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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Topic started by: humanracer on Sunday 26 March 17 22:47 BST (UK)
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Hi
I am doing some research on the stage Actor-Manager Charles Dillon. His Wikipedia article can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dillon_(actor-manager)
According to articles found in the NYT and other archives he was born in Dias Suffolk in 1819. He died on a trip to Hawick on 27 June 1881.
The articles regarding his death state he was married to Clara Conquest and they had a daughter also called Clara. Clara Conquest died on 4 July 1888, in Portsmouth aged 63.
However Charles Dillon frequently acted with a woman named Bella Mortimer who regard as one of the great actresses of her day. Bella died on 28th May 1886 in Hull aged 40 and was referred to as "Mrs Charles Dillon", the wife of the late actor.
Now one would suppose Dillon married Clara after Bella died especially since the article reporting Charles Dillon's death refers to Clara as his "widow" and residing at West Hartlepool with daughter Clara but an article written shortly after his death states "
"A subscription has been opened by the executors of the late Charles Dillon, for the benefit of his widow, better known as Miss Bella Mortimer, and children"
Anyone have advice or further leads?
Robert
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Have you already come across this:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rogers/Genealogy/TheatricalDeaths.html
the entry for Clara has an asterisk, therefore more details in book, which can be provided by emailing the address shown.
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Bella died on 28th May 1881 in Hull aged 40
Did Bella not die in 1886 rather than 1881?
Deaths Jun quarter 1886
DILLON Bella age 47 Sculcoates district 9d 128
This ties with mention in Nottinghamshire Guardian on June 11th 1886, that she had died on Friday 28th. Albeit age stated as 40.
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Clara Conquest died on 4 July 1888, in Portsmouth aged 63.
No death under Conquest or Dillon in 1888
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No death under Conquest or Dillon in 1888
Clarissa Ann Dillon death in Portsea, Sep qtr 1888
She apparently died on Tuesday, July 3rd, at Durham House, St. James's Road, Southsea.
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Thanks Scotmum
All the references were to her being Clara - not Clarissa ::)
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Daughter, Clara Dillon, was born Kensington district in Dec qtr 1844, mother noted as Conquest.
Not seeing any obvious Dillon/Conquest marriage around this time though, despite mention found online, re Charles Dillon, that:
In 1860–61, he left England with his wife, Clara, for a tour around the world.
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There's mention in an 1893 edition of The Era, of a play in about 1843 in which Charles Dillon and Clara Conquest played lovers, and saying after being such on stage, they became lovers off stage, as she became Mrs Dillon.
This sits well with the 1844 birth.
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Bella died on 28th May 1881 in Hull aged 40
Did Bella not die in 1886 rather than 1881?
Deaths Jun quarter 1886
DILLON Bella age 47 Sculcoates district 9d 128
This ties with mention in Nottinghamshire Guardian on June 11th 1886, that she had died on Friday 28th. Albeit age stated as 40.
Typo, sorry I have corrected it
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Perhaps Charles never married Clara and he later left her for Bella? In effect both could claim to be his widow?
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It is an odd one. Certainly, he, Clara snr and Clara jnr are in the 1851 census for Manchester, as head, wife, daughter.
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The first obvious crossing of paths by Bella Mortimer and Charles Dillon in the theatre, seems to be early 1873. Thereafter, she seemed to frequently play opposite or alongside him in numerous productions, often as his 'wife'.
Now, in earlier years, when Charles and Clara sometimes appeared on stage together, newspaper reports often alluded to her as being his wife, but still referred to her by her stage name of Clara Conquest. Interestingly, at no point, in all the numerous newspaper reports of Charles and Bella working together, can I see any that alluded to her being his 'real life' wife, that is, until May 1881, just after he died and then again in July 1881, when a Trust Fund was being set up to assist her. It was only after his death, too, when she appeared in various other productions, that she was often noted as Mrs Charles Dillon (Bella Mortimer) and/or Bella Mortimer (Mrs Charles Dillon).
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Interestingly, according to a letter in The Era in Dec 1863 from a Clara Dillon, a person named Miss Eliza Webb was passing herself off in Australia as Mrs Charles Dillon.
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Just throwing in daughter Clara's RC baptism in 1855: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJX7-8L8
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Charles Dillon and Bella Dillon, Actor and Actress, appear in the 1881 census as visitors, both noted as married, in the Balmoral Hotel, Bolton.
