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Charlie Capel, Dancer, John Bright Street
- Thread starter BillyB
- Start date
sospiri
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
"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
Maurice
Down Memory Lane
master brummie
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...
genome.ch.bbc.co.uk
They are listed as dancing a 1914 Foxtrot...
BBC Programme Index
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.
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.
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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.
Alf Rogers
master brummie
This has been a fascinating thread- thank you to all contributors!
EmmaHayner
New Member
Hands down, one of the best dancers of all time!
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.
@EmmaHayner, thanks for your message. Did you know Charlie Capel, or see any of his dancing? I'd love to know.
pjmburns
master brummie
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@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.
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.
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.'
'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
master brummie
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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?
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.
Thank you @Alberta.
pjmburns
master brummie
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.
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.
Yes. I learned to dance to medal standard ther during ww2 . They had an assistant named Eve Frogatt who later started her own studio. I gave it all up when I joined the RAF.
Tondo