Bishop Auckland and Theatre Corner 1871 (11)

 Bishop Auckland 1871

Thomas  isn't a resident in the house at 331 Georges Street, Glasgow, Scotland with Agnes Pollock and the children, on the evening of the 1871 Census, he is working in Bishop Auckland, England.

Either on the 2nd or 3rd April,1871,  the evenings of the Scottish Census, the following are the residents at home at 332 Georges Street, Glasgow:-

Agnes Plunkett - Wife - Married - Aged 26 - Born Paisley, Renfrewshire

Annie Macindoe Plunkett - daughter - Aged 7 - Scholar - Born Glasgow, Lanarkshire

Thomas Dudgeon, jnr. - Boarder - Aged 19 - Panoramic Assistant - unemployed (Thomas's illegitimate son)

Eleanor Dudgeon - daughter - Aged 3

(Ellen Dudgeon, "Granny"  is actually  misquoted as Eleanor in the census, an understandable mistake.)

Follow this link for more background information on the 1871 Census

 The Bishop Auckland Census recorded Thomas as living as a boarder at 5 Adelaide Street, and working as an Artist. Neil and I travelled to Bishop Auckland, County Durham, and located the site of the boarding house where he lived on the corner of Adelaide Street.




We walked with excitement through Theatre Corner, now an historical site in Bishop Auckland, and the former location of the Masonic Music Hall, where we believe Thomas was working in April, 1871.

Adelaide Street sign when we visited.
Photo Copyright (c) Neil McNee 2014

Adelaide Street corner, the site of the boarding house where Thomas
lived in Bishop Auckland, England.
Photo Copyright (c) Neil McNee 2014

Adelaide Street, Bishop Auckland
Photo Copyright (c) Neil McNee 2014

In 1871, the Masonic Music Hall, a melodrama theatre, at the junction of Newgate Street and South Church Road, Bishop Auckland, was undergoing alterations by architect Mr. W. V. Thompson. There is little doubt that this is where Thomas was engaged working at the time of the 1871 Census, whilst Agnes and the children, including Ellen (Granny) aged 3, were living up in Glasgow, Scotland. There were mouths to feed. His perspicacity in finding worthwhile employment is again demonstrated, and perhaps Thomas's Masonic connections helped  to gain this commission, however it would have been  a lucrative project for him to be working on. The boarding house where he was living in Adelaide Street, was diagonally across  from the Masonic Music Hall, which was very convenient, as he could walk to work. The Masonic Music Hall reopened as a 1,000 seat theatre on 28th August, 1871 after substantial refurbishment and reconstruction and was renamed the Theatre Royal in 1874.

In 1892, the Theatre Royal was renamed the Eden Theatre until 1974, after being rebuilt by Arthur Jefferson, father of Stan Laurel. The Eden Theatre was named after a well known local family, whose son Sir Anthony Eden, became the future Prime Minister of Great Britain in the 1960's.  Mr. Jefferson employed noted theatre architect Frank Matcham to make the alterations. Stan Laurel,  who lived in Bishop Auckland during his childhood, was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson, on 16th June 1890, and was part of the famous comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. He attended the King James 1st Grammar School. A statue of Stan Laurel was unveiled in August 2008, and now stands proudly on the site of the former Eden Theatre which his parents owned. I wonder if Thomas had any premonition of the glorious future in store for the Masonic building that he was helping to renovate. He would have been very proud to play a role in the evolution of the theatre complex, now commemorated as Theatre Corner by a plaque on the wall. (http://cinematreasures.org/)

A young  Stan Laurel, c. 1920.

Statue of  Stan Laurel, on the site once occupied by the Eden Theatre, 
formerly  the  Masonic Music Hall, and the Theatre Royal.

The Plaque commemorating the performers, lessees, theatre staff and audiences
of the Former Eden Theatre, 1892-1974, the Masonic Music Hall 1865-1874, 
and the Theatre Royal 1874-1892.
Photo Copyright (c) Neil McNee 2014

Photo Copyright (c) Neil McNee 2014

Because of his heavy work commitments, it is still a mystery as to whether or not Thomas found time to go in search of his first love, who was Agnes McIndoe Pollock's mother. That could be one of the nice fairy tales told to Granny by the family, however it is a very romantic story and one that I like to believe. How did someone as worldly, debonair, and cultured as Thomas meet and fall in love with someone from a much poorer background, a cotton mill worker, who was illiterate, widowed, and already had a small daughter? When Granny was born, Thomas was aged 63 and Agnes was only 27. Thomas must have been captivated by Agnes, and he certainly rescued her from a difficult and uncertain future as an unmarried mother of a small daughter. He was also became a father figure for Annie McIndoe Plunkett. Their story is reminiscent of the classic forbidden love story of which the family, Thomas's family at least, didn't approve. According to my late Mother, Hope Davison, Granny always spoke very highly though of the Pollock family, and how well  they treated her.

Bibliography:

1. http://cinematreasures.org/
2. Glasgow Herald, 13th March, 1863.
3. Glasgow Herald, 19th October, 1862.
4. Glasgow Herald, 20th October, 1862.

This article is Copyright (c) 2014 by Hope Pauline McNee, All rights Reserved.