Oddly, his birth year is given as 1840, a birth year which would possibly fit better with this Charles being Charles Silver, alleged son of Charles Dillon, who apparently used the surname Dillon, but wouldn't explain Bella being referred to as wife of Charles snr, following the latter's death.
The actor-manager Charles Dillon commissioned the building of the Theatre Royal, Stratford in 1884 (ie after the death of the Charles Dillon who was reputedly his father).
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In 1860–61, he left England with his wife, Clara, for a tour around the world.
Curiously Clara appears in the 1861 census in London with her father Benjamin Oliver Conquest at the Eagle Tavern in Shoreditch:
Clarissa A Conquest, daur, married, 35, actress - born Whitechapel
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humanracer, the wiki page you linked to starts Charles J Dillon, yet the death in Hawick is listed as:
Surname: DILLON Forename: CHARLES CHURCH
Age at death: 61
Year: 1881
Ref: 789/ 146
RD Name: Hawick
on scotlandsprople.
Have you purchased the death record at all? Scottish death records usually give more info than English ones of the timescale.
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There's a marriage in Cardiff in Q2 1874: Charles Church Dillon and either Janet Evans or Bella Mentrup.
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Isabella Mentrup was born in Hull circa 1838 per the 1851 census for Sculcoates
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A description of the funeral service in The Era, July 2nd 1881, confirms his body was brought from Hawick and that the coffin bore the inscription 'Charles Church Dillon....aged 61 years'. The same article then reports an interesting letter he had previously sent to daughter, Clara.
So, he was Church rather than J_____, to his middle name it seems. But, was the 1874 marriage him or, given the age on the 1881 census of the Charles with Bella, his 'son', if indeed either?
humanracer, depending on how keen you are, an emailed PDF copy of the marriage entry would be available to purchase from GRO currently, for £8.
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I think the age "41" in the 1881 census is a mistranscribed "61". Birthplace is Diss which does suggest Charles the elder.
Re the 1874 Cardiff marriage, Charles Dillon and Bella Mortimer played the Theatre Royal in Cardiff on 1 June 1874, and Charles Dillon gave at least two further performances there in the following two weeks.
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I think the age "41" in the 1881 census is a mistranscribed "61". Birthplace is Diss which does suggest Charles the elder.
Re the 1874 Cardiff marriage, Charles Dillon and Bella Mortimer played the Theatre Royal in Cardiff on 1 June 1874, and Charles Dillon gave at least two further performances there in the following two weeks.
Was about to come on to say he was in theatre at Cardiff in timescale too, so well posted.
I did wonder about the age being mis-transcribed in the 1881, but thought original did look to be 41. Must have another look. But yes, I too thought the birthplace seemed more likely to be his (snr).
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Clarisa Ann BENNETT 29 Spinster actress of 3 Shepherd's Walk , father Henry BENNETT actor
Charles James CHURCH 35 Widower actor of same , father Arthur Church actor 27 Jan 1854 St Leonard , Shoreditch ( corrected father
Witnesses : Benjamin ( Charles ?) CONQUEST; Emily ( WALTON ? )
Clara Conquest & Charles Dillon ???
Edit : address is Shepherdess Walk
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I did wonder about the age being mis-transcribed in the 1881, but thought original did look to be 41
We don't have the original census returns for 1881 - only the enumerators books which are of course transcriptions.
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Clarisa Ann BENNETT 29 Spinster actress of 3 Shepherd's Walk , father Henry BENNETT actor
Charles James CHURCH 35 Widower actor of same , father Henry BENNETT actor
27 Jan 1854 St Leonard , Shoreditch
Witnesses : Benjamin ( Charles ?) CONQUEST; Emily ( WALTON ? )
Clara Conquest & Charles Dillon ???
There is a family tree on An****** that may start to explain the Bennett / Conquest connection.
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Clarisa Ann BENNETT 29 Spinster actress of 3 Shepherd's Walk , father Henry BENNETT actor
Charles James CHURCH 35 Widower actor of same , father Henry BENNETT actor
27 Jan 1854 St Leonard , Shoreditch
Witnesses : Benjamin ( Charles ?) CONQUEST; Emily ( WALTON ? )
Clara Conquest & Charles Dillon ???
