the bride's father and brother. 

At the time of the marriage, the bridegroom's father, Anthony Brady (b. 1882 in Belfast, County Antrim, d. 1957 in Norwich), was described as an Omnibus Driver. He had married Ethel Berry (b. 1883 in Norwich), in 1905, in Norwich. Anthony Frederick John Brady was born, on 8 May 1908, in Andover, Hampshire. In 1911, his parents were both on the census in Yorkshire at the Infantry Barracks 3rd Battalion Yorkshire Regiment. Anthony Frederick John Brady was baptised at Holy Trinity, Heigham, in 1913.

In 1939, Anthony F J Brady, Local Government Officer, Audit Secretary, his wife Maggie D and son Lawrence Cormac Brady (1938-1997), were living at "Spinney Edge", Cantley Road, Cringleford, Norfolk.

Maggie Dorothy Brady, of Coronation Grove, Swaffham, died, aged just 45, and was buried at St Peter and St Paul's, Swaffham, on 19 Oct 1955.

Anthony Frederick J Brady died in May 1995, the month of his 87th birthday.

William Harman Howes and Violet Rose Matilda Cheer

St Mark's church in Lakenham - the apse
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Evelyn Simak - geograph.org.uk/p/2056898
Built in 1843 "for the poor and very populous" district of Lakenham

William Harman Howes, son of Elizabeth Eliza Blazey and William Harman Howes, married Violet Rose Matilda Cheer, on 8 Feb 1920, at the Church of St Mark, Lakenham, a district on the south of Norwich, Norfolk. Both were 24. One of the witnesses to the wedding was William's sister, Alice May Howes.

On the marriage certificate, Violet gives her father's name as Edmund Cheer, deceased. The only record for a birth of a Violet Cheer at all, was in the relevant quarter of 1895, in Norwich. She is registered simply as Violet, with no other given names and Cheer was her mother's maiden name, so this looks very much like a father invented for appearances on that form. A mystery, Violet doesn't appear anywhere at all on the 1901 or 1911 census returns either. 

(The only record I can find of a Violet Rose Matilda, anywhere, ever, was a Violet Rose Matilda Fox, baptised the following year, 1896, also in Norwich, daughter of Robert and Mary Fox. There seems to be utterly no link, but I feel there must be some reason for this seeming coincidence of the choice of given names.)

Record of the marriage of William Harman Howes and Violet Rose Matilda Cheer

William and Violet had three children: Joyce Mary Howes, born 27 Jun 1920, another daughter in 1924 and a son in 1932 - the latter two less than 100 years ago, could, theoretically, be alive, so I won't list their names.

In 1939, William Harman Howes, Mineral Maker, his wife, Violet Rose Matilda and their 3 children were living at 49 Unthank Road, Norwich, Norfolk. 

In 1942, Joyce M Howes married James D Wright, at Holy Trinity, Heigham.

William Harman Howes died in the 2nd quarter of 1977, aged 81.

Violet Rose N (sic) Howes, born 10 Aug 1895, died in 1978, aged 82.

William Harman Howes and Elizabeth Eliza Blazey

St. John the Theologian, Norwich
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Graham Hardy - geograph.org.uk/p/160332
St. John's at the junction of Ber Street and Finkelgate in 
Norwich is historically known as St. John Sepulchre.

Elizabeth Eliza Blazey, daughter of Samuel Blazey and Elizabeth Wiggins, married William Harman Howes (born 15 Jul 1874), son of John Robert Howes and Martha Burrows Woodhouse, on 2 Sep 1895 at St John Sepulchre, Norwich. Both gave their address as, 3 Butchers Arms Yard, Ber St. Witnesses were William Walter Tillett and Martha Elizabeth Hunt, the groom's sister.

William and Elizabeth had three children:

1. William Harman Howes born 14 Dec 1895
2. Alice May Howes born 31 Oct 1899, bap. 16 Mar 1910 at Holy Trinity
3. Maggie Dorothy Howes born 4 Apr 1910, bap. 1 Jun 1910 at Holy Trinity

In 1901, Elizabeth Howes (27) - no sign of her husband - was living at 15, Manchester Street, Heigham, Norwich, with William (5) and Alice (1).

Before 1911, William Howes (37), Elizabeth (37), William (15), Alice (11) and Maggie (0), had moved to 19 Manchester St, Norwich, where her father and grandmother had lived. Alice May Howes was born at this address.

And in 1939, still living at 19 Manchester Street, Norwich, Norfolk, were William Howes, Builder's Labourer Retired and wife Elizabeth.

William Harman Howes died on 27 Nov 1944, aged 70, at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, St Stephen's Road, Norwich, Norfolk. 

