Houdini Centenary

August 2009 marks 100 years since Harry Houdini jumped off Stonehouse Bridge. The event took place on August 18th, 1909. Unfortunately, there seems to be no photos of the event or any of his appearance in the town or within the Palace Theatre. The Western Morning News covered the jump and it is probable that photos were taken at the time, however, many photos were lost and destroyed during the Blitz of 1941 and perhaps these were amongst them. If anyone knows of any photos of his visit to Plymouth, I'd love to hear about them. Between 1900 and 1914, Houdini played at over a hundred venues within the UK. Houdini was a very generous man, When he performed his show in Edinburgh, he noticed how many children were without shoes. He performed a special show for the Scottish youngsters and made sure there were three hundred pairs of shoes so none would go away bare foot. There wasn't nearly enough shoes for the children that turned up so Houdini took them all to the nearest cobbler and made sure that everyone was fitted for shoes.

His appearance in Plymouth must have drawn huge crowds also. In a time when television was non-existant, someone like Houdini must have attracted people in their thousands.

It's amazing to think how Plymouth, and the world, have changed over the last 100 years. It's amazing that the Palace Theatre still stands though Stonehouse Bridge has seen many changes apart from being bombed in the Second World War.

Houdini went on to perform many more shows after he left Plymouth and he died on October 31st, 1926, aged 52.

Cora Pearl

Cora Pearl was said to have been born in Caroline Place, Stonehouse on 23rd February, 1842. However, it is believed that she forged her birth certificate and was actually born in London in 1835. Her family moved to Plymouth in 1837. She was born Emma Elizabeth Crouch and would become a famous courtesan of the French demimonde in the 19th century. Pearl had inherited her musical talent from her father, Frederick Nicholas Crouch, a composer and cellist. In 1867, she appeared in the role of Cupid in a production of Jacques Offenbach's, 'Orpheus in the Underworld.' While working in London, she became involved in prostitution and had dalliances with several wealthy men. She became the mistress of Robert Bignell who owned the Argyll Rooms in Regent Street. Together they travelled to Paris where she first adopted the name, Cora Pearl. She so fell in love with Paris that she refused to return to London with Bignell. Pearl began a theatrical career in Paris but was more known for her sexual appeal than her acting talents. Her theatrical reputation grew and she was soon linked with several wealthy men including the Duke of Rivoli. While she was with him, she developed a serious gambling habit and Rivoli, tired of bailing her out, eventually ender their affair. She soon attracted other rich and powerful men who became her benefactors. A skilled craftsman could earn between two or four francs a day, whereas Cora earned 5,000 a night. She was famous for dancing nude on a carpet of orchards and bathing before guests in a silver tub of champagne. The Duke of Grammont-Caderousse said at the time, 'If the Freres Provencaux served an omelette with diamonds in it, Cora would be there every night.' Her lovers included Prince Willem of Orange, Prince Achille Murat and the Duke of Morny. Morny was Napoleon III's half-brother. Being financially sound, she rented Chateau de Beausejour in 1864, which lay on the banks of the Loiret outside Orleans. When Morny died in 1865, Cora became the mistress of Prince Napoleon who was the cousin of Emperor Napoleon III. He purchased two home in Paris for her and also supported her financially until 1874. Although her activities made her very wealthy, her downfall resulted from her compulsive gambling and ultimately, her age. One story though seems to have led more to her downfall than others. She was the mistress of the wealthy Alexandre Duval who lavished her with gifts and money. When she chose to end the affair, Duval was so distraught that he shot himself on her doorstep. Rather than call for assistance or help him, she went back inside and went to bed. Duval survived but stories of the incident spread quickly and brought her theatrical career to a halt. She fled back to London but her popularity had waned and she eventually returned to Paris. With no benefactor to support her, she had to sell her possessions to support herself. In 1886, she became ill with intestinal cancer and had to move to a shabby boarding house where she died in poverty and forgotten by most.

Lillie Langtry

Lillie Langtry appeared at The Palace Theatre in Union Street in a production of, 'The Crossways' on the 9th December, 1902. She played Virginia, Duchess of Keensbury in the production. Lillie Langtry was born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton in Jersey on the 13th October, 1853. She became a highly successful actress and was the mistress of King Edward VII. In 1874, Lillie married an Irish landower called Edward Langtry. One of the attractions was that he owned a yacht and she insisted that he take her away from Jersey in it. They eventually settled in Belgravia in London. She became the subject of sketches and paintings after her appearances in London Society and through this she soon became quite well known. She was nicknamed, 'Jersey Lily' because of her beauty. Her new found fame soon reached the attention of the Prince of Wales and after attending one of his dinner parties, she soon became his mistress. The affair lasted between 1877 and 1880. By 1879, Langtry had commenced an affair with the Earl of Shrewsbury and her husband announced that he would divorce her. Without her Royal connections, the Langtrys soom found themselves short of cash and realised that they had been living a lifestyle beyond their means.In October 1880, many of their possessions were sold off to meet debts. Langtry also had many other publicised affairs. In 1881, she made her acting debut in 'She Stoops to Conquer' at the Haymarket Theatre in London. Oscar Wilde, a close friend, had suggested that she take up acting. She later became the mistress of two millionaires and eventually took up American citizenship.She died in Monaco on the 12th February, 1929, aged 75.

