Music Halls: Frank Melvin

[Malcolm Bull]

Someone has sent me an autographed photograph of a music hall star by the name of Frank Melvin.  The photo is dated June 1912, when he appeared at the Palace Theatre, Halifax.

I have put the photo on-line at

http://calderdalecompanion.co.uk/ph4491.html

Have I read his name correctly?  Does anyone know anything about the man? 

Any information would be appreciated

[stanmapstone]

There are numerous mentions of him in newspapers  "The Stage" and the "Music Hall and Theatre Review"
 From The Stage - Thursday 25 April 1912 Frank Melvin, Yorkshire comedian, gives a well-received turn
Stan

[stanmapstone]

From The Stage - Thursday 10 September 1925

[ThrelfallYorky]

In the 1911 census for Gregory Boulevard, Hyson Green, Nottingham, there is a boarder listed with the Greensmith Family, and he is:
"Frank Melvin, boarder 31 married(for under one year) music hall artist, b Bradford, Yorkshire" (1880)
and directly below that:
"Nance Melvin, boarder 30 married, music hall artist b London" (1881).
Hope that's helpful.
TY
(In the census notes on Ancestry it seems to think he's a son of the household, but I suspect that's an error, simply because Mr Greensmith's first name is Frank, also. It clearly states "boarder" by both Frank and Nance's names, and other people living there, too.)

[philipsearching]

In the 1911 census for Gregory Boulevard, Hyson Green, Nottingham, there is a boarder listed with the Greensmith Family, and he is:
"Frank Melvin, boarder 31 married(for under one year) music hall artist, b Bradford, Yorkshire" (1880)
and directly below that:
"Nance Melvin, boarder 30 married, music hall artist b London" (1881).
Hope that's helpful.
TY
(In the census notes on Ancestry it seems to think he's a son of the household, but I suspect that's an error, simply because Mr Greensmith's first name is Frank, also.)

I had a swift look at FreeBMD for a birth or marriage but didn't find anything definite (apart from a possible Francis Joseph MELVIN birth Mar qtr 1877 Bradford).  Of course, if Frank and Nellie used stage names it would be difficult to track them down.

Philip

[ThrelfallYorky]

I agree - but the use of the same surname for both suggests it may have been their surname. I can't find any marriage round 1910, either - no trace otherwise. Stumped, so far!
TY

[ThrelfallYorky]

I'd found the birth you've found, too, and because of that beetled off after Frank /Francis Joseph Melvin marriages, and the only  rather loose fit I could find was in 1909, in Prestwich, near Manchester, to Rose HANNAH Murphy (Hannah>Anna>Ann>Nan> Nance?)
Very tenuous, said she clutching at straws....