Eliza Elizabeth Howes (née Blazey) died, aged 78, from Cerebral thrombosis, arteriosclerosis, on 19 Jan 1951 at 60 Suffolk Street, Norwich, Norfolk.

Walter White and Florence Mary Parsonage

Percy Road / Roxwell Road, W14
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Mike Quinn - geograph.org.uk/p/890015

Walter White, son of Walter White and Hannah Blazey, brother of Laura Elizabeth White, married Florence Mary Parsonage, daughter of Edward Parsonage and Eleanor Agnes Crosbie, early in 1898, in Kensington. Her father, Edward Parsonage, from Wem, Shropshire, was a Builder's Foreman. Florence, born 18 Aug 1875, was baptised, on 20 Feb 1876, in Hammersmith.

Walter and Florence had four children:

1. Dorothy Eleanor White born 1899 in West Ham
2. Elsie Ivy White born 1902 in West Ham
3. Walter Edward White born 1905 in Brentford
4. Pansy Alice White born 27 Sep 1908 in Steyning, West Sussex

In 1911, Walter White (42) Conductor motor bus, wife Florence Mary (35), Dorothy Eleanor (12), Elsie Ivy (9), Walter Edward (5) and Pansy Alice (2), were living at 30 Percy Road W, Hammersmith. Percy Road is in Shepherd's Bush in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

In 1939, Florence Mary White, widow, was living with her now married daughter, Pansy A Pearson, at 5 Lansbury Avenue, Feltham, Middlesex. There was a death of a Walter White, aged 64, in Kensington in 1934, that most likely relates. Florence Mary White, died in Middlesex South, on 2 Feb 1951, aged 75, leaving £6 19s (£225 today), to Pansy Alice Pearson, married woman.

Alfred Blazey and Margaret Jane Webb

St Peter's Church, St.Peter's Square, Hammersmith
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Peter Trimming - geograph.org.uk/p/1790156

Alfred Blazey, the second son of Samuel Blazey and Elizabeth Wiggins, married Margaret Jane Webb (born 2 Feb 1877 in Battersea, London), early in 1901, at St Peter's Church, St Peter's Square, Hammersmith. 

At the time of the 1901 census, Alfred Blazey (32) Unemployed, and wife Margaret (24) were living at 15, Standish Road, Hammersmith.

Then, probably unsurprisingly if opportunities for them were thin on the ground in the UK, on 1 Nov 1906, Alfred and Margaret Blazey embarked, in Liverpool, on the RMS Empress of Britain, bound for Quebec, Canada.

Alfred and Margaret Blazey next surface, on the 1911 Census of Canada, in Red Deer, Alberta, described as settlers. That same year, they have a son, Frank Blazey, but since Canadian birth records are not available online, I can't go any further with that, nor currently, discover if they had other children.

Margaret Blazey (52) Housewife, sails, again from Liverpool to Quebec, this time on the SS Letitia, on 19 Oct 1929, giving 10 Piggot Street, Limehouse, London as her last address in the UK. She appears to have been travelling alone.

Memorial for Alfred Blazey and Margaret Jane Webb

Alfred Blazey, Painter and Decorator, of 99 Barton Avenue, Toronto, died, aged 63, on 24 Aug 1933 and was buried, on 26 Aug 1933 at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto. Cause of death was given as Carcinoma of Stomach (Stomach cancer) with Endocarditis as a contributing factor. 

Margaret Blazey (née Webb) lived until 1962, when she will have been 85.

The death notice in The Toronto Star in 1974 the for their son Frank Blazey, mentions brothers, Art Reed, Creston, B.C. and Ernie Reed, Red Deer, Alberta and a cousin, Ernest Blazey, all of whom [for now] are complete mysteries.

PS: It really is a small world

Alfred Blazey's brother, Francis Blazey - both of them related to me as cousins of my paternal grandmother -  had ended up in the very next street to where various members of my maternal grandfather's family had lived in London's East End, which was surprising enough given that - so we thought - the two sides of my family came from very different parts of the UK and Ireland. 

That Alfred's - my paternal grandmother's cousin - final address should be little more than a ten minute drive from where my maternal grandfather's grandfather, Dan Tompson, had lived and died only nine years earlier, is astonishing. 

Francis Blazey and Amy Rosa Joslin

Regent's Canal, Bow Common
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Pierre Terre - geograph.org.uk/p/129062

Francis Blazey, elder son of Samuel Blazey and Elizabeth Wiggins, married Amy Rosa Joslin (born 5 Feb 1865 in Kensington), daughter of Robert Hurrell Joslin from Chelmsford, Essex and Ann Graver from Hemsby, Norfolk, in 1892, at the church of St Paul's, Bow Common. Clearly not the current, 20th Century brutalist incarnation, but the previous church that was largely destroyed in the Second World War, and therefore demolished in the 1950s.

