Charlie Capel, Dancer, John Bright Street

[BillyB]

Does anybody remember Charlie Capel? He was a champion dancer around the time of the second world war, and ran a dance school with his wife in John Bright Street.

 

[Vivienne14]

Welcome Billy. A couple of adverts from the 1940s. He also seems to have held competitions and events at Walford Road Sparkbrook. Wonder if Edna Nicholls was his wife ? Viv.

 

[BillyB]

Hi Viv! Yes, I think she was his wife. According to the phone directory, they ran the dance school in John Bright Street together until the 1960s. Then it carried on in her name only for a few years (maybe he passed on?).

 

[sospiri]

"Embassy Bands" (post #2) were scratch/pickup bands generally operated by a well-known bandleader - in this case, Oscar Rabin - effectively operating as an agent. The Oscar Rabin Band, it is not. I remember being one of bands for the 700th Centenary of Girton College in the 1960s alongside the John Barry Seven and an Embassy Band operated by Lou Preager. By then Preager had stopped playing due to poor health and the Embassy Band was just one of his many business interests.

Maurice

 

[Down Memory Lane]

Charles & Edna are listed as appearing on an episode of BBC's Come Dancing, aired at 21.40 on Thursday 5th February 1953.

They are listed as dancing a 1914 Foxtrot...

BBC Programme Index

genome.ch.bbc.co.uk

 

[BillyB]

Goodness, well spotted! I've been through the Birmingham newspapers and it looks like they were a regular fixture in the 1930s and 40s. There is reference to them competing internationally too.

 

[Alberta]

Marriage on 24th August 1936, parish church Edgbaston,
Frederick Mark Charles Capel was born in 1907 in Chorlton, Lancs, address 94 Ladypool road.
Edna Florence Rosamund Nicholls (b 1913 Kings Norton)address 328 Pershore road , Edgbaston

1939 Flat d , 101 Station Street, birmingham
Edna F R Capel Dance teacher
Frederick M C Capel, Road transport controller.

In 1945 they are in Acocks green .

Edna F R Capel married Charles Ripley in 1957
Edna Florence Rosamund Ripley died in 1999
I have been unable to find death of charlie (Frederick Mark charles)
Added,
just found his death
Frederick Mark Charles Capel died 13th may 1978
680 Avenue de la Mer
,Marelieu, Cannes, France
Probate , bBrmingham 19th april 1979, £15,672.

 

[BillyB]

Wow! That's fascinating. Thank you so much. What interesting lives they must have lived.

 

[BillyB]

I wonder if there are any photos of him anywhere?

 

[Bernardo]

Does anybody remember Charlie Capel? He was a champion dancer around the time of the second world war, and ran a dance school with his wife in John Bright Street.

My wife attended this dancing school in 1944/1945 and became a beautiful ballroom dancer. I had first taken her to Joe Blowers in Lincoln Rd North to introduce her to dancing but had to leave to join up and she enjoyed Charlie Capelles and the Queensborough club and continued to enjoy dancing for many years.

 

[Bernardo]

and she went to many dance halls in the city over those years and I joined her when on leave

 

[Alf Rogers]

This has been a fascinating thread- thank you to all contributors!

 

[EmmaHayner]

Hands down, one of the best dancers of all time!

 

[BillyB]

Marriage on 24th August 1936, parish church Edgbaston,
Frederick Mark Charles Capel was born in 1907 in Chorlton, Lancs, address 94 Ladypool road.
Edna Florence Rosamund Nicholls (b 1913 Kings Norton)address 328 Pershore road , Edgbaston

1939 Flat d , 101 Station Street, birmingham
Edna F R Capel Dance teacher
Frederick M C Capel, Road transport controller.

In 1945 they are in Acocks green .

Edna F R Capel married Charles Ripley in 1957
Edna Florence Rosamund Ripley died in 1999
I have been unable to find death of charlie (Frederick Mark charles)
Added,
just found his death
Frederick Mark Charles Capel died 13th may 1978
680 Avenue de la Mer
,Marelieu, Cannes, France
Probate , bBrmingham 19th april 1979, £15,672.

Dear @Alberta, by chance, I am in the South of France visiting my in-laws. I passed by 680 Avenue de la Mer this morning. However, there does not seem to be a number 680. There was a 678, but many of the other numbers / plots seem to be missing. It's quite a posh area! There was also a 608. I was wondering if it might be a transcription error at some point? I'm going to see if I can find a French death certificate. Do you think you could check whether that might be the case? Thank you once again for all your help.

 

[BillyB]

Hands down, one of the best dancers of all time!

@EmmaHayner, thanks for your message. Did you know Charlie Capel, or see any of his dancing? I'd love to know.

 

[pjmburns]

Dear @Alberta, by chance, I am in the South of France visiting my in-laws. I passed by 680 Avenue de la Mer this morning. However, there does not seem to be a number 680. There was a 678, but many of the other numbers / plots seem to be missing. It's quite a posh area! There was also a 608. I was wondering if it might be a transcription error at some point? I'm going to see if I can find a French death certificate. Do you think you could check whether that might be the case? Thank you once again for all your help.

 

[BillyB]

View attachment 160438

@pjmburns that is extremely kind of you to respond so quickly! Thank you! I still suspect it is a transcription error, maybe in the UK. I'm told that it's unusual around here to have consequtive numbering as the old plot numbers were agglomerated to make larger plots. So it would be unusual to have 678 and 680 adjacent to each other. I'll see what the French death certificate says and will post any update here.

