By Linus Joseph Dewald Jr., Editor
Fall 2007 and Revised 23 May 2016
Introduction: This article consolidates the information in 2 of our earlier article:
1. William Prentice was b. 1816 (per Robert Prentice, email 26 Dec 2007). That date is consistent with Robert Prentice's email of 13 Jul 2007 which relates that his son, Robert, below, on Robert's marriage record gave his father's name as William Prentice, profession, 'mariner'. That date is consistent with Robert Prentice's email of 13 Jul 2007.
He m. Sarah (per Robert Prentice, email 26 Dec 2007). They hd 1 or more children, including:
- Robert Prentice was b. c. 1842 in Maldon, Essex, England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [2]
2. Robert Prentice was b. 1 Dec1842 at Heybridge Salt Cote, in Maldon (indexed as "Moldon") (per Robert Prentice, email 26 Dec 2007), Essex, England, and d. 1918 at Hartlepool (per Robert Prentice IV, see below). He does not appear in the 1851 census, but does appear in the 1861 census in "Civil Parish Vessels, Misc. Ships at Sea or Abroad" as an A B Seaman aboard the vessel "Vesper", Stephenk Chapman, Master, in the town of Yarmouth Roads, England.
He does not appear in the 1871, 1881 or 1891 census, but does appear in the 1901 census in West Hartlepool, Durham, England, as a "Marriner Seas." with his wife and family.
He m. Jane Grainger (see below), b. c. 1845, Whitby, Yorkshire. She appears in the 1881 Hartlepool census, without a husband, but with some of the following children; children per census records and email of Robert Prentice IV):
- William Henry Prentice, b. 23 May 1863. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [3]
- Robert Prentice, b. 1865 and d. 20 Dec 1900 at the age of 35 years. Not in 1871 census. In 1881 census in Poplar Registration Dist. as an unmarried 16 year old Apprentice aboard the vessel, "Ellen." Not in 1891 census. He later became a Master Mariner and Captain of a ship called the Bencliffe. On his last voyage he sailed for Mobile, USA and died on 20 Dec.1900 per "The Master Mariners List" held at the Guildhall Museum, London (per Robert Prentice, email, 23 Jan 2009).
- Mary Jane Prentice, b. c. 1868, Hartlepool, Durham. At home in 1881. She m. John Thomas Bell on 11 Dec 1887.
He was b. c. 1865 in West Hartlepool. They appear in the 1891 census in Stranton, Durham, and in the
1901 census in West Hartlepool. Children:
- Ethel Violet Bell, b. c. 1889, West Hartlepool. At home in 1891 and 1901.
- Edith Florence Bell, . c. 1900, West Hartlepool. At home in 1891. Not home in 1901.
- Launcelot Bell, b. c. 1893, West Hartlepool. At home in 1901.
- Celeste Bell, b. c. 1895, West Hartlepool. At home in 1901.
- Daras Bell, dau., b. c. 1900, West Hartlepool. At home in 1901.
- Emily Prentice, b. 1870 and d the following year, 1871.
- Frederick Prentice, b. 1872, Hartlepool. At home in 1881. He was a mariner and there is a vague rumour that he may have gone to Africa.
- Sarah E. Prentice, b. c. 1878, Hartlepool. At home in 1881.
- Emily Prentice, b. 1878, Hartlepool, Durham, and d. 1920. At home in West Hartlepool in 1901 (per census). She m. Daniel Kirby Smith on 18 Sep 1906.
- Ernest Prentice, b. 1883 and d. 2 years later in 1885.
- Gladys D. Prentice, b. c. 1899, West Hartlepool, Durham. At home in West Hartlepool in 1901 (per census).
- Harry Prentice, b. 1874, Hartlepool, Durham. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [4]
- Albert Prentice, b. 1881, Hartlepool, and d. 24 Apr 1958. At home in 1881. Acrobat. He m. Minnie Noble.
By email of 21 May 2016, Steven Prentice relates that, ". . .Albert was a very naughty man, leaving his wife
and [son] Cecil to take up with an American lady living in England by whom he had 2 children.
When the American
lady died suddenly he took the 2 children back to his original wife, Minnie and asked her to take him back and
the children in, which she did - which I think shows that she was really "Noble" (her maiden name)."
Son of Albert and Minnie:
- Cecil Prentice. For more information about his life, see Fn. 1.
Also shown in that same 1881 census is an R. Prentice, b. c. 1845, Hartlepool, who is a 2nd mate aboard the vessel "Celeste" in Stranton, Durham. He may well be Jane's husband, Robert, #2 above, who was not counted in the census at home if it was because he was aboard the "Celeste."
Robert Prentice IV provided the following information about Robert Prentice by email of 13 Feb 2007 Robert gave his father as William [Prentice], profession, 'mariner'. Their eldest son
was William Henry [Prentice,] (my grandfather) b. 23 May 1863 and d. 4 Mar 1915 (enemy action), who
became a master mariner
Also living with Robert's family in 1901 was a granddaughter, Ethel V. Bell, b. c. 1889, West Hartlepool, Durham, and a nephew, John T. Walker, b. c. 1861, Hull, Yorkshire.
