Is one of these people your ancestor? Help us with our heritage project!

We are searching for the descendants of its Victorian stage staff as part of our National Heritage Lottery funded project.

The group photo was discovered by Project Director David Wilmore in a copy of the Evening Chronicle from 1937. It shows the men from the fly staff outside the stage door on Thornton Street in 1901. These men would have worked with the Victorian wooden stage machinery, which we are currently in process of restoring ahead of a demonstration at an international conference in September 2023. The named men are (top row l-r) John Denton, Wm.Maitland, W.Smith, T.Murray, T.Brumell, J.Diamond, (bottom row l-r) Jim Baker, T.Collins, R.Kelso, J.Younger, J. McEwan, and seated in the centre Jim Preston, the master flyman.

We are also looking for the descendants of Frederick William Humphrys. Humphrys was in charge of the stage machinery at Tyne Theatre & Opera House during the late 1800s. Born in Somerset, he had 6 children with his wife Annie Walkinshaw, 4 of whom were born in Newcastle. Fred first appears in our programmes in September 1884, the same month as his father John Davenant Humphrys (a painter and wood carver) appears as props manager.

Do you recognise anyone? Is one of them your ancestor? We’d love to find some of the descendants of the theatre staff and shine a light on their lives as part of our heritage project. If you have any information, please contact Project Administrator Rachel Snape at [email protected]

For more information about our ongoing National Heritage Lottery funded project, please head here.