I just received an email from Ordsall Hall, a reply to a mail I had sent some time ago. I says this:
"I'm afraid that we do not have any extant pictures or details in the Ordsall Hall archive that relate specifically to the gymnasium that was in the Hall in the 1890s. What I do know is that the gymnasium would have been in the Hall up until approximately 1894 so your great uncles may well have used it.
Do you know if your great uncles worked for Haworth's mill in Ordsall? If they did, for a small fee (6 pence a month), they would have been able to use the gymnasium at the Hall as they liked (within opening hours). Richard Howarth's was one of the largest cotton mills in England in the 1880-1890s
Interestingly, a lot of travelling circuses performed around the Ordsall area in the late Victorian times. Many performances were held along the banks of the nearby River Irwell. Is it possible that your great uncles may have had connections with these as well?"
This is what I know about the brothers. I don't know if they ever performed together. I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself, this is a copy of an email that I sent to Ordsall Hall, I left the Clive connection out of the copy:
Both brothers were born in India (father a soldier from Manchester who married a girl in Tullamore, transferred later to the 108th regiment, and served for 12 years in India).
They were in fact my late husband's gt uncles.
In the 1891 census William John Bennett (1870), married a year earlier (Sarah Coleman from Birmingham), first son Alfred on the way, lived in Ardwick Street Salford. He was a slasher in a Cotton mill. Which mill I don't know, but Haworth's was nearby.
In 1901 I found him in Sunderland, with his wife, another son and a daughter, both born in Birmingham, but under the name Elton. could me a mistake, another Elton in the same house, also a traveling gymnast, or it could be a stage name. The oldest son was in Salford with his grandparents.
In 1911 they were boarding in Durham, William and son Alfred both acrobats, wife Sarah a Statue Artiste.
George Frederick (1873) was still living with his parents in 1891, Derwent Street, Cotton warper (again, I don't know where).
In 1897 he married Sarah Canterbury in Dewsbury (her family lived in or near Sheffield). After that he lived in Sheffield, but I can't find him in 1911, he must have been on the road, maybe using a stage name. His wife and children were at home in Sheffield. He was definitely still alive in 1915.
Some time ago I did a newspaper search (1800-1900) myself, I soon found out it was useless to look for the name Bennett, even with other keywords. Yes, there were Bennett brothers, but they were different people, also a George Bennett, a black comedian, if I remember right.
I did however save a "wanted" page from the ERA. 1887, I don't know why I didn't pick later ones. Maybe a search for acrobats AND Salford didn't give more results or I thought the adverts weren't useful.
Seeing that page again, I realize the names of companies, circuses, theatre managers would be worth looking into. So I'd better plan a good newspaper session again. I can select just the ERA looking for possible recruitments. And the Manchester papers could be worthwhile.
Then, after 1900, the most important period, I can't find the ERA online at all, just the Stage. The snippets for quick viewing show no context at all, making a search very unpleasant. Do you know of any other sources?
Loes (living in Amsterdam)
