Tyne Theatre & Opera House Search for Descendants of Victorian Staff Members

Tyne Theatre & Opera House are searching for the descendants of its Victorian stage staff as part of their 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 the Tyne Theatre & Opera House is 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.

The venue is 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 sex children with his wife Annie Walkinshaw, four 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 rachel.snape@tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk

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