Can some kind soul who has access to South African marriage records please help this beleaguered researcher.
I am attempting to trace a couple of actors. Yes, that's right, they had stage names too. I've got a fair amount about their professional activities but little about their private lives. William Alexander IRWIN was b 1856 in Bristol, UK. He mainly used the stage name William HAVILAND - so two surnames . Allegedly his 1st wife was one Amy COLERIDGE, wed sometime between, say, 1874 and 1901. There seems no trace of the marriage in UK or USA, but they did theatrical tours in South Africa so may well have married there (assuming they did in fact have benefit of clergy).
On 21/11/1896 the South Africa Magazine (source: rootsweb) said:
Miss Amy COLERIDGE was interviewed in Kimberley, but it is interesting to learn that the lady does not rate quite so highly as her husband (Mr. William HAVILAND) in the taste of South African audiences …
William enlisted as a special constable in Johannesburg during the Jameson Raid furore. Amy was appearing in Much Ado about Nothing there at that time so it is more than likely that WH was with her.
The 1901 UK census shows them as man and wife. But, to complicate matters, actress Amy COLERIDGE is elusive in UK, and this may well be a stage name too.
Any info about a marriage date and place would be gratefully received.