Crikey - the plot thickens. The first witness is Benjamin Oliver Conquest (born Benjamin Oliver) who we thought to be Clara's father.
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Clarissa Ann BENNETT baptized 1 Sep 1830 Southwark Christchurch , mother Clarissa Ann BENNETT * father Henry ROXBY , Gentleman
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Clarissa Ann Bennett married Henry Roxby 9 Oct 1826 ST Mary, Whitechapel
Clarissa Ann Roxby married Benjamin Oliver 4 Mar 1863 Brighton
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Charles James CHURCH 35 Widower actor of same , father Henry BENNETT actor
The father's name should be Arthur Church, actor
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Charles James CHURCH 35 Widower actor of same , father Henry BENNETT actor
The father's name should be Arthur Church, actor
Don't know how I managed that !
Sorry everyone !
now corrected
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Clarisa Ann BENNETT 29 Spinster actress of 3 Shepherd's Walk , father Henry BENNETT actor
Charles James CHURCH 35 Widower actor of same , father Arthur Church actor 27 Jan 1854 St Leonard , Shoreditch ( corrected father
Witnesses : Benjamin ( Charles ?) CONQUEST; Emily ( WALTON ? )
Clara Conquest & Charles Dillon ???
Edit : address is Shepherdess Walk
If it was them, it could explain the 1855 baptism entry for daughter, Clara, being so long after her birth.
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Maybe someone should write a screenplay based on this thread ;D.
It just goes to show, peoples names, as recorded, even if on official records, aren't always necessarily what they seem.
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Morning Advertiser 26 Jan 1858
Mrs Clarissa Ann Roxby , wife of Mr Henry Roxby a celebrated vocalist sought protection under the new Divorce Act as her husband had deserted her . They married in Whitechapel in October 1826 and he deserted her in 1832. She had made a living by teaching dancing and wished to protect her earnings from her husband.
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The Era 30 July 1881
" Will the lawyer ( name forgotten ) who twenty or twenty one years ago commenced a suit for divorce against Charles James Church ( Dillon ) for Clarissa Ann Church ( nee Conquest ) kindly communicate with the latter . Office at that time Knightrider Street , Doctor's Commons.
Address Mrs Charles Dillon 65 Scarborough Street , West Hartlepool."
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Good finds, Christine53. This is turning into quite an epic search.
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October 1869, Sheffield Daily Telegraphy, mention of Bankruptcy proceedings against a Charles James Dillon late of Leeds, Halifax, Huddersfield and other places. Mention of a Miss Clara Morgan
in the report.
Same Charles?
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Interestingly, according to a letter in The Era in Dec 1863 from a Clara Dillon, a person named Miss Eliza Webb was passing herself off in Australia as Mrs Charles Dillon.
This same letter mentioned that Mrs Clara Dillon was already back in England.
Searches of Australian newspapers via Trove, indicate Charles Dillon returned to England in 1867, after an absence of about 7 years.
Trove returns numerous other mentions of Charles in Australia.
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Quite a long obit. in the Aberdare Times and one in the Western Mail, both on Welsh Newspapers online, mind you no mention of his tangled private life.
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There's a long article in The Era of 19 Sep 1858 , detailing Charles Dillon's bankruptcy as lessee of the Lyceum Theatre. His connection with the Lyceum is also mentioned in the report of his father's death in 1856 ( The Era 28 Dec 1856 ). Arthur Dillon was a well known theatrical agent.
At this stage I can't make up my mind what their real names were . Dillon , Church or possibly something else entirely !
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According to the 1851 census Arthur Dillon Theatrical Agent was born in the East Indies, he is with his wife Elizabeth but they married in 1819 making Arthur 16 when he married, something wrong there I think.
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There's a baptism at Fort St George, Madras on 3 October 1802:
"Arthur, the natural son of Richard Dillon esq, born 31 August 1802. " No mother's name.
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Arthur married in Dec 1819 in Southwark, yet Charles gives his place of birth as Diss, no baptism for a Charles Dillon there that I can find.
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"Dillon, Charles (1819-1881), actor, was born in Diss, Norfolk, probably the illegitimate son of Charles James Church, an itinerant actor, and Eliza, who married Arthur Dillon, a minor London actor and theatrical agent, whose name he adopted. Until 1856 Dillon played small roles in London's minor theatres, writing plays on ..."