Francis and Amy had six children, all born in St George in the East: 

1. Hilda Alice Eleanor Blazey born 1892 (died 1894, aged 1)
2. Rosalie Hilda Blazey born 7 May 1895 (see below)
3. Alfred Hurrell Blazey born 28 Jul 1898, bap. 14 Aug 1898 at the church of St George in the East, in Cannon Street Road, Stepney.
4. William Francis Blazey born 1902 
5. Dorothy Alice Blazey born 1904 (died 1904, aged 0)
6. Ida Winifred Blazey born 1907 

Their address at the time of Alfred's baptism was given as 35 Tarling Street, St George in the East and Francis Blazey's occupation as Dock Labourer.

In 1901, living in 35, Tillman Street, St George in the East, were Francis Blazey (33) Labourer (civil service), Amy (33), Rosalie (5) and Alfred (2).

By 1911, they had moved to 22 Upper Chapman St, St George in the East. Francis Blazey (44) described as "Leading Man Of Labourers", with wife Amy (44), Rosalie (16), Alfred (13), William (10) and Ida (4). 

Frances Blazey of 22 Chapman Street, E1, died, on 18 Apr 1938, aged 70. He left £313 9s 7d (worth £21,610 today) to his widow, Amy Rosa Blazey.

In 1939, Amy was living with her married daughter, Ida Jarvis, at 30 Warren Road, Merton, Surrey. Amy died, in Surrey, in 1941, aged 75.

Rosalie Hilda Blazey of 4 Queensbridge Drive, Herne Bay, Kent died, on 2 Jul 1981, aged 86. She had never married. 

Joseph Tiff and Eliza Blazey

Lane leading to a farm in Badby, Northamptonshire
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Ian Rob - geograph.org.uk/p/104464

Joseph Tiff (bap. 6 Dec 1846, in Badby, Northamptonshire), son of John Tiff or Tift and Ann Watkins married Eliza Blazey, daughter of Francis Stephen Blazey and Hannah Minns, in 1876, in Kensington, London.

In 1861, Joseph (14), one of 7 siblings still at home in Badby, like his father was employed as an Agricultural Labourer. His elder brother, Thomas, was a blacksmith. But by 1871, Joseph (24) servant unemployed, was lodging with a William Potter from Suffolk, at Adam St, Marylebone, London.

In 1881, Joseph Tiff (32) Green grocer and his wife Eliza (31) were living at 9, Union Terrace, Kensington, London with Francis Blazey (13) - Eliza's bother Samuel's eldest son - employed as their Shop boy.

And in 1891, still at Union Terrace, Kensington, were Joseph Tiff (42) Green grocer, Eliza (40), with four of their nephews: Frances Blazey (25) Dock Labourer; Walter White (21) Shop Porter (Hannah's son); Alfred Blazey (21) (Samuel's younger son) also a Dock Labourer and Joseph Tiff (11) from Badby, Northamptonshire, clearly the son of one of Joseph's brothers.

This couple don't appear to have had children of their own, but look to have played an important role in the lives of their nephews.

There is a record showing that Joseph Tiff died, aged 46, in 1894. 

Samuel Blazey and Elizabeth Wiggins

Buttercross in Witney, Oxfordshire
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Roger Davies - geograph.org.uk/p/2553846

Samuel Blazey (born 1836), second son of Francis Stephen Blazey and Hannah Minns, brother of Francis Robert Blazey and my 2x great-grandmother, Hannah Blazey, married Elizabeth Wiggins, in 1864, in Witney, Oxfordshire.

There's an Elizabeth Wiggins or Wiggens, born in Witney in the Q3 of 1837, who I believe this is and, if so, her mother's maiden name was also Wiggens, so, as Jane Austen might put it, she was someone's "natural daughter". 

Samuel and Elizabeth had four children: 

1. Alice Hannah Blazey born 6 Feb 1865 in Witney, Oxfordshire, bap. 5 Jun 1878 at Holy Trinity church, Heigham, Norwich, Norfolk
2. Francis Blazey, bap. 18 Oct 1867 in Drayton, Norfolk
3. Alfred Blazey, born 8 Oct 1869, bap. 26 May 1870 in Drayton, Norfolk
4. Elizabeth Eliza Blazey, born 8 Jan and bap. 8 Mar 1874, in Worcester

In 1861, Samuel had been living with his brother Francis at at 2, St Pauls Street, Blockhouse, Worcester. In 1871, it appears that Samuel Blazey (35), his wife (34) and son (3) were living in Oak Street, St Martin At Oak, Norwich.

