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Dan Rolyat Musical Comedian

terry carter

Birmingham Pals
I found a short article concerning the marriage of Mr Dan Rolyat to Constance Worth in the 22 February, 1915, edition of the Birmingham Gazette. Having never heard of him I Googled his name and came up with the webpage concerning this Birmingham born musical comedian :-

https://www.its-behind-you.com/danrolyat.html


Another Google and I found that he was born on 11 November 1879 at 316 Coventry Road, Bordesley. The son of Thomas Herbert Taylor and Charlotte Marsh. He was baptised on 26 November 1879 at St Andrew's Church, Bordesley. Which also made him a 'Blue Nose' !!
 
Thanks Terry, I enjoyed reading the newspaper write up. We seem to have spawned a good selection of comedians. :)

I was going to say including a few on this forum, but better not;)
 
Terry I really enjoyed reading about the life and times of Dan Rolyat. I'm glad his family now have an archive of his life, these artistes who were so famous in their day have now fallen into obscurity, and without tools like the internet we would never have heard of them.
 
Hi Terry,

Well, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, and Google, I have managed to stumble upon this Birmingham History Forum website, and your posting in December of 2007 concerning my grandfather, Dan Rolyat (Alfred Herbert Taylor). Yes, Dan Rolyat, the famous and popular actor/comedian of the early 1900s, originally from Birmingham, is my grandfather. My father, Dan Taylor, who sadly passed away about a year ago at the age of 80, was his only son by Rolyat's third marriage, to Maira (Clifton) Morgan Merioneth. Rolyat's first wife was the famous actress/singer Florence Smithson, who co-starred with him in The Arcadians, as well as several other well known plays and musicals on the London stage. They had one daughter, Joy, and I have established contact with Joy's two children recently, who are still alive.

I have been doing some extensive family history research over the past few years, and have amassed a decent-sized collection of various memorabilia of my grandfather, and my dad had also collected quite a number of artifacts concerning his father throughout his life, which my mother still has. I was fascinated by the newspaper article you found depicting my grandfather's second marriage to Constance Worth. As I understand it, the marriage ended badly when Worth filed for divorce after only a year or two, citing "abandonment and adultery" on the part of Rolyat.

Anyway, I'd love to hear from you and/or anyone else who happens to view these forum postings concerning Dan Rolyat. If you or anyone might happen to have any additional information or other artifacts on my grandfather I would very much like to view or obtain them for my collection. I also hope to get over to Birmingham sometime in the next year or two to do a kind of "Roots" journey, and try to visit several Birmingham locations of historical interest regarding Dan Rolyat and my ancestors on that side of my family.

Best wishes,

Rich Taylor
 
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Rich,
I have removed your address and tel.No. from your post. Its not a good idea to incude these in open posts, best to use the message system.
Mike
 
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1881 census
Dwelling: Langley Rd The Limes
Census Place: Aston, Warwick, England
Source: FHL Film 1341722 PRO Ref RG11 Piece 3022 Folio 7 Page 8
Marr Age Sex Birthplace
Thomas TAYLOR M 56 M Birmingham, Warwick, England
Rel: Head
Occ: Paper Dealer Master Employs 1 Boy
Charlotte TAYLOR M 38 F Birmingham, Warwick, England
Rel: Wife
Arthur TAYLOR U 15 M Birmingham, Warwick, England
Rel: Son
Occ: Paper Dealer Assistant
Florence TAYLOR 13 F Birmingham, Warwick, England
Rel: Daur
Occ: Scholar
Kate TAYLOR 9 F Birmingham, Warwick, England
Rel: Daur
Occ: Scholar
Frank TAYLOR 8 M Birmingham, Warwick, England
Rel: Son
Occ: Scholar
Ralph TAYLOR 7 M Birmingham, Warwick, England
Rel: Son
Occ: Scholar
Gertrude TAYLOR 2 F Birmingham, Warwick, England
Rel: Daur
Alfred TAYLOR 1 M Birmingham, Warwick, England
Rel: Son
Elizabeth RAWLINGS U 21 F Walford, Hereford, England
Rel: Serv
Occ: General Servant (Domestic)
Emily ASHLEY U 14 F West Bromwich, Stafford, England
Rel: Serv
Occ: Nurse
 
Do you have the 1891?

