A Full House – part 2

by Barrie Jones

The ground floor of my Grandparent’s house comprised of the traditional front parlour, a back room with window looking onto the garden and a back extension of kitchen/scullery.  All three rooms were heated by coal fires, the one in the kitchen having the traditional Victorian cooking range.  All three rooms were connected by a wide hallway, from which the staircase leads up to the three bedrooms.  The bathroom was in the extension over the kitchen/scullery comprising of a bath and wash hand basin, although, quite spacious there was no toilet.  The WC was outside at the far end of the garden, a novelty for me as I lived in a Council house on the Keir Hardie Estate which had two toilets!  As a small child staying overnight at my grandparent’s house, use of the chamber pot kept under the bed took some getting used to.

My father’s comment on not knowing where he would be resting his head each evening had some resonance with me when studying the 1939 Census.  On the Census night of the 29 September there were a total of 11 people residing in number twelve:

Caradog JONES

Margaret JONES

Jack Bailey JONES (my father)

Betty Bailey JONES (my aunt), and

Stanley HENDON, Journeyman baker, aged 20 years

Albert WHITLEY, Music hall artist, aged 28 years

Thomas BONNY, Music hall artist, aged 36 years

Eric RYAN, Music hall artist, aged 28 years

George WILDER, Music hall artist, aged 32 years

Thomas KEITH, Music hall artist, aged 28 years

Charles SMYTHE, Travelling stage manager, aged 29 years.

One of my grandparent’s boarders that night, Albert (Eric) WHITLEY, was the lead singer with the Teddy Joyce Orchestra.  WHITLEY performed under the name of Tony LOMBARDO and was born in Wrexham in 1910; he died in his ‘home’ town in 1991.

For all that week from Monday 25 September to Saturday 30 September the Joyce Jamboree was appearing at the Theatre Royal.  The ‘Jamboree’ comprised the Teddy Joyce Orchestra and a number of variety acts.  Teddy JOYCE, real name Edmund CUTHBERTSON was born in Toronto Canada and came to Britain in the 1930s after a short career in the USA. Part of the pre-war ‘Big Band’ era, Joyce was known as “Hollywood’s Dancing Bachelor” and the “Stick of Dynamite”.  However, his career was cut short, dying in Glasgow, February 1941, aged 36 years.

One can only guess where all these men slept at night, both downstairs rooms must have been jam-packed and some must have slept on the floor.  The census does give us some insight into the kind of life these young men spent, with late night performances, makeshift accommodation and constant travelling to contend with for weeks/months on end.