Then Elizabeth Blazey, age estimated to 30, died, also in the 1st quarter of 1874 and was buried on 18 Jan 1874, at St. Paul's Parish, Worcester.

In 1881, the family was dispersed: Samuel Blazey, widowed, Fireman on Railway, was living at 3, Duke Street, Heigham, Norwich with his widowed mother. Son Alfred (11) was living with them. Alice Blazey (17) was a General Servant in the household of Joseph Clayden, Lodging house keeper at 16, Westbourne Place, St George Hanover Square; Francis (13), was living with his Aunt and Uncle, Joseph and Eliza Tiff (Samuel Blazey's sister Eliza) at 9, Union Terrace, Kensington, London, where he was Shop boy to greengrocer. While Elizabeth Eliza (7), was living with John and Hannah Versey, originally from Devon, in Worcester, where she was described as their Adopted Daughter.

But in 1891, Samuel (49) and his daughter, Elizabeth (17), were living with the widowed Hannah (78) at 19 Manchester Street, Norwich. In 1901, Samuel (57) is living there with just his mother, Hannah (90). Haven't found him since.

Con Colleano and Winifred Constance Stanley Trevail

Winifred Constance Stanley Trevail and Con Colleano

My 2nd cousin, twice removed, Winifred Constance Stanley Trevail, daughter of Herbert Fleming Trevail and Alice Maud Stanley Blazey was the wife of - IMDB is the only source to list a date for their marriage as 10 July 1926 - Con Colleano (Cornelius Sullivan), who was the most famous and highest paid "swashbuckling circus performer with matinee idol looks" of his time, known as “The Australian Wizard of the Wire”. A member of the Circus Hall of Fame, Con Colleano is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first person to prefect the forward somersault on the tight wire.

"Winnie Trevail began appearing on the stage in Sydney as a child [...]" (Er no, before that in New Zealand). "Mrs. Winnie Colleano (neé Trevail) was herself a well known Australian Vaudeville Soubrette", dancer and trapeze artist.

Con Colleano on a slack-wire, circa 1920

Con Colleano, born Cornelius Sullivan, on 26 Dec 1899 in Lismore, New South Wales, was of Aboriginal, Anglo-Irish and West Indian descent and adopted a Spanish persona and a costume of a ‘toreador’ or bullfighter. 

Colleano’s Indigenous heritage was unknown to his fans – which included one of history’s most infamous racists - "Few people are aware of the fact that in the 1930’s, Adolf Hitler issued an Aboriginal Australian tightrope walker with a German passport so he could come and go as he pleased."

Trevail abandoned her own career in 1924 to travel with her husband.

Passenger lists reveal that Cornelius Sullivan and Winifred C. S. Trevail left Southampton, England on 13 Sep 1924, on the RMS Berengaria (former SS Imperator), The first Cunard "Queen". This was their first trip to the US, so their port of arrival was the infamous Ellis Island, New York. Various sources tell us that, in 1924, Con made his debut at the New York Hippodrome before returning to the circus with Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

There's also record of Cornelius and Winifred C Sullivan Colleano travelling from Southampton to New York, on the Berengaria, on 24 Feb 1937. 

On 7 Jan 1938, Cornelius and Winifred (Sullivan) Colleano, left Sydney, bound for California, on the luxury ocean liner, SS Mariposa (1931).

On 8 Sep 1939, Cornelius and Winifred Sullivan, listed as British, board the Italian ocean liner, SS Rex, leaving Genoa, bound for New York.

These, I'm sure are just the tip of a globe-trotting iceberg, but it was finding these records of voyages that led me to discover more of their story.

The former Albion Hotel (pub) at Forbes, New South Wales, Sheba, CC BY-SA 2.0

"Sadly Con and Winnie ultimately lost all their money indulging in a luxurious lifestyle, giving it away to friends and making a disastrous investment in a pub in outback Australia in the 1950s (what were they thinking?)." 

Con died, in Miami, on 13 Nov 1973, after which Winnie returned to Australia, where she died, in Sydney, in January 1986. They had no children.

Con Colleano home movie: circus preparations (1928)

Were they really married? Who cares?

IMDB is the only place to list a supposed date, but not place, for their marriage. I've [so far] been unable find a record of a marriage anywhere in the world, which, of course, doesn't mean there wasn't one. However, in all the articles I've read about the couple, including Con's obituary, not once is the date and place of their marriage ever mentioned, which I find strange. 

