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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: Peter Reeve on Thursday 26 October 17 17:19 BST (UK)
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Hi - I'm researching stage magician 'Gustave Fasola' and I've hit a dead end. Fergus O'Conner Greenwood was born in Clayton-le-Moors in Lancashire in April 1875, and, as a youth, he worked as a magician (and petty thief !) under the name 'Professor Greenwood" until he eventually styled himself as ‘Gustave Fasola’ and became quite famous throughout GB and Australia.
I think I've found everything that Ancestry, FindMyPast, the BNA and Trove have to offer, but things seem to 'go quiet' as regards his life and career from the early 1920s onwards. I understand that he tragically hanged himself in London in 1929, but I cannot find any confirmation of this. If possible, I'd like to get some clues about what may have lead to his suicide and also where his final resting place might be.....or anything at all about his life that isn't leaping out from the usual sources.
Cheers and thanks. Peter Reeve
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Here is his death
Deaths Mar 1929
Greenwood Fergus O 53
Lambeth 1d 584
At the moment you can order an on line copy of the death certificate from the GRO for £6 rather than the usual paper copy at £9.50 - you'd get it in 5 days. That would give you the cause of death.
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/indexes_search.asp
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Thanks, Groom - I didn't know the GRO was having a 'sale'!Cheers.
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This article in 1937 claims that he is alive and on a world tour
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55071341. (6th column). Actually this article appears in various papers in various years so probably not to be trusted - a filler. Here it is again in 1941
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146371136
This one in 1936 mentions he is appearing at the Theatre Royal
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70352147 (3rd column). It says he is Indian but mentions his famous lion act.
Well hopefully they are of interest...
Ros
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Wow, if that is his death in 1929 and with a name like that it would be quite a coincidence if it wasn’t, he certainly was a great magician performing years after his death. ;D
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I guess someone could have stolen his act ::). He was said to be heavily made-up and dressed as a Hindu so not difficult to assume his identity - if you knew his tricks ...?
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Thanks, Rosbal - on reading the 1936 article in full, it could be referring to/reviewing a show that took place in 1911 - I guess the old jokes about Australia lagging many years behind the rest of the World are true! Either that or journalists were playing fast and loose with the facts for the sake of a story - who'd have thought it?!!
I've applied for the death certificate, although I'm not sure where it will take me. I find it very odd that I can't find any contemporary press items at all that refer to his death (suicide?) - no inquest report, no obituary, no announcements in the personal columns or in show-biz magazines. If I was a conspiracy theorist, I'd be suspecting a Govt. 'cover-up'!
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It will be interesting to see what the death certificate gives as the cause of death. Maybe it wasn’t suicide, we all know how stories get twisted. I would have thought that if it was, as he was famous, that it would have been reported. However, I believe at that time, suicide was covered up as much as possible. Please let us know when you find out.
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Did he have a son Fergus Greenwood born ca 1912 who travelled with his father on his tour to New York, both returning to England in 1928. Could his son have been assisting/learning the tricks and taken over the act?
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Yes, his son, Fergus Jr, was born in New Zealand in 1912. It's possible that he took over the act, but, if he did it was short-lived and he doesn't seem to have been mentioned in any English papers? I think, as you suggested, that the Aussie newspaper items (apart from the one in 1936) were elderly general 'filler' stories that no-one bothered to update when they were repeated over the years.
Thanks for your interest. I'll keep you all advised when I get the death certificate.
Cheers. Peter Reeve
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Got the certificate and yes, it was suicide by hanging. The certificate records that inquest decided the balance of his mind was disturbed because he was unable to get work. Very sad - and still very odd that there was nothing in the papers. Presumably, the absence of publicity is why the Australians thought he was still alive years later.
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I wonder whether, because his death was recorded as Fergus Greenwood, it wasn't picked up or noticed by the press?
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That's possible I suppose, but the certificate does record his occupation - "music hall artiste" - and says "also known as Fasola" after his surname. I'd have thought that an inquest on anyone's death would always have at least one journalist in attendance, but maybe I'm wrong.
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I see quite a bit of interest here in the life of Fergus O’Conner Greenwood aka Gustave Fasola and I was wondering if any of you have a family connection to this Greenwood family. I am related through my grandfather who was his brother.