3. William Henry Prentice, b. 17 Oct 1751 and d. 4 Mar 1915 (enemy action sinking his ship, the Beeswing), master mariner (per email of 13 Jul 2007, above). He is the William H. Prentice, Master Mariner, b. c. 1864, who appears in the 1891 census and in the 1901 census in West Hartlepool, Durham, England with his wife and family.
He m. Mary Mole on 6 Sep 1881. She was b. 10 Aug 1861, Hartlepool, and d. 1957. Children per 1901 census:
4. Harry Prentice, b. 1874, Hartlepool, Durham, and d. 1909 at the age of only 35 years. At home in West Hartlepool in 1901. He m. Margaret Wood in 1902. Cycle Repairer.
He m. Sophia, b. c. 1872, Epton Bridge, Yorkshire. In the 1901 census they are living with Harry's parents. No children shown.
5. William Henry Prentice, b. c. 1882, West Hartlepool, Durham. WW I military death records identify him as a First Mate in the Merchant Marine aboard his father's ship, S.S. "Beeswing" when he, too, died 4 Mar 1915 when his ship, the Beeswing, was sunk by enemy action. He was the son of William Henry and Mary Prentice; husband of Margaret Ann Prentice (nee Bruce) of 42 Kimberley St., West Hartlepool. His memorial, too, is at Tower Hill Memorial (see his father's memorial, above).
6. Robert Prentice, b. c. 1883, West Hartlepool, Durham. At home in 1901. Like his father, William, Robert appears in WW I military death records as a Second Engineer, Mercantile Marine, S.S. "Hildawell" (West Hartlepool), who d. age 22 on 20 Dec 1916, son of Mary and the late William Henry Prentice; husband of Elizabeth Ford of 16 Topcliffe St., West Hartlepool. Born at West Hartlepool. His memorial can be found at Tower Hill Memorial.
7. Frederick Prentice, b. c. 1888, West Hartlepool, Durham. At home in 1901. Subject to further investigation, he is tentatively identify as the Frederick Prentice who m. Hilda Emily and had a son:
8. Gordon Prentice, b. 2 Oct 1899, West Hartlepool, and d. 8 Jun 1983. By email of 17 Juo 2007, Robert Prentice IV advises that Gordon eventually went to sea as an engineer. He passed the exams for his Chiefs ticket, which was published in the local Hartlepool newspaper. Many months later he got a letter from his brother, Thomas, who had managed to read a copy of the paper in Australia and he congratualed Gordon on passing his exam
He m. and had 1 or more children, including:
William may, or may not, be related to the Maldon families discussed in our earlier Newsletter articles in:
Robert may, or may not, be related to Walter Prentice, b. c. 1847, Maldon, Essex, who appears in the 1881 West Ham, Essex, census as married, but no wife named, and in the 1901 West Ham, Essex, census with his wife, Emily, b. c. 1859, Coggershall, Essex.
Walter is almost certainly the same person as Walt Prentice, shown in the IGI as chr. 1 Feb 1846 in Mundon, Essex, son of Jeremiah Prentice. Mundon lies about 4 miles south of Maldon. Perhaps he was b. in Maldon and chr. in Mundon.
If you have any information about the folks mentioned in this article, please send your information to us at the Prentice Newsletter. Be sure to give the full title and date of this article in the Subject line of the email.
Caution: If you don't use the above email link, your email to us may be deleted as spam by our email filter.
By email of 15 May 2016, Steven Prentice offers the following information about Cecil Prentice:
Attached are some photos of the Act, he used the stage name "Cecil
Granada" - and this is an article I recently wrote about his life:
Cecil Prentice was born on the 24th August 1903 to Albert Prentice and
Minnie Prentice (nee Noble) in West Hartlepool, England. His parents were
living at 3 Freville Street and his father was, at the time, working as a timber
measurer at H.M.C. but with ambitions to go on the stage as an acrobat.
The family later moved to 94 Sandringham Road where Cecil attended Elwick
Road and Church Square Schools. Leaving School he served an apprenticeship
as an electrician at Richardsons Westgarth Ltd in 1918, a company that
manufactured marine engines for ships, and also worked at pipe work contractors
and engineers Dixon Barker. By this time, Cecils father had managed to
start his show business career in Bronco Bills Circus with Cecils mother
Minnie (nee Nobel). Cecil never completed his apprenticeship as he was already
looking to follow his father on to the stage but due to being unable to
raise his right arm above his head could not be an acrobat.
When Cecil was 14, his father left his mother for an American woman taking
Cecils savings of nearly £100. Cecil never saved again for the rest of
his life. The Old Man as Cecil called him, was never truly forgiven for
deserting Minnie and Cecil. Albert had two further children by the American
woman; Katheline and Rhodes. Some years afterwards their mother died
unexpectedly leaving Albert with the two small children to bring up by himself.