On the other hand, I did find a record of a marriage of a Winifred C Trevail, in Victoria, Australia, in 1919 to a Leonard Mendoza. It would take $20 AUS to obtain the certificate to see if there are enough clues to tell whether this is the same Winifred C Trevail or not, but several things occur to me: Just how many people named Winifred C Trevail are there likely to be? One source claims that Winnie met Con, in Melbourne, which of course is in Victoria, when she was 22. Not hard to imagine she may have been there when she was 19. Someone with the surname Mendoza even sounds like her "type". Who knows? 

I'm much amused by self-aggrandising family stories, but this one probably takes the biscuit - although no surprise perhaps among theatrical types. In several articles, it mentions that Winnie "claimed descent from the Earls of Derby" and it appears that the source of that quote is her own brother, Eric, so it may well have been a story perpetuated in the family. A claim doesn't make it true though! And through which side would that be, I wonder? The line we share to the 'illegitimate born' former dyer who downgraded to labourer in Norfolk, or the bankrupted tenant farmer in Cornwall? Lovely people, I'm sure, but Earls or any other type of nobs they were not!

Sources (many of these links contain images):

1. Con Colleano From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. “The Australian Wizard of the Wire”
3. AUSTRALIAN VARIETY THEATRE ARCHIVE
4. Inducted into the Ring of Fame: 1992
5. Meet the true circus wonders
6. Con Colleano: Australia's 'Wizard of the Wire'
7. Con Colleano: Wizard of the Wire
8. Colleano, Con (Cornelius) (1899–1973)
9. Circus pays homage to wire wizard
10. Interview with Eric Trevail, brother of Winnie Colleano
11. The Aboriginal tightrope walker who duped Hitler & Mussolini

Videos:

1. Con Colleano rehearsing his tight wire act at his home, circa 1939
2. COLLEANO, CON, Australia's tightwire wizard (USA, c.1929)
3. COLLEANO, CON, a life commemorated, (Australia, 2005)
4. COLLEANO, CON, mini-doco of tightwire artist (Australia, 1994)
5. Con Colleano home movie: circus preparations (1928)

Further reading: The wizard of the wire : the story of Con Colleano 

Herbert Fleming Trevail and Alice Maud Stanley Blazey

SS Miltiades (1903)

Herbert Fleming Trevail, son of Charles Trevail and Mary Flemming, married Alice Maud Stanley Blazey, daughter of Francis Robert Blazey and Louisa Susan Stanley, in 1898, in Kensington, London. My 3rd great-grandparents, Francis Stephen Blazey and Hannah Minns were Alice's grandparents, which makes her my 1st cousin 3 times removed.

In 1901, Alice (25) was at her father's household at 31, Sinclair Gardens, Hammersmith, Fulham, along with her daughter, Winifred Constance Stanley Trevail, born 1900, while Herbert (24) Carpenter and Joiner, was alone at what was presumably their home at 83, South Lambeth Road, Lambeth. 

Various records point to Herbert and Alice having at least six children:

1. Daisy Trevail born 1899 in Lambeth (died 1899, aged 0)
2. Winifred Constance Stanley Trevail born 16 Sep 1900 in Lambeth
3. Eric Herbert Stanley Trevail born 29 Jul 1904, bap. 18 Sep 1904 in Welwyn, Hertfordshire
4. Lancelot Edwin Stanley Trevail born circa. 1911, in New Zealand?
5. Edna A S (if I was betting, I'd go for Alice Stanley), born and died in 1915 in Balmain North, New South Wales, Australia
   
6. Carmen Joyce Stanley Trevail born circa. 1917 in Australia

On 5 Aug 1908, Mr H Trevail (31), Mrs A Trevail (32), Miss W Trevail (7) and Master E Trevail (2½), embarked in London on the SS Miltiades. They were bound for Sydney, where they arrived in the September. 

There could well have been a seventh child, because there is a burial of a stillborn child, listed only with the surname Trevail, born 25 Oct 1908, at Linwood Cemetery, Linwood, Christchurch City, Canterbury, New Zealand. That would indicate that Alice was pregnant during the voyage. This pregnancy also fits neatly into the otherwise long gap between 1904 and 1911.

They were in Lyttelton, New Zealand in 1909 - where Herbert's aunts, Ellen Higgs and Mary Ann Burn Trevail Bawden then lived - because reports in the Lyttelton Times in Oct 1909 detail that Miss Winnie Trevail was appearing in one of the principle roles in a production staged by the Garrick Juvenile Opera Company, at the Opera House there.

In 1911, Herbert Fleming Trevail, carpenter, and Alice Maud Trevail were listed on the New Zealand Electoral Rolls at 56 Stanmore Rd, Linwood, Christchurch. (Herbert's aunt, Jane Rundle Robinson, lived in Christchurch.)