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Welcome to Rootschat.
Hopefully Peter, who started this thread, will see your reply and answer.
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Hi Jeannie - I am not related to Fergus/Gustave, but he was one of the more interesting members of my Freemason's Lodge which still meets in London and I am researching his story so it can be shared with other Freemasons and brethren of his Lodge. Using his stage name, Gustave was initiated into the Lodge in December 1904, shortly after it was first granted a warrant by the United Grand Lodge of England.
I think I have now pieced together the bones of his story and his tour of Australia and NZ, but, as you'll have seen, I was puzzled as to why he tragically hung himself in 1929 and why there don't seem to have been any press reports at the time. I now understand that he was suffering from depression as he could not find work, even though he seems to have been well-regarded in show-business and had a very successful career for many years. If you're able to throw any further light on this, it would be very helpful.
Regrettably, most of the records of the Lodge from that period have been lost, so I don't know if he ever served as its Worshipful Master or undertook any of the other officer positions in the Lodge. If you have any information at all about his 'masonic career', that would also be very helpful.
I understand that 'Rootschat' has a private messaging facility that you might prefer to use for your reply, but I haven't yet discovered how to use it myself, hence this post.
Thanks for your interest - and please feel free to tell me to mind my own business if you wish!
Warm regards
Peter Reeve
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I understand that 'Rootschat' has a private messaging facility that you might prefer to use for your reply, but I haven't yet discovered how to use it myself, hence this post.
Under a person's avatar there is an rectangular shape in a circle - looks like a letter. If you click on that it takes you to the PM page so you can communicate privately. If a person is online it shows green, but you can send a PM even if they aren't online. Jeannie will need to post a couple more times before she can use the PM facility (this is to prevent spamming) so if she just says "Hi" or "thank you" in a couple of posts her, it should then work.
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Just replied to your test PM, Peter. You should get an email from RC saying you have a message, then on this page under messages it should show you have a message waiting.
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Many thanks, Groom
Cheers
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I'm fairly certain (well it works for me ;D ) that you can send a new person exactly one pm (containing your e-mail address). Jeannie won't be able to reply by pm until she has made another post but she will be able to reply by e-mail.
Jeannie, you will be able to read your message by hitting "My Messages" in the brown banner at the top of the page. (Welcome to rootschat :) )
Ros
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Peter: thanks for clearing that up. We were aware that he had joined your lodge but that’s all we know. Gustave Fasola was good friends with a very popular magician in the US named Howard Thurston. They traded tricks among a group of magicians at the time or bought them from each other if a trade could not be made. Thurston traded his Coconut Trick for Fasola’s Lady and the Lion Trick among others. Thurston wrote Fasola: Remember, Gus, that you and I are two best friends possible for two magicians to be, and that we have given our word to assist each other to the best extent and not to hold back any secrets. Thurston was not as creative and relied on other magicians including Fasola for new tricks which he would then copyright.
Unfortunately, Thurston lost patience with Fasola after Fasola sent him reminders of how he depended on Thurston’s material and professional help. This in spite of the fact that Thurston got some of his best tricks from Fasola. Fasola had been touring small cities in the US with his own illusion show gaining a following and wanting to return to England. He expected to tour England with both his own and Thurstons illusions and he became very excited about working out the show with Thurston as Thurston had promised him exclusive use of his tricks in Europe. However, in the meantime while Fasola was touring Australia and New Zealand, the variety entertainment business in England had virtually disappeared. Also, Thurston had taken up a partnership with another magician in South America named Dante. Dante undermined Fasola’s friendship with Thurston and moved his show to Europe from South America and convinced Thurston not to allow Fasola to use any of Thurston’s tricks. The combination of the poor state of the business in England and the loss of the use of Thurston’s tricks destituted Fasola and sent him into a depression which led to his suicide.
We got most of our information from a book titled The Last Greatest Magician in the World by Jim Steinmeyer. You may be able to find it in your local library. It makes for very interesting reading.
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Many thanks, Jeanniegwt. I've sent you a private message with my email address. If you could respond to the email with 'hello' or anything else you wish to add , we can then communicate privately and I'll send you a link to the article I (eventually!) write about Gustave.
Cheers
Peter Reeve