Albert took the children to Minnie, and admirably, she took them in and
brought them up as her own.
In the meantime, Cecil had obtained his first job in the theatre was as an
electrician at The Empire, West Hartlepool . It wasnt long before Cecil
had progressed to Gandys Circus where he worked with Bronco Bill and The
Un-ridable Mule and with his friend George Garbutt (Geordie) began to
learn the skills of rope spinning and manipulating a stock whip. Life was very
tough in the 1920s and work in the business was not easy to come by. Cecil
teamed up with Cal McCord, another good rope spinner. Sometimes, busking or
even trying to combine busking with selling razor blades in London was the
only way to survive. Cal and Cecil would start rope spinning to draw a
crowd then attempt to sell them the razor blades.
Cecil also busked in the northern mill towns of Lancashire with violin
player Verno Caselli and Vernos father. Cecil would go through the streets
cracking his stock whip to draw attention, then Verno would play the violin
and Cecil would spin ropes. Vernos father would bottle the audience,
going round and collecting scraps of change.
Sometimes the takings were virtually none existent and on one occasion,
Vernos father was put into bed at the lodgings where they were staying and
his suit was pawned. This gave them just enough money to travel to another
town where the takings were better before returning to redeem the suit, get
the old man out of bed dress him and move to yet another town to busk again.
Eventually, Cecil joined an act that specialised in eccentric bicycles
called The Daimlers. Bicycles made of a brass bed head or one with square
wheels were the stock in trade of this act and they performed in variety
theatres across Britain.
One such engagement was to prove fateful for Cecil when they accepted a
booking in Derby in early 1928. This is where he met Lila who had recently
returned from Palestine and a failed marriage. She had restarted her career
on the stage as a dancer and Cecil took a shine to this headstrong woman.
His chat up line of Im going to get you drunk tonight was at least
direct, and led to Lilas pregnancy and the birth of their son, Peter.
As soon as Lila and Cecil got together, they began to plan an act of their
own. Initially called La Rope and Lady, Cecil came up with another name
which was to take them through the rest of their stage careers; El Granada
s.
El Granadas started as a bicycle, rope spinning and stock whip cracking
act, but the bicycle side was gradually dropped in favour of more spectacular
rope spinning and ribbon spinning.
At one stage the act even included a dog Pancho. Cecil made a scooter
for him to perform with. Unfortunately, the dog was run over in the street
and it was a many years before dogs were to appear again as part of Cecil and
Lilas repertoire.
As a child, Cecil ran down the stairs with a pair of scissors in his hand
and tripping, had punctured his eye. This showed a small grey spot in one
eye. Astonishingly, he also was born slightly crippled and could not raise
his right arm above shoulder level, so to become an expert rope spinner was
an extraordinary feat. He was quite a gentle man who lived to be the best he
could be at what he could do. The contrast with Lilas character left him
as the quiet, sensible council who could change Lilas attitude if he felt
she was being too difficult with anyone.
Lila and Cecil made the act better and better and the crowning glory came
when their son, Peter joined the act. El Granadas and Peter introduced
Peter on unicycles, baton spinning by Peter and a spectacular finale. By now
they were playing the Number Ones of the Moss Empires circuit and the
icing on the cake was when they received a telegram from their agent saying;
hold everything Royal Command Performance possibility. This led to
their appearance in the 1946 Royal show at the London Palladium. Quite a
journey for the stage electrician from West Hartlepool.
For a man with a dream, Cecil followed it relentlessly and saw astonishing
success, playing all over Europe and appearances at the London Palladium
and before his king and queen in his lifetime. His act was, arguably, the
best in the business at the height of his career.
He never made any real money and never bought any property. At one stage
he was offered their rented house at 41 Bolton Road for £100 and turned it
down. Everything they earned went on the best costumes, which Lila would sew
and make and the best props, many of which Cecil would design and
construct. What little money was left went on quality publicity material.
After his father ran away with his savings as a boy, Cecil never saved any
money and died comparatively poor but with a full date book with 9 months
work solidly booked.
Cecils final resting place is in Torquay. He had died on the road.
El Granadas had entertained the troops waiting for D day and after the
second world war was over with Dorothy joining the act, work started to come
from Europe and Soon Cecil and the act were touring France, where they
appeared at the Moulin Rouge, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Lapland,
Finland and Norway.
Cecil celebrated his 50th birthday appearing with the Circus Troll Rhodin
The above was my great grandfather b1842 d1918 at Hartlepool and I refer to him as Robert Prentice the First.
He married Jane Grainger. However, only marriage given in the statutary records was Robert Prentice/Jane Walker
at Hartlepool in April 1861. Age on certificate is given as 'Full Age' which is always suspicious. He was 19, she was
16,perhaps they were marrying without parantal consent.
Fn. 1: Cecil Prentice
Thought you might like to hear some information on the son of Albert
Prentice mentioned in your correspondence with Robert Prentice about the
Prentices of West Hartlepool. Cecil was my grandfather and had a very colourful
life with his "El Granadas" act which my father and mother were also in.
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