(Oxford DNB preview http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/49701 )
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Slowly but surely we're getting there (or somewhere at least ;D). It has certainly been an interesting search.
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Thanks Scotmum,Christine,Jay,Shaun and everyone else who has helped with this. It's fascinating what has been uncovered. I guess Christine finding the divorce notice pretty much confirms what I had suspected in regards to the many Mrs Dillons.
I have access to the ODNB, here are the key points
He married Clara (1824/5–1888), the daughter of a London theatre manager, Benjamin Conquest, and their daughter, also Clara, was born in 1845.
His relationship with Eliza Webb, the daughter of Charles Webb, contributed to the breakup of his marriage. Following a further tour of the provinces he sailed for New York on 22 December 1860.
Accompanied by Eliza Webb, he then toured Canada. They left for San Francisco and opened there at the Metropolitan Theatre on 21 October 1861. Critical assessment mirrored that of the London critics, but financially the tour was proving disastrous. Dillon left for Australia from Vancouver and arrived in Melbourne, Victoria, in November 1862.
Following a short stay in Tasmania that began in August 1864, the Dillons sailed for New Zealand. . After playing in Christchurch and Dunedin, the Dillons left for Peru in July 1865. Although he intended an extensive tour of South America, political instability forced the Dillons to leave Chile hurriedly, and in December 1865 they returned to New York, where Eliza died of typhoid fever. Dillon remained in the United States until the end of 1866, and left for England in early 1867 after a final season in New York.
He married Bella Mentrup, an actress, in Cardiff in June 1874. His last appearances in London were at Drury Lane, as Leontes in The Winter's Tale (28 September 1878) and as Shylock (7 December 1878). He died suddenly of a stroke in Hawick, Roxburghshire, on 24 June 1881 and was buried in Brompton cemetery on 26 June.
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You're welcome , humanracer. It's been fascinating .
Christine
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"Stars, especially early ones, are apt to leave stories of their origins that, to charitably put it, are untrue. Charles Dillon was a slight exception, in that it was always implied that he was illegitimate, but the account was rouged and powdered: pathos even in memory.
In the ERA I found some accounts by a commercial clerk, who, after Dillon's death took to writing fond reminiscences of Dillon, and the theatre. The ERA correspondent's name was Algernon Sydney Roalfe Cooper, and in one letter he declares himself to have been Dillon's cousin and offers even a short story of his boyhood days, lamenting Dillon's never-written memoirs.
Algernon S.R.Cooper was indeed Charles Dillon's cousin, on his mother's side; Algernon was born in 1822 to John Cooper and Melicent [sic] Roalfe, whose sister, Eliza Mary Roalfe had married actor Arthur Dillon in 1822. Both girls were London born daughters of — I believe — Clement Roalfe (1758-1802) of Little Earl Street, Seven Dials, London (a victualler — Lord, the numbers of stage folk whose social uterus was a Hotel or Public House is beyond counting!) and Elizabeth Harris (they married at Bethal Green) in 1780.
Eliza Mary Roalfe was born in Piccadilly, Middlesex and became pregnant by a comedian, John James Church between 1818-1819 with young Charles John being the result. Charles John "Church" despite being born in Diss (which straddles the border between Norfolk and Suffolk) in 1819, is not listed not on the IGI, nor would I expect him to be if his parents were never married. There was a Charles James Church christened on the 8th of August, 1819 in Newport, Shropshire with the right parental names, and it must be said that with strolling players, their children's birthing couch and christening font are sometimes not within respectable distance. Some research into the theatre in these places at that time will have to be done.
John James Church was a drunkard, and I cannot find his age (but he started his London stage career in 1813 under Elliston), but he abandoned Eliza for greener fields because J.J.Church married in Norwich in 1821 to Emma Louisa Forster, and he was said to have been the son of Dr. Church of City Road, London. Why was he in Norwich?
