Emma Deighton, born about 1843, later "Butler"

[Timbottawa]

Emma Deighton, probably born 1Q 1843, St. Saviour 4/501.  This lady is driving me nuts!  Any advice welcome.

My first contact with her is the 1871 census, where she appears as Emma Butler, a 25-year-old professional actress, HoH, born in Blackfriars, with a 2-year-old daughter, Ellen Butler, born Liverpool.  They are resident in Finsbury (St. James Clerkenwell).

Why Butler?  A birth certificate for Henry William Butler in December 1871 lists the mother as Emma, formerly Deighton, a professional actress.  The father is listed as Henry Thomas Butler, actor.  The birth is registered in St. Giles, next door to Finsbury.

Moving forwards, in 1881 Emma (37-years-old, HoH, born Southwark), now a dressmaker, Ellen and Henry William are living in Lambeth, together with 1-year-old Charles E. Butler, born Newington.  By 1891, they are living in Camberwell, Ellen appears to have left home, and Emma is calling herself a widow.

Moving backwards from 1871, there is a 17-year-old (HoH, born Blackfriars) Emma Deighton living in Blackfriars with a 23-year-old sister, Ellen.  The fact that the younger sister is HoH suggests that Ellen may have suffered from a disability.

But ... I cannot find any record on FreeBMD of a Deighton-Butler marriage.  Also, the only Ellen Butler born in or near Liverpool around 1869 (3Q 1868, Prescott 8b/544) is not the correct one (mother was Bridget, formerly Hanley).

So, in summary, we have Emma Deighton calling herself "Butler" from the late 1860's, but apparently not married to someone called Butler, nor co-habiting on census night with an adult male Butler in 1871 or 1881.  So was the father of Ellen, born about 1869, really a Butler, or did Emma apply the surname later? Why was Charles E, born about 1880, also called Butler, when there had never been an adult male in the family on census night since 1851, and the father of Henry William had long since moved on? 

I say this, because I am very certain (without being able to prove it) that Henry Thomas Butler, father of Henry William, was also father of Henry Thomas Butler, born Sept. 1871 (3 months before Henry William) to Margaret McHale, who was a 22-year-old professional actress, calling herself "Butler" in the 1871 census, but with no male adult Butler present, and for whom there is no record of a McHale-Butler marriage!  But Margaret and Henry Thomas certainly spent the next 28 years together, so Henry Thomas (the elder) would have had to be very devious to have sired Charles E in Newington in 1880, when he was resident in Hull.

Complicated - but I would welcome any ideas!

[lizdb]

Marriage
All SOuls Newington
13th April 1890
Frederick Thomas Hunt 24 Tram driver, bach, 1 Grosvenor Place, father John Hunt, painter
to
Ellen Butler 21 Spinster , 1 Grosvenor Place, father Henry Butler deceased actor


witnesses Henry Butler and Elizabeth Sarah Hopkins



So Ellen either believed her father to be Henry, or had been told that, or indeed that was the case.



He wouldn't be the first to have two families on the go at once! Looks like he and Emma never actually married.


Remember the census is only a snapshot of one particular night. If Henry came and went, then highly possible he wasn't there on census night.

[Timbottawa]

Thanks Liz, that’s very interesting. My Henry Thomas Butler is a real mystery - no birth certificate, no census appearance before 1881 ...

So Ellen thinks her father was Henry and she was born in Liverpool around 1868-9 (even though I can’t find a reference). A new line of enquirer since Henry always claimed to have been born in London.

I have researched actors in the period 1868-1900 extensively. There is a Dale Butler active in this period, and an E. Butler, but I have not found a 2nd Henry.

Noted that he was not with Emma on census night, 1871. Nor was he with 3-months pregnant Margaret!

Cheers
Tim

[Milliepede]

Long shot but one to check out

Ellen Hunt nee Butler in 1891 has birthplace Kennington London and is 24 born c1867

There is a birth for Emma Deighton Mar 1866 Pancras no mothers maiden name - might that be her 

[ShaunJ]

I have researched actors in the period 1868-1900 extensively. There is a Dale Butler active in this period, and an E. Butler, but I have not found a 2nd Henry.

Have you seen the mentions of Mr H T Butler in The Era and The Stage?

[Timbottawa]

Thanks Emma ... a birthplace in London makes more sense, but why would Emma record Ellen’s birth as Liverpool in both 1871 and 1881?

Shaun ... yes, I’ve noted all the references to H.T. Butler. But he also sometimes called himself H.J. Butler and even W.H. Butler. That’s a major part of the problem - I cannot be 100% sure that Henry Thomas Butler was his real name. He seems to revert to Henry Thomas for official documents, like children’s birth (and death) certificates - but was it his name at birth?

[lizdb]

The Henry Butler in 1881 is an "Artist (Pictures)", which to me implies he was an artist who painted pictures, as opposed to did sculptures or any other form if art.  That is very different from an actor.

Are we sure this is the same Henry Butler that Emma in London is naming as her children's father?


1881
19 South PArade, Kingston Upon Hull
Henry Butler 35 married Artist (pictures) bn London
Margaret 30 wife bn London
Henry 10 bn London
Hubert 7 bn Lincolnshire
Edith 5 bn Yorkshire Scarborough
Florence 3 bn Northumbrland South Shields

[lizdb]

OK,I see in 1891 he is an Actor

1891
Theatre, Albion Street, Castleford, Yorkshire
Henry J Butler 48 married Actor bn Chelsea
Margaret 41 wife Actor  bn Westminster
Henry 19 Actor bn Westminster
Herbert 16 Actor bn Southport Lancs
Edith 14 bn Scarborough Yorks
Florence 11 bn Cumberland South Shields
Reginald 6 bn Hull
Gertrude 6 bn Liverpool
Nita 5 bn Newcastle upon Tyne
Beatrice 2 bn Newcastle U T
Maud 0 bn Scarborough Yorks

He obviously moves around the country constantly to various theatres, so could easily pop in and visit Emma on occasions!

[Timbottawa]

Hi Liz,

Henry was an actor but also, on occasion, a stage manager and a theatre manager (in Castleford).

He was also an artist. A cousin claims to have a couple of landscapes by him in her attic, though I’ve never seen them.

So I think that whenever he was short of theatrical work he filled in with art, and probably recorded his profession according to the current trend.

From newspaper articles and playbills in city libraries I have well over 120 performances involving him and or his “wife”, Margaret, stage name Bella Tremayne.

They did indeed move around, but the northeast was their normal home, Newcastle, Hull, and especially Scarborough.

I actually envisage that Margaret forced the move from London to the provinces in about 1872 to make sure he was kept apart from Emma!