Stanislaus Calhaen

[DavidOwen]

He then re-appears in 1928 in a single article

 

and again in another single article in 1941

Most odd.

[DavidOwen]

14 minutes ago, IPT said:

Theatrical & Musical Deaths

CALHAEM	Lionel -son of Stanislaus Calhaen-	1918		Actor (Killed in action)
CALHAEM	Stanislaus	26 May 1901	78	Actor
CALHAEM	Mrs Stanislaus	27 May 1911	69	Actress

Lionel Septimus Calhean was born in 1880. He appears with the family on the 1881 census but then vanishes.

Could he be Lionel Somerset, Roma's husband and criminal sidekick?

Odd that a L Calhaem appears on the war memorial at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane... but no such record on CWGC... and no service record MIC etc. under that name either.

 

(Image courtesy FMP)

[IPT]

Little Lionel Calhaem, from the Drury Lane Theatre, was touring all around the country to rave reviews, and is mentioned in over 150 reviews from 1889 onwards.  In a 1928 article, in The Stage, the man on the Drury Lane memorial is named as Lionel Calhaem. 

 

Lionel Calhaem, actor, on the 1901 census, living with his daughter, Etna, aged 2, and brother John, also an actor.

Note that "Roma Cholmondeley" occasionally called herself Mrs Rodgers. Maurice Rodgers is likely Maurice Read, Gipsey Rodgers, actress, has an unknown place of birth. One of Roma/Avis's aliases was Gipsey Rodgers.

 

On the 1911 census, Etna is now 11, but Lionel appears to now be Lionel Somerset, the name of Roma's criminal sidekick.

Maurice Read is Roma's brother.

 

 

Edited 27 July by IPT

[Tawhiri]

Lionel Calhaem is listed as one of the children in a performance of A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen at the Novelty Theatre in Great Queen Street, London on Friday, 7 June 1889 (see page 4).

https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/public/media/libraries/file/10/A Dolls House- Henrik Ibsen.pdf

One might suspect that if he did have a criminal record as Lionel Somerset, that one way of getting around this on enlisting would have been to take on his brother's name. Certainly all the evidence is starting to point towards the dead Stanislaus Calhaen in fact being Lionel Calhaen.

 

Edited 28 July by Tawhiri

[DavidOwen]

The Drury Lane memorial has Lionel Calhaem as a 1918 casualty as published in The Stage 15 Nov 1928 (courtesy FMP)

 

What we probably need is a genealogy expert to unravel the family properly. 

[Gareth Davies]

Indeed he is - as you typed I was looking at this: https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/253974

 

What do we all reckon about the spelling of the surname? Is it Calhaen or Calhaem?

I like @Tawhiri's theory despite the different first name and wrong year.

[DavidOwen]

Most of the records relating to the father, the actor spell it Calhaem as do most of those relating to the younger Stanislaus and the possibly different man Stanislaus Edmund (with the exception of the miss indexing as posted above). Sadly the birth registration for Stanislaus E does not offer a mother's maiden name.

There are no military records on FMP with the surname spelt Calhaem except for a Douglas (awarded SWB 6-6-1918), L (Lionel) on the Drury Lane Memorial and a Richard Lionel b 1895 who was an officer in RMLI and who served according to Navy Lists through to ww2.

Military records for Calhaen only Stanislaus features. No apparent civilian records found under that name.

The soldiers effects on Ancestry (which I think may have already been commented on) has Lionel Chalmondeley as originally sole legatee with that later being amended (or added?) as Roma Chalmondeley - which may again point towards Lionel not being able to claim and Roma's claim adding to the possibility that the deceased is actually Lionel. (Image Ancestry).

 

We need to establish whether Stanislaus Calhaem is the same man as Stanislaus Edmund Calhaem - this is a fundamental I think. 

 

 

[DavidOwen]

Interestingly I can find no records at all on FMP or Ancestry for a Lionel Chalmondeley, Chalmondely, Chalmondly or Chalmondley. That man certainly does not seem to have existed.

[Gareth Davies]

Thank you again.

[Gareth Davies]

1 hour ago, DavidOwen said:

Most of the records relating to the father, the actor spell it Calhaem as do most of those relating to the younger Stanislaus and the possibly different man Stanislaus Edmund (with the exception of the miss indexing as posted above). Sadly the birth registration for Stanislaus E does not offer a mother's maiden name.

There are no military records on FMP with the surname spelt Calhaem except for a Douglas (awarded SWB 6-6-1918), L (Lionel) on the Drury Lane Memorial and a Richard Lionel b 1895 who was an officer in RMLI and who served according to Navy Lists through to ww2.