Then in 1913, we find both of them listed on the Australia Electoral Rolls at Mount Victoria, Hartley, New South Wales, Australia.

Painting of the British ocean liner RMS Olympic by Fred Pansing

On 2 Feb 1927, Herbert Trevail (49), Alice (50), Lance (16) and Carmen (10) sailed from Southampton to New York on the White Star Line's RMS Olympic. They gave their last address in the UK as 62 Milton Road, Wallington, Surrey, the home of Herbert's parents. On 29 Aug 1927, they left San Francisco, bound for Sydney, on the RMS Tahiti. (Known for the Greycliffe disaster.)

Herbert must have made another visit to England, because on 1 Mar 1933, he sailed, on his own, from Southampton to Sydney on the SS Moreton Bay.

In 1935, Herbert and Alice Trevail are both listed on the Australia Electoral Rolls at 3 Griffiths Avenue, North Bondi, New South Wales. 

On 8 Jul 1949, Mr H. F. Trevail (72) Builder, and Mrs A. M. Trevail (74), travelled from London (Port of Tilbury) to Sydney on the SS Orontes. 

Herbert Fleming Trevail reportedly died on 26 Nov 1961 in Ashfield, Sydney NSW. I've been unable to find the record of Alice Maud's death.

• In 1923 Eric H S Trevail married Miriam E Tuppling, in Balmain South, New South Wales, Australia. They went on to have two children: Conway Eric Stanley Trevail who married Beryl Pearl De Berg and Lois Winifred Stanley Trevail who married Ross Munro Brown, both in Waverley, New South Wales, Australia in 1944.
• Lancelot Edwin Stanley Trevail married Nancy Mary Harris Matthews in Waverley, New South Wales, Australia in 1935. Lancelot Edwin Stanley Trevail, Casket Maker, died on 6 Sep 1947, in Bondi, NSW.
• On 30 Sep 1937, Miss C. J. S. Trevail (21) travelled from Wellington, New Zealand to Sydney on the MS Wanganella, her profession listed as Theatrical. Carmen Joyce Stanley Trevail married Leslie Earnest Hull in Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia in 1938.

George Dalton and Hetty Trevail

Ugborough, Devon
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Jonathan Billinger - geograph.org.uk/p/623840

Hetty Trevail, the one surviving daughter of Joseph Trevail and Eliza Roach, his second wife, married George Dalton, in Plymouth, in 1893. This was not George's first marriage. George, purportedly from Fareham, Hampshire, had previously married Sarah Jane Rogers, in Plymouth, in 1869, with whom he had a son, William John Dalton in 1870. Sarah Jane died, aged 40, in 1892.

George and Hetty had two sons:

1. Silvanus Henry Dalton born 1894 (died 1923, aged 29, in Totnes)
2. Victor George Trevail Dalton born 30 Aug 1902, bap. 11 Nov 1903 at the Anglican Church of Emmanuel

Again, although obviously no proof, it would be hard to imagine that there was no familial link with the use of that unusual given name of Silvanus. 

In 1911, George Dalton (62) Farmer, Hetty (49), Silvanus (16) Farmer's son working on farm and Victor Dalton (8) at School, were living and working at Stone Farm, Ugborough, Ivybridge, Devon. 

It would appear George Dalton died, aged 90, in 1938, in Gosport, Hampshire.

Hetty Dalton, widow, in 1939, was living with her son, Victor, Dairyman Grocer And General Shop Keeper at 2 Lipson Avenue, Plymouth.

Hetty Dalton of 2 Lipson Avenue, Plymouth, widow, died on 15 Jan 1945 at The City Hospital Plymouth - originally opened in 1858 as the Plymouth Workhouse. She left £3224 12s 1d (£3,224 in 1945 is worth £142,736 today) to John Archibald Dave, commercial traveller. [As yet no idea who he was.]

Jane Rundle Trevail and James Robinson

Eastern Monarch (ship, 1874)

Jane Rundle Trevail, youngest daughter of Joseph Trevail and Jane Rundle, aged 15, embarked on the Eastern Monarch, one of seventy-four single women on the voyage, mostly domestics, all as Assisted Immigrants to Canterbury, New Zealand. In Jane's case, it would appear that the New Zealand Government bore the whole of the cost of her passage. The ship sailed from Plymouth on 7 May 1874 and arrived in Lyttelton, New Zealand on 22 Jul 1874. 

Jane's two eldest sisters, Ellen Higgs and Mary Ann Bawden and their husbands, had emigrated together, to Lyttelton, New Zealand, at the end of 1862.

