charlie chaplin

[weste]

Wonder whether he was registered under the surname hill after reading that?

[OrganicJohn]

I do not see any reason to doubt Charlie  Chaplin's  birth at Walworth,South London.Apart from the census records Charlie and his brother were sent to the West Norwood,poor law school for a while ,while their mother was suffering an attack of mental illness.My grandfather was in the school between 1885 and 1892 and used to joke about going to school with Charlie Chaplin.I think the speculation about his mother is rather offensive.It is more likely that she suffered from some condition such as bipolar disorder as my mother did.I believe she had recurrences of mental illness and in between she was able to look after the boys which sounds like bipolar disorder.Later she lived in America after Charlie had moved there.

[cms]

I don't have any special interest in this story but I do find it relevent that the  letter in Chaplin's private papers gives information about his birth in a caravan from someone who knew Chaplin's father in the gypsy community in Smethwick (West Midlands).
The letter states that Chaplin's father worked alongside the letter writer's father, who was a lion tamer, in the Pat Collins circus. Soon after Charlie's birth the Chaplins moved to London where Mr Chaplin worked in music halls. It all sounds very plausible to me and I wondered if any other family history researchers had come across this.

[eastleighfan]

I've got an interest in this , because my Great Grandfather was born in the same street that Chaplin's mother was born (I think )
My Surname is Hill ,the same as hi mum's maiden name
Sadly , I can't find any connection tho

[Blue70]

A word of caution about researching such a famous person. If a possible birth record were to be found by people on here you would really need to do a follow up to get any new evidence into the public domain. It can be fun doing this sort of research but if you do find something new put in the work afterwards. If you make any discoveries contact people who have written about Chaplin and work in collaboration with them, get articles published, try to get new evidence into his Wiki page, follow it up so that the research is worthwhile.


Blue 

[melba_schmelba]

Does he have any surviving children? They could do a DNA test .

[brigidmac]

To find other topics abouthat Charlie Chaplin put his full name in the search box above.

I started a topic to see if he is connected to my brother in laws Chaplin s

I agree with the comments about his mother ..they remained close and Charlie must have cared for her

"Madness" does not have to be permanent and Syphilis was common but also a common misdiagnosis cos symptoms similarbto.many other things
Bipolar is also a word I don't like as people make assumptions that all people go through same extremes. Hannah must have had a hard life a nervous breakdown or 2 wouldn't be surprising.

BTW I went to a talk where the speaker said Charlie Chaplin wrote the words to "smile if your heart is breaking"
Can anyone confirm or refute

[solidrock]

The song is "Smile"


Music by Charles Chaplin, Lyrics by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons

[jonw65]

The reception order for Hannah Chaplin in 1905 can be seen here (if you have ancestry), continues next image. Not sure that 1898 is available
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01mt8/