Who was Charlie the Hermit Sunnyside, Cullen?

[zetlander]

Looked on Find my Past and found following :-

Charles 'Cheerful Charlie' Marioni - Sailor and Hermit - Moray and Banff.   
This was on Scotlands People - no dates or age given.
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One Charles Marioni died in Aberdeen in 2003 age 77, mothers maiden Teroni. --  ref 300/29
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One Luigi Alessandro Marioni mmname Teroni was born 1908 in Fraserburgh  --  ref 195/265
One Luigi Marioni (no mothers maiden name given) was born 1929 in Fraserburgh  --  196/55
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One Luigi A. Marioni married Marian Marioni in 1950 in Fraserburgh.
One Luigi Marioni married Delina L. Barbieri  in 1940 in Montrose.

Got this information from Scotlands People. 

Possibly 'Charlie's' real name was Luigi ?? although dates don't tally exactly.

[Calleva]

Looked on Find my Past and found following :-

Charles 'Cheerful Charlie' Marioni - Sailor and Hermit - Moray and Banff.   
This was on Scotlands People - no dates or age given.

Intriguing, thank you for this information.

Unfortunately I don’t subscribe to Find my Past but have used SP. I’ve found the references to the various Marionis in NE Scotland you mention but couldn’t see ‘Cheerful Charlie’ in Scotland’s People, please could you point me in the right direction.

Stuart

[Kay99]

The Cheerful Charlie reference was from the "Scotland, People Of Banffshire & Moray"  on FindMyPast

I think that Zetlander's reference to Scotlands People may have related to the records that followed rather than Cheerful Charlie?

[Calleva]

Thank you Kay99. Will follow up the various references Zetlander kindly provided.

[zetlander]

Kay is right the reference to Cheerful Charlie was found on Find my Past.
Looking at earlier messsages - if Charlie was an 'old man' in 1933 it would suggest he was born well before 1900 so the information about the Marioni family I've posted in an earlier message is not about him.
 However our man was probably related to them.
I looked in the on-line phone book (BT) and there's one Marioni listed in Fraseburgh.  Bit of a long shot but if this person was contated maybe they could help or know of someone in the family who has done a family history.

[Calleva]

There seem to be a number of Marionis in NE Scotland, and I’ll definitely get in touch to see if there could be any connection with Charlie.

A few speculative thoughts;

The Marionis I’ve looked at all seem to be of Italian origin whereas accounts refer to Charlie being French, and leaving to return to France. However one reference mentions that he was evasive about his origins so could he have found it convenient to adopt a French identity to throw people off the scent for some reason?

However his nationality would have been confirmed when registering as as alien, originally it seems in Pembrokeshire and presumably the Sheriff’s court in Banff would have demanded proof as part of the case against him so it’s difficult to see how agreeing to be French could have benefited him if in fact he was Italian.

I’ve contacted Pembrokeshire archives to see if there is any record of his registration. While hoping for a positive result, sorry to say I think it a very long shot that such a record has survived.

Last a curious coincidence which I stumbled on while googling ‘Charlie Sunnyside’ (the beach where he had his cabin and gardens). In 1919 Charlie Chaplin made a short silent film called ‘Sunnyside’. Probably my overactive imagination but it set me thinking when he first set up his home on that beach around 1920 did a local gave him a nickname ‘Charlie’ which stuck?

Looking forward to hearing from Pembrokeshire archives, I’ll post their reply.

[zetlander]

Yes, the Marioni's were italian not French.
'..charged with being an alien in 1933'  --  Were people being charged with being aliens at that time ?

The Pembrokeshire connection. Pembrokeshire was a very 'English' county - if indeed he was from Pembrokeshire it wouldn't be odd for him to be unable to speak Welsh.

ref - The article in the Aberdeen paper dated 1974 where it's reportd Charlei didn't know about having to Register.  can it be taken from that that Charlie was alive in 1974.
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may be an idea to e-mail Cullen Library <cullenlibrary@moray.gov.uk> asking if there's a local Family History Society or local Historical Society or local Historian who could help.    There may be some Local History booklets held at the Library.

[Calleva]

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may be an idea to e-mail Cullen Library <cullenlibrary@moray.gov.uk> asking if there's a local Family History Society or local Historical Society or local Historian who could help.    There may be some Local History booklets held at the Library.

Following up the leads but no responses yet. Also contacted SP for details of the Banffshire Sheriff’s Court records from 1933 hoping there is an account of the case brought against him.

Just spotted in Libindx a record of an interview with Charlie in 1923 in ‘BA’ guessing Banffshire Journal along with more photos.

http://libindx.moray.gov.uk/mainmenu.asp

Will call by to look at the Libidx information when next in Elgin.

[Calleva]

Sorry meant to send this link

http://libindx.moray.gov.uk/subjects/subject_people_report_view.asp?REF_ID=NM237269