The initial report, on 23 Jul 1874, on the ship's arrival, said that "During the voyage (73 days) fifteen deaths, principally infants, occurred." A subsequent report, on 24 Jul 1874, called it a floating village with talk of entertainments. It also remarked, "The Eastern Monarch brings 552 souls, representing 473 statute adults. They appear to be a well selected and healthy-looking lot of immigrants ..." which makes them sound like little more than slaves!

In 1875, when Jane must have been no more than 16, she married James Robinson, in New Zealand. Later records suggest that he was born in 1854, so will have been 21. Unfortunately, there are far too many people called James Robinson and no other clues, to be able to trace his origins.

The records I could find point to James and Jane having five children:

1. James Robinson born 1876
2. Elizabeth Jane Robinson born 1878
3. Alfred Trevail Robinson born 1888
4. Mabel Eveline Robinson born 1890
5. Eva Mary Robinson born 1891 (appears to have died 1891 or 1892)

James Robinson died on 16 Jul 1945, aged 91. He is buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch City. Jane Rundle Robinson died on 9 Jul 1947, at 87. She also, is buried at Linwood Cemetery, alongside her husband. 

Jane's will appoints Mabel Evelyn Price and Elizabeth Estall as the Executrices and Trustees of the Will. We can probably assume that these are her daughters. To Mabel she left properties at 241 Hereford Street and at 244 Hereford Street, Christchurch and to Elizabeth Estall her property at 242 Hereford Street. Jane also left a property at 49 Keppel Street, New Brighton, to her son Alfred Trevail Robinson. Son James isn't mentioned, so may also have predeceased her. Again, as there are too many people called James Robinson, it's not possible to identify the relevant record to confirm. There are no records to suggest what James or Jane did for a living, but they seem to have done pretty well on it. 

Charles Archer and Kate Trevail

St Saviours Church, Pimlico
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © PAUL FARMER - geograph.org.uk/p/2815323
Picture taken from Chichester Street

Kate Trevail, daughter of Joseph Trevail and Jane Rundle, married Charles Archer at St Saviour's, St George's Square, Pimlico, London in 1884. 

Charles Archer, son of Charles Archer from Northamptonshire and Ellen Briggs, from Poole, Dorset, was born in Poole and baptised there at St Paul's Church, on 29 Dec 1861. He was living with his parents in Cambridge Street, Pimlico, in 1871, where his younger sisters were born in 1864, 1866 and 1868. In 1881, as a 19 year old clerk, Charles was lodging at 29, Myrtle Street, Hackney.

Charles and Kate had three children: 

1. Charles Archer born 10 Jul 1885, bap. 10 Sep 1885 at St Saviour's, St George's Square
2. Ellen Florence Archer born 23 Sep 1887, bap. 6 Nov 1887 at St Saviour's, St George's Square
3. Eileen Elfrida Trevail Archer born 19 May 1897, bap. 18 Jul 1897 at St Gabriel's, Warwick Square

The birth of their second child was registered as Ellen Florence, but she was baptised Florence Ellen and later as an adult, mostly called Florence Ellen.

In 1891, we find Charles Archer (29) Collector, Kate Archer (33), Charles (5), Ellen F (3) and Lizzie Isch (20) General Domestic Servant, living in Chichester Street, Pimlico. (Kate's sister, Olivia and her family, had also lived in Chichester Street in 1891.) "Collector" (to disappoint all of us thinking of antiques and curios), in the context of Charles Archer's job, is a Gas Rate Collector, i.e. the bloke who goes round collecting the shillings from the gas meters.

In 1901, still at 8, Chichester Street, Pimlico, were Charles Archer (39) Gas Rate Collector, Kate (43), Charles (15) Mechanical engineer's apprentice, Ellen (13) and Eileen (3).

In 1911, once again at 8, Chichester Street, Pimlico, there were Charles Archer (49) Collector, Kate (53), Ellen Florence (23) Lady clerk, Eileen Elfrida (13) at School and Beatrice Matthews (28) General Domestic Servant.

Charles Archer died on 17 Jan 1936, aged 74, in Hale, Cheshire.

Kate Archer, as well as Charles Archer Jnr and his wife and Eileen and her husband, were all living in Hale, Cheshire (now Greater Manchester) in 1939. 

Kate Archer, of Girvan, Leicester Road, Hale, Cheshire, widow, died on 29 Jan 1947, aged 89, leaving £557 10s to her son Charles Archer. 

Thomas William Colwill and Olivia Trevail

St George's, Hanover Square
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Anthony O'Neil - geograph.org.uk/p/4518508

Olivia Trevail, daughter of Joseph Trevail and Jane Rundle, in 1871, aged 20, was in service as a kitchen maid in the household of Francis Gosling (1837-1910), Banker, at Wellbury House, Great Offley, near Hitchin in Hertfordshire. (Goslings Bank was one of the banks merged into Barclays Bank in 1896). In 1886, she married Thomas William Colwill at St George, Hanover Square. 

