NICOLL THE TAILOR FOURTH ARTICLE


Donald,

Rays’ research brings us back to Nicoll “The Tailor” Jerrems, who founded a string of shops across the U.S. We have featured images of his business cards in previous editions.

Enjoy.

Introduction


Ray Jerrems, Our Genealogist, Historian, and Adventurer


This article follows on from the third article about Alexander Nicoll (also known as Nicoll the Tailor) published in the Jerrems Journal of May 2012.

Alexander was the founder of a multi-million dollar tailoring empire in the United States, but his claim to fame from a genealogical viewpoint is that he is the great great grandfather of many of our American viewers, including our editor Donald.

Following clues provided by reader Adam Marshall I discovered that contrary to the information in his epitaph Alexander had lived in Melbourne for about 13 years before embarking on his illustrious career in the United States. In the May 2012 article I outlined his tailoring career in Melbourne and listed the children set out below, some of whom were born in Melbourne.

This of course means that many of our American readers probably have distant cousins in Australia who have not been previously discovered. Great news if our American readers wish to have a holiday in Australia!

The photo at the beginning of this article

The photo at the beginning of the article shows the Canterbury Hall, which was built in London in 1852. But why did I include it in this article, did I hear you ask? I am going to keep you in suspense for a while, when all will be revealed!

Alexander’s Children

• ALEXANDER, b. 1841 in England, stayed in Australia.
• WALLACE (“Wally”), b. 1844 in England, stayed in Australia.
• MARY, b. 1846 in London, lived in Melbourne, Sydney and United States,d. 1928 in Santa Monica, California.
• LETITIA, b. 1848 in England. Stayed in Australia.
• ALFRED, b. 1849 in London. Possibly died young.
• DONALD, b 1853 in London. Finally settled in New York.
• HELLEN, (“Nellie”), b. 1853 in London, returned to England.
• EMMA, born 1856 or 1858 in Melbourne, stayed in Australia.
• ANNIE, b. 1860 Melbourne, returned to England.
• FRANCES VICTORIA (“Fanny”), b1864 Melbourne, returned to England.

Emma

Emma has a connection with music halls, which have a significant place in England’s history. This is the reason why I have started with her.

In attempting to locate Emma I found the following cryptic birth notice in the Argus of July 1858:

“On the 25th ult., at her residence, off Little Lonsdale-street, Mrs. Alexander Nicol, of a daughter.”.

Bearing in mind that “Nicoll” has been frequently mis-spelt as “Nicol” it seems likely that the daughter may have been Emma.

Emma married William Leonard (a solicitor) in 1876 and died in 1915.

William Leonard

William was a well-known solicitor who had served at least two terms as a councillor on Melbourne City Council (the side photo shows Melbourne Town Hall in 1870). In 1896 he was suspended from practice as a solicitor for nine months on the application of the Law Institute, for keeping the sum of five pounds and ten shillings which he should have paid into court as part of a court case.

This occurred towards the end of the 1890s Depression, which was second in severity only to the 1930s Great Depression. Perhaps he was in financial trouble.

William died in 1906 in Carlton.

Children of Emma and William

The 1903 census shows Emma living at 181 Drummond Street Carlton (an inner suburb of Melbourne) with her husband William, and Alexander, George and Jeannie.

• Alexander. The full name of “Alexander” was Alexander William. Born in about 1882 he died a year after his father in 1907.
• George. I have not located any other record of George.
• Jeannie. The full name of “Jeannie” was Jane Elizabeth born in 1877. She married James Alfred Warner Bellair in 1907. Born in 1867 in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda, he died in 1911). It is here that the music hall connection is made, through her husband, which I will talk about separately below. Their son James Leonard Bellair b1909 South Yarra, married Daphne May Stone in 1940. After her death in 1973 he married Nancie Helena.
• The 1914 Electoral Roll shows another daughter Hellen (somewhat predictably known as “Nellie”) living with Emma. She was born in 1887 as Helen. Apart from a reference to her as being a bridesmaid at Jeannie’s wedding in 1907 I have not found any definitive later allusion to her.

The music hall connection

The music hall connection referred to earlier comes through Jeannie’s husband James Alfred Warner Bellair. His father Thomas Bellair (born in 1825 in Wellington, Shropshire) describes himself in the UK 1851 Census as a “comedian”. Immediately below his entry and also shown as married is Anne Bellair “public singer”, followed by a one year old boy named Stuart Bellair (occupation not shown). The trio were boarding in Sunderland, which is in north east England.

The occupations of the couple aroused my curiosity. What did they do? Were they entertainers? How could I find out the answer?

Logically my first port of call was the town of Sunderland.

Sunderland

Currently the 13th largest city in England, Sunderland was long an important coal port, but the industry for which the town was until recently better known was shipbuilding.

By 1814 Sunderland had 24 shipyards, a figure which had risen to 65 in 1840. By the mid twentieth century, when the town produced more than a quarter of the nation’s total tonnage of merchant and naval ships for World War ll Sunderland was widely regarded as the largest shipbuilding town in the world. Sadly, despite strong opposition from workers and community leaders, Sunderland’s last shipyards were closed down in 1988.

It seemed obvious to me that Sunderland was big enough to support some forms of entertainment. It occurred to me that perhaps the couple performed in pubs.

Pubs and Music Halls

Originating in saloon bars within public houses during the 1830s, as shown in the side photo, music hall entertainment (involving a mixture of popular songs, comedy, specialty acts and variety entertainment) became increasingly popular with audiences.

This was so much so that during the 1850s the public houses were demolished and music hall theatres developed in their place. These theatres were designed chiefly so people could consume food and alcohol and smoke tobacco in the auditorium while the entertainment took place.

Later Music Halls

This is a photo of a famous Australian music hall actor, Roy “Mo” Rene.

Mr Charles Morton, publican of the Canterbury Tavern in Lambeth, London opened the first purpose built music hall, The Canterbury Hall (shown at the beginning of this article), in 1852. It held 700 people. Audiences were seated at tables and food and drink was served throughout the performance, which took place on a platform at one end of the hall.

Inspired by the success of the Canterbury Hall, music halls opened up across London. By 1875 there were the staggering number of 375 music halls in London.

The opulence of these halls was typical of the Victorian era, when “Britannia ruled the waves”. England controlled a quarter of the world’s population and dominated world trade and world industrial production. However this came at a price. The removal of trade tariffs, which protected England’s rural industries, led to importation of cheaper food from places like India and a consequent serious downturn in England’s rural economy, a theme which I will explain in a later article because it probably explains why some of the Jerrems families migrated to Australia.

Music Halls in America and Australia

Music Halls also became popular in America and Australia. I remember several which still existed in Sydney in the 1970s. In America their entertainment style was known as “burlesque”.

The side photo shows an Australian Music Hall dancer c1900.

Conclusion

In a later article I will describe William’s later career in Australia, where he was a professional actor and hotel owner playing a part in Australia’s colonial history.