 

[pjmburns]

I did a google search and the suggestion is that it might be near the river opposite the l'ilot du golf which seems to be a hotel. Opposite there on 2008 streetview there are some properties which seemed to be deerlict and have now gone.

 

[BillyB]

I did a google search and the suggestion is that it might be near the river opposite the l'ilot du golf which seems to be a hotel. Opposite there on 2008 streetview there are some properties which seemed to be deerlict and have now gone.

The opposite side is odd numbers only and includes 681. That is now a very fancy hotel which must have been built very recently. However on the even number side there seem to be only older properties.

I have a French friend who is an advocate, so I'm going to see what he thinks.

 

[BillyB]

Number 678 is just adjacent to the river. On the other side of the river is Les Suites de Robinson
778 Avenue De La Mer. I can't see they there was a 680 unless 778 was built on part of it (it looks like some of it could be new).

 

[BillyB]

I was provided with a copy of the death certificate today. It confirms his parents' names, and his wife at the time (not Edna Nicholls). It says that that address was his residence. I wonder whether he was there because that was where he had family? I had understood that he was of Italian origin, and there are many Italian families in that part of the south of France. His father also has a French/Italian sounding name, but that might simply be how it was recorded by the French administration at the time. The entry states:

'Le Traize Mai Mil neuf cent soixant dix huit à dix heures, est décédé en son domicile à MANDELIEU, 680 Avenue de la Mer: Charles Frédérick Marc CAPEL né à MANCHESTER (Grande Bretagne) le 4 Octobre 1907, Retraité, fils de Frédéric CAPEL et de Florence STOCKER époux décédés.

Epoux de Jillian HODGKISS.'

 

[pjmburns]

He married Gillian Hodgkiss in 1958 in Birmingham.
Edna F R Capel (initials fit) seems to have married again in 1957 in Birmingham so I assume they divorced. She died in 1999 also in Birmingham. Birth date matches that for Edna on 1939 reg when she was with Frederick Capel.

Parents names on 1911 census as Frederick and Florence.

 

[BillyB]

He married Gillian Hodgkiss in 1958 in Birmingham.
Edna F R Capel (initials fit) seems to have married again in 1957 in Birmingham so I assume they divorced. She died in 1999 also in Birmingham. Birth date matches that for Edna on 1939 reg when she was with Frederick Capel.

Parents names on 1911 census as Frederick and Florence.

Thank you very much. Very interesting! Given that the death certificate spells Gillian's name with a 'J', this suggests that I can't be too confident of the accuracy of the rest of the certificate. Eg, the French sounding names might just be the result of the French administrators trying their best.

Now I'm unsure whether this is any evidence that his father was French (or Italian from France).

I'm going to check out the property history of plot 680, but given the other inaccuracies, I'm not terribly hopeful.

 

[Alberta]

1911 census
16 Moncrieffe street , Walsall

Frederick William Capel age 34 , b. Market Drayton, Portmanteau maker
Florence Gower Capel age 26 b, Birmingham
Frederick Mark Charles age 3 b Manchester

Florence Gower Stocker was born in kings norton in 1885 she married Frederick Capel in 1906 Plymouth.

Tracing the Capel family back they originate in Oxford.
Charlie Capels grandfather Mark b 1848 Oxford, g/grandfather Edward b Eynsham , Oxford.

 

[BillyB]

1911 census
16 Moncrieffe street , Walsall

Frederick William Capel age 34 , b. Market Drayton, Portmanteau maker
Florence Gower Capel age 26 b, Birmingham
Frederick Mark Charles age 3 b Manchester

Florence Gower Stocker was born in kings norton in 1885 she married Frederick Capel in 1906 Plymouth.

Tracing the Capel family back they originate in Oxford.
Charlie Capels grandfather Mark b 1848 Oxford, g/grandfather Edward b Eynsham , Oxford.

Brilliant @Alberta, that seems to confirm that they Charlie was not continental, though I understood that he was said to be of Italian origin. Thank you very much. Maybe this was just something that added to his stage persona! Apologies also for the slightly delayed response. It is unbearably hot here in the south of France and my mobile cannot tolerate it (it is only working intermittently if I put it in the cold for a while). Funnily enough, UK home is also not far from Oxford / Eynesham at the moment.

May I ask if there is any evidence of relatives going the other way, ie descendants from either of Charlies' known marriages?

 

[Alberta]

There are 2 Capel/Hodgkiss daughters
Francesca D b birmingham 1959
Nicolette G Solihull 1962

anyone with information about these 2 ladies will have to contact BillyB by private message.

 

[BillyB]

I've had a look at the will, and everything was left to his wife Jillian, so I suspect there were no children from that marriage. It does confirm that they were living at #680. Presumably they retired there.

There are 2 Capel/Hodgkiss daughters
Francesca D b birmingham 1959
Nicolette G Solihull 1962

anyone with information about these 2 ladies will have to contact BillyB by private message.

Thank you @Alberta.

 

[pjmburns]

I think they might be his daughters - missing from the will because possibly he felt they were too young or because the will was made before they were born. When was it dated?

I will PM you a link but there is a company registered at Company House which has directors Jillian Capel (with a J) plus Francesca Capel and Nicolette Capel.