In 1891, Thomas Colwill (29) Labourer joiner, living at Chichester Street, St George Hanover Square, with wife Olivia (33), son Harry (2), as well as four boarders: Charles Usher (26), Walter Wilham (35), Constance Wilham (25) and Ernest Aller (24), claimed to be from Taunton, Somerset. He wasn't.

Following the clues, we discover that Thomas William Colwill, born in Pimlico in 1861, was the son of Henry Colwill, Joiner, and Mary White - who married in Wells, Somerset, in 1857. They must have travelled back to Somerset, where Thomas William was baptised at the Church of St Thomas, Wells, in 1861. 

By 1901, Thomas Collwell (sic) (39) Builder's foreman, living at 24, Back Common Road, Lake Avenue Terrace, Chiswick, with Olivia (36), Harry (12) and Elsie (4), had remembered that he was born in Pimlico.

Thomas and Olivia had just those two children:

1. Harry George Colwill born 1888 in Pimlico
2. Elsie Mary Colwill born 1896 in Dalston

In 1911, Thomas Colwill (49) Foreman Joiner, Olivia (53), Harry (22) Joiner and Elsie (14), are at 21 Slowmans Cottages, Ashingdon Road, Rochford, Essex. 

Thomas W Colwill died, aged 69, in 1930, in Croydon.

Olivia Colwell died, aged 83, in 1937, also in Croydon.

Charles Trevail and Mary Flemming

St Margaret, Westminster
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © John Salmon - geograph.org.uk/p/4749411

Charles Trevail, son of Joseph Trevail and Jane Rundle, in 1871, was living with his brother, Joseph Rundle Trevail, in Westminster. Then, in the 1st quarter of 1874, Charles married Mary Fleming at St Margaret's, Westminster. 

On the 1881 census, Mary claims to be from Barnstaple, Devon, born around 1855. In 1891, she says she's from London; in 1901, Westminster and 1911, London City. One would normally trust the earliest records more, but it transpires her father, Henry Fleming, a tailor, was from Barnstaple, while her mother, Edith was from Middlesex, City (i.e. London) - there is a marriage of a Henry Fleming to Edith Arding, in Kensington, in 1842 that may refer. The 1871 census where Mary (17) is living with her parents at Artillery Terrace, St Margaret, Westminster, says she was born in Soho, Middlesex.

Charles and Mary had five children, all born in Lambeth:

1. Charles Frederick Trevail born 1874
2. Herbert Fleming Trevail born 1877 
3. Edwin Fleming Trevail born 1880
4. Lily Mary Trevail born 1885
5. Daisy Fleming Trevail in 1893

In 1881, Charles Trevail (29) Engine Fitter, was living at 13, Meadow Terrace, Lambeth - at that time Charles' brother, Joseph, lived at 6, Meadow Terrace - with Mary (26), Charles F (6), Herbert F (4) and Edward (sic) F (0).

By 1891, they had moved to Osborne Terrace, Lambeth. With Charles (38) Engine Fitter, were Mary (36) Pattern Maker, Charles F (16), Herbert F (14) Messenger, Edwin F (10) Scholar and Lily M (5).

And in 1901, at 195, South Lambeth Road, Lambeth, we find Charles Trevail (48) Engine Fitter, Mary (46), Edwin (20) Carpenter, Lily (15) and Daisy (7). 

In 1911, Charles Trevail (59) Engineer, Mary (57), Frederick (37) widower (he married Charlotte Ada Land in Camberwell, in 1898), Daisy (17) and Arthur Trevail (11) Grandson, had moved to 10 Elgin Road, Wallington, Surrey.

Former Netherne Hospital administration building, converted to housing in 2002.
cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Ian Capper - geograph.org.uk/p/5962277

Mary Trevail died on 28 July 1938, aged 85, in Surrey. The probate record says Mary Trevail of 62 Milton Road, Wallington, Surrey (wife of Charles Trevail) died at Netherne Hospital (formerly The Surrey County Asylum or Netherne Asylum: a psychiatric hospital), Coulsdon, Surrey, leaving effects of £300 to Charles Trevail of no occupation and Lord Harold Graves, builder. (Lord was a given name, not a title - he had married Daisy Fleming Trevail in 1917.)

In 1939, Charles Trevail, Refridgerating Engineer Retired, was living with his daughter, Lily M Townsend (she had married William Dring Townsend in Croydon, in 1904) at 23 Dalmeny Road, Sutton, Surrey. 

Charles Trevail died, in Surrey, in 1946, aged 94.