Red Indians in Union Street

When Buffalo Bill visited Plymouth on the 3rd June 1904, he brought with him a troop of Red Indians who toured with his Wild West Show. For the first time, Red Indians could be seen sitting on street corners in the Stonehouse and Union Street areas of the city. It must have been an amazing sight when people's only experience of Red Indians was through stories read about cowboys and Indians in newspapers, comics or seen in early silent movies. Children would have been particularly fascinated by them as their only knowledge  of Indians would be from stories heard about Geronimo or Custer's Last Stand.

The one thing that was noted at the time about the visiting Red Indians was that they couldn't handle their drink and notices appeared in drinking houses which read, 'No Indians to be served'. Nowadays, this might seem to appear as being racist but at the time, the problem was actually caused by them getting drunk too quick and being overly rowdy.

Willie Sitting Bull was one of the Indians who accompanied Buffalo Bill to Britain. He was the only son of Sitting Bull (pictured). Sitting Bull himself had originally taken part in the show when it toured America. It's amazing to think how things had changed in America, especially for the Indians, in just two generations of a family. Willie regularly took part in mock battles which featured the defeat of Custer at Little Big Horn.

The show at the Exhibition Fields, Pennycomequick must have been an amazing sight. It's interesting that there are still people living in Plymouth today that remember their relatives telling them of the Wild West show and a time when Red Indians filled the streets of the town.

Picture Library Update

The Picture Library has now been up and running for several weeks and there are now hundreds of old photos at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/derektait

I hope to add many more in the following weeks and months. The total collection is also viewable by searching using 'Google Images' or by searching Flickr by entering the place (eg Honicknowle) or event you're interested in.

I think the library will make a great reference source not just for people interested in local history but also for teachers, researchers and genealogists etc.

Most picture librarys online seem to contain a list of photos available and then there's a charge before you can view the picture you're interested in. I hope by making these old pictures available through Flickr, it will make it much easier to search for and find what you're looking for.

Being interested in photography, the site also contains many photos I have taken recently of Plymouth and the surrounding areas. I hope that people will enjoy these also.

The Mount Edgcumbe Training Ship

The Mount Edgcumbe Industrial Training ship was for homeless and destitute boys. The ship was re-commissioned as a training ship in 1877. It was moored off Saltash Passage but when cables were laid to the North of the Royal Albert Bridge in 1913, it was moved to the Saltash side. Goshawk, a sea going training vessel, was moored nearby. At the time, a Herbert Price Knevitt was the Superintendent Captain. He was retired from the Navy and lived on board with his wife, Isabella and their three daughters, Nellie, Nora and Ella. He was 47 at the time and his wife was 35.They also had a servant, Louise Chapman, who was 26, who cooked and kept their quarters tidy. There were also three instructors, the oldest being 62 and the youngest being 34, and a school master, James Sale Gitsham, who was 27. Everyone else on board was referred to as ‘inmates’ and were all aged between 12 and 16. Some came from Plymouth but they also came from other parts of the country, from London to the Isle of Wight. It wasn’t difficult for the boys to find themselves on a training ship. A law in 1884 said that the qualifications for being on the boat were: Anyone found begging or receiving alms, anyone found wandering who doesn’t have a proper home, proper guardianship of means to support themselves; anyone found destitute or who is an orphan or who has a surviving parent who is in prison: anyone who frequents the company of thieves or any child that a parent feels is uncontrollable. However, no boys who had been in prison were allowed on the ship. The payment required for residence was eight shillings per week. In 1910, a Captain H Wesley Harkcom took over the ship and changed the way it had been run for many years. He stopped using the birch on the boys, he moved his family on board and he bought many of the provisions needed from local dealers including food from the Saltash Co-op and coal from Ware’s of Saltash Passage. Harkcom was an expert in rowing and encouraged the boys to take up this pastime. The ship also had a brass band and they gave concerts on the green at St Budeaux and in the nearby parish church. There was said to be anything up to 250 boys on the ship at one time and many went on to see service in the Navy. On 4 December 1920, the training ship was closed down and was sold on the 18th April, 1921 and broken up at the Queen Anne Battery.

The Folly at Mount Edgcumbe

The Folly was built in 1747 and replaced an Obelisk which had stood on the site previously. It was built by using medieval stone from the churches of St George and St Lawrence which once stood in Stonehouse. The same stone was used to build the Picklecombe Seat further along the coast. Part of the seat features a Medieval doorway. The church of St Lawrence was removed to make way for the Royal William Victualling Yard. The Folly was known as 'The Ruins' for many years. Parts of the old Stonehouse Barrier Gates were also said to have been used. As Stonehouse was never a walled town, it is thought that these came from the Abbey or Manor House. The Pall Mall Magazine, published in 1897, said: 'The ruin was constructed from the remains of a fallen obelisk and some old granite-work.' This would suggest that the obelisk had collapsed sometime before the building of the folly in 1747. If parts were used within the construction of the folly then the obelisk erected on Obelisk Hill at Cremyll can't be the complete obelisk that stood where the folly now stands. An artist painting the scene at the end of the 1800's wrote that the Earl of Edgcumbe had his workers build one folly, had it blown up, didn't like the result and had it built and blown up again to get the result we see today. The Folly couldn't have pleased everyone and within the pages of A Guide to the Coast of Devon and Cornwall, published in 1859, it says: ‘The grounds still are very attractive, but disfigured by silly artificial ruins.’ Also, in Black's Guide to Devonshire, published in 1864, it states: ‘Of the mimic ruins scattered through the grounds it is best to take no heed. They are but sorry accessories to a scene which nature has so bounteously enriched.’