Military records for Calhaen only Stanislaus features. No apparent civilian records found under that name.

The soldiers effects on Ancestry (which I think may have already been commented on) has Lionel Chalmondeley as originally sole legatee with that later being amended (or added?) as Roma Chalmondeley - which may again point towards Lionel not being able to claim and Roma's claim adding to the possibility that the deceased is actually Lionel. (Image Ancestry).

 

We need to establish whether Stanislaus Calhaem is the same man as Stanislaus Edmund Calhaem - this is a fundamental I think. 

 

 

Stanlislaus E Calhaem died in early 1956 aged 82.

[DavidOwen]

28 minutes ago, Gareth Davies said:

Stanlislaus E Calhaem died in early 1956 aged 82.

Correct, that is why if we can prove there is only the one man it means he cannot have died in 1917. So the family history is important.

[DavidOwen]

I have looked for civil births and parish baptisms for Stanislaus Calheam/n in both Ancestry and FMP and so far have only found Stanislaus Edmund Calhaem.

(There is a Francis Stanislaus Calhaem but his birth and death are recorded in the same year).

So it looks as though there was only one man with that name. 

It would be helpful if another member could independently verify this please.

[Gareth Davies]

Born 1873?

[DavidOwen]

2 minutes ago, Gareth Davies said:

Born 1873?

Indeed but not baptised until 1883 (Images FMP)

 

Lionel Septimus Calhaem born 1880 (Courtesy FMP)

[Gareth Davies]

Thanks.

 

So this is what we think the family members were:

 

Stanislaus Calhaem (Calhaen?)                       Actor

1838 – 1901

 

Married Fannie Emily Hubert

1847 – 1911

 

Children

 

Louisa Calhaem                       1869 – 1941  

Thomas Francis Calhaem        1871 – 1947

Stanislaus Calhaem                 1873?

William Horace Calhaem        1874 – 1934

John Philip Calhaem               1876 – 1961

Laurence Henry Calhaem        1877 – 1952

Lionel Septimus Calhaem       1880 - ???

[DavidOwen]

You can add Francis Stanislaus Calhaem b 1871 d 1871 (He was baptised) [courtesy FMP] Presumably a twin brother to Thomas.

[DavidOwen]

When you think about it Stanislaus Edmund would have been 44 in 1917 whereas Lionel would have been 37...

[Gareth Davies]

I had just done the same maths!

[Gareth Davies]

Could Mrs Everitt, 19a Church Walk, Kensington be relevant?

[Gareth Davies]

Not that it affects anything I see that brother Horace William (or William Horace) Calhaem served in the London Regiment (Regtl No 1946) and went to France in March 1915. Later he was Labour Corps (224018).

Edited 28 July by Gareth Davies

[DavidOwen]

18 minutes ago, Gareth Davies said:

Could Mrs Everitt, 19a Church Walk, Kensington be relevant?

If we could find her, then perhaps.

The address isn't recognised 1921 or 1939 - but that might be my search technique

[DavidOwen]

But then the medals were returned... (courtesy Ancestry)

[DavidOwen]

And the return code is for problems with delivery (Image Lives of First World War)

 

So perhaps Mrs Everitt 19A Church Walk etc was fictitious too?

[Gareth Davies]

23 hours ago, IPT said:

Soldiers' Effects has his sole legatee as Roma Cholmondeley.  She appears on his medal card c/o Mrs Everitt, 19a Church Walk, Kensington.

Roma Cholmondeley appears to be a stage name. She gets a mention in April 1914, appearing in Staffordshire in the comedy Tantrums, presented by Mr. Stanislaus Calhaen.  In 1915, a Roma Cholmondeley is mentioned in the newspaper "Truth".

"Since her conviction and sentence to four months' imprisonment at the Huntingdon Assizes in 1912 for an offence under the Debtors' Act I have heard little of the wife of a medical student named Rodgers, who, styling herself Lady Mercia Somerset, victimised tradesmen in various parts of the country. She has, I hear, recently put in an appearance at Epsom, passing under the name of Roma Cholmondeley and the traders of the neighbourhood will be well advised to insist upon strictly cash transactions with her ladyship."

The newspapers cover her incredibly long criminal career in detail. Her name was also given as Avis Fitzroy  

She has many Ancestry entries such as the one below;

Lionel was convicted with her - and the date of conviction was 16 June 1917 which confuses the theory that the dead Stanislaus was actually Lionel doesn't it?

[Matlock1418]

Wild punt coming up 

Could Lionel, with his criminal past, have adopted his dead brother Stanislaus' identity later in life and to have eventually died as such???

M