N De Silva - Postcard, 1909
Title
N De Silva - Postcard, 1909
Date
22 November 1909
Description
Promotional postcard of Nell de Silva, appearing in touring production of The Only Way in 1909.
What's the story?
Nell de Silva starred in The Only Way at the Theatre Royal, which ran on 22 November 1909.
Nell de Silva was born Angelita Helena Maria de Silva Ferro, the daughter of a Chilean consul in London. She married actor Martin Harvey in 1889 and became a regular performer in her husband’s company.
First produced in February 1909, The Only Way was a stage adaptation of Charles Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities starring De Silva and Harvey. Both had worked on the adaptation of Dickens’ novel, along with playwright Freeman Wills and Irish clergyman Canon Frederick Langbridge.
This postcard forms part of a large scrapbook collection donated to the Theatre Royal archive by Diane Meadwell from Sandiacre. Her great grandfather was Bernard Hill, the former landlord of The Sun Inn on Parliament Street and who later became the Stage Door Keeper at the Theatre Royal. Bernard’s daughter Edith also worked at the Theatre Royal as an usherette.
Whilst in his stage door job, Bernard collected a large number of postcards of the numerous artists who performed at the venue, many of which he got them to autograph, as well as writing the date and if necessary the show on the reverse, making the future archivist’s job that little bit easier. We have then been able to cross-reference this information with the list of Theatre Royal shows being compiled by volunteer researcher Lynn Whitley.
We are grateful to Diane for sharing her family memories with us and for donating such a valuable resource to the archive.
Nell de Silva was born Angelita Helena Maria de Silva Ferro, the daughter of a Chilean consul in London. She married actor Martin Harvey in 1889 and became a regular performer in her husband’s company.
First produced in February 1909, The Only Way was a stage adaptation of Charles Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities starring De Silva and Harvey. Both had worked on the adaptation of Dickens’ novel, along with playwright Freeman Wills and Irish clergyman Canon Frederick Langbridge.
This postcard forms part of a large scrapbook collection donated to the Theatre Royal archive by Diane Meadwell from Sandiacre. Her great grandfather was Bernard Hill, the former landlord of The Sun Inn on Parliament Street and who later became the Stage Door Keeper at the Theatre Royal. Bernard’s daughter Edith also worked at the Theatre Royal as an usherette.
Whilst in his stage door job, Bernard collected a large number of postcards of the numerous artists who performed at the venue, many of which he got them to autograph, as well as writing the date and if necessary the show on the reverse, making the future archivist’s job that little bit easier. We have then been able to cross-reference this information with the list of Theatre Royal shows being compiled by volunteer researcher Lynn Whitley.
We are grateful to Diane for sharing her family memories with us and for donating such a valuable resource to the archive.
Type
Postcard
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Researchers: David Longford / Lynn Whitley