Well, less that a year later Eliza Roalfe married Arthur Yates Dillon, an actor, whom Algernon recalled was a 'bit of a tyrant.' Arthur stated in a census that he was born in the East Indies, and perhaps he was; there was a definite Arthur Dillon christened in Madras of 1802, which would make him 20 when marrying Miss Roalfe who was 34 — not an impossible age gap and in theatrical circles, a common one: perhaps she had charms. Perhaps it is not him, but of interest is that Arthur Dillon was not an unknown name in the early 19th century and the name was from an Irish family caught up in the Revolution and their Arthur Dillon ended up under the guillotine, and I suspect young Arthur Yates Dillion was from that family, though possibly of consanguinous distance (one of the Irish Dillons was Governor of Tobago)
John James Church died, impoverished, during 1864 in Chelsea, having been very ill since 1859 a year in which he had collapsed with hunger and exposure, and was taken to a hospital and aided by several actors. Arthur Dillon established his acting agency in 1840 where he first started using the middle name Yates; was it is to use, or was this just the advantage of associated glory? He died on November 24th 1856.
Roalfe is such a rare name, and of Kentish origin, and I believe that was where Charles Dillon's maternal line hailed from.
Of the wives of Charles Dillon, and of the offspring, I will say more later."
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"Stars, especially early ones, are apt to leave stories of their origins that, to charitably put it, are untrue. Charles Dillon was a slight exception, in that it was always implied that he was illegitimate, but the account was rouged and powdered: pathos even in memory.
In the ERA I found some accounts by a commercial clerk, who, after Dillon's death took to writing fond reminiscences of Dillon, and the theatre. The ERA correspondent's name was Algernon Sydney Roalfe Cooper, and in one letter he declares himself to have been Dillon's cousin and offers even a short story of his boyhood days, lamenting Dillon's never-written memoirs.
Algernon S.R.Cooper was indeed Charles Dillon's cousin, on his mother's side; Algernon was born in 1822 to John Cooper and Melicent [sic] Roalfe, whose sister, Eliza Mary Roalfe had married actor Arthur Dillon in 1822. Both girls were London born daughters of — I believe — Clement Roalfe (1758-1802) of Little Earl Street, Seven Dials, London (a victualler — Lord, the numbers of stage folk whose social uterus was a Hotel or Public House is beyond counting!) and Elizabeth Harris (they married at Bethal Green) in 1780.
Eliza Mary Roalfe was born in Piccadilly, Middlesex and became pregnant by a comedian, John James Church between 1818-1819 with young Charles John being the result. Charles John "Church" despite being born in Diss (which straddles the border between Norfolk and Suffolk) in 1819, is not listed not on the IGI, nor would I expect him to be if his parents were never married. There was a Charles James Church christened on the 8th of August, 1819 in Newport, Shropshire with the right parental names, and it must be said that with strolling players, their children's birthing couch and christening font are sometimes not within respectable distance. Some research into the theatre in these places at that time will have to be done.
John James Church was a drunkard, and I cannot find his age (but he started his London stage career in 1813 under Elliston), but he abandoned Eliza for greener fields because J.J.Church married in Norwich in 1821 to Emma Louisa Forster, and he was said to have been the son of Dr. Church of City Road, London. Why was he in Norwich?
Well, less that a year later Eliza Roalfe married Arthur Yates Dillon, an actor, whom Algernon recalled was a 'bit of a tyrant.' Arthur stated in a census that he was born in the East Indies, and perhaps he was; there was a definite Arthur Dillon christened in Madras of 1802, which would make him 20 when marrying Miss Roalfe who was 34 — not an impossible age gap and in theatrical circles, a common one: perhaps she had charms. Perhaps it is not him, but of interest is that Arthur Dillon was not an unknown name in the early 19th century and the name was from an Irish family caught up in the Revolution and their Arthur Dillon ended up under the guillotine, and I suspect young Arthur Yates Dillion was from that family, though possibly of consanguinous distance (one of the Irish Dillons was Governor of Tobago)
John James Church died, impoverished, during 1864 in Chelsea, having been very ill since 1859 a year in which he had collapsed with hunger and exposure, and was taken to a hospital and aided by several actors. Arthur Dillon established his acting agency in 1840 where he first started using the middle name Yates; was it is to use, or was this just the advantage of associated glory? He died on November 24th 1856.
Roalfe is such a rare name, and of Kentish origin, and I believe that was where Charles Dillon's maternal line hailed from.
Of the wives of Charles Dillon, and of the offspring, I will say more later."
Brilliant post (and blog). Can't wait to read more.