Charlotte had died in June 1881 age 38 and Thomas had remarried.

Lyttleton road, Stechford,Yardley (which was then in Worcs.)

Thomas Taylor age 65 Paper Merchant
Sarah A Taylor age 45 wife
Kate age 19
Gertrude 12
Alfred H 11
Lillian 9
Winifred 8
Edwin Sheldon 20 months ,grandson

1901 Dan Rolyat age 21 says born Brixton london
is at the Black horse hotel in Sheffield a Burlesque Artiste and also there is
Dan Agar age 22 b. Handsworth also Burlesque artiste.
 
Hi Alberta - I am Dan Rolyat's grandson, Rich Taylor. I live in Northern California in the U.S., and stumbled upon this Birmingham Historical website while Google searching my grandfather. Would love to hear from you if you might happen to have any more information on him or his family.
Thanks very much.
 
Hi Rich,
Would love to hear from you as my Grandad's cousin was Sydney Davis AKA Dan Agar, who also played the part of Simplicitas in the "Arcadians". He can be found on the 1901 census in lodgings with your Dan Rolyat.
Together with my 91 year old Dad (1st cousin once removed to Sydney), we too are doing extensive family history research regarding his life, mainly tracking him in East Sydney New South Wales, where he spent most of his life.
Most of his work was Theatre or radio. He did star in one film "Strike Me Lucky" in 1934 & did a commercial in 1946 for "Rinso Washing Powder". We've just found out he died 4 years later aged 69.
Would love to hear from anyone who can help in our research.
Best wishes,
Pauline Seymour.
 
Hi Alf,
Thanks for your reply. I couldn't find a way to search for Dan Agar on that website. What am I doing wrong?!!
Was there a paticular year or theatre you found him mentioned?
Cheers Pauline.
 
Pauline its one of those sites you have to go through it year by year unless you know the years.

There is an e-mail address you can write to
 
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Thanks for that Alf, I will go carefully through it.
Pauline
 
Hi Rich, I'm writing on behalf of Sheelah Eileen Walter(nee Munnerley) who was born 23rd December 1924. She is trying to find out information about her Father. Her mother told her just before she died that her father was Albert Taylor, a comedian, a famous star of the stage. Sheelah's mother was Hannah Elizabeth Munnerley born 1892 and a chambermaid in Liverpool in 1924. Are you aware of any other offspring? Do you have any information that might be helpful? Hoping you can help! Linda Owen
 
I beleive that Dan Rolyat was the brother of my great gran Winifred Taylor. Does anyone know if any of his descendants are still alive as I would like to correspond with them.
Thanks Andy Brockway
 
Please help if you can. My mother was named after Dan Rolyat - she was born Ruby Taylor and is, I believe, the niece of Dan. My grandmother must have been married to Dan ( Thomas Herbert’s )brother ? My mum went on to have a career on the stage. She too was born in Aston - Birmingham- but I’m really struggling to put it all together- mum was very proud indeed to have such a famous relative and spoke of him often. Mum has passed now and I’d love to trace her family history. Any help appreciated
 
Please help if you can. My mother was named after Dan Rolyat - she was born Ruby Taylor and is, I believe, the niece of Dan. My grandmother must have been married to Dan ( Thomas Herbert’s )brother ? My mum went on to have a career on the stage. She too was born in Aston - Birmingham- but I’m really struggling to put it all together- mum was very proud indeed to have such a famous relative and spoke of him often. Mum has passed now and I’d love to trace her family history. Any help appreciated

Dan Rolyat obituary in Birmingham Gazette December 1927...

56143130-4CAF-48DE-8082-50ADEA478CC9.jpegE9F4C3C4-024F-4527-9CA9-8B2311666DDB.jpeg
 
Dan Rolyat married Miss Constance Worth of the Shaftesbury Theatre at the Henrietta St. Registry office In Feb 1915.
 
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