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I'm here in the US & apologize for my lack of precise info on my grandmother known to us as Olive Mabel Clarke in England. The best info I have is she was born approximately Dec 1882 in Plymouth England. Her father was Robert Clarke & her mother's first name was Emma.

In the past I have recorded what I believe are siblings although I can't locate the documentation to determine the accuracy of it. Siblings show as possibly being Malcolm, Bertram & a third unnamed Clarke.

My grandmother known as Olive Mabel Clarke was in vaudeville in England performing as a dancer/showgirl using the stage name Olive York. She traveled to the US where she met my grandfather Jack Kaufman who was also in vaudeville as a singer. After marrying in May 1908 she took the first name of Rosina. So for the remainder of her life here in the US she was known as Rosina Mabel Kaufman.

Any info, leads, or suggestions on my grandmother as it relates to her English family roots is appreciated.

Oops, not a good idea to display your email address on this open forum Thomas.

Is this the family in the US

Rosina M Kaufman
Home in 1920: Lynbrook, Nassau, New York
Age: 33
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1887
Birthplace: England
Relation to Head of House: Wife
Spouse's Name: Jacob A Kaufman
Father's Birth Place: England
Mother's Birth Place: England
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Sex: Female
Year of immigration: 1903
Able to read: Yes
Able to Write: Yes
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Jacob A Kaufman 36
Rosina M Kaufman 33
Jules E. Kaufman 9
Elleen J. Kaufman 8
Phyllis Kaufman 2
[2 6/12]
Eveline Kaufman 2
[2 6/12]

ew

When you say.........was in Vaudeville............are you referring to the Vaudeville theatre in London?

Clutching at straws here but the sister Rosina has the occupation of Professional act (actress?):

1901 England Census
about Florence E Clark
Name: Florence E Clark
Age: 20
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1881
Relation: Daughter
Father's name: Robert W Clark
Mother's name: Emma Clark
Gender: Female
Where born: Plymouth, Devon, England

Civil parish: Kensington
Ecclesiastical parish: All Saints Notting Hill
County/Island: London
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Education:

Employment status: View image

Registration district: Kensington
Sub-registration district: Kensington Town
ED, institution, or vessel: 57
Neighbors: View others on page
Household schedule number: 205
Piece: 28
Folio: 153
Page Number: 33
Household Members: Name Age
Robert W Clark 52 postman
Emma Clark 52
Ernest T Clark 25
Alfred C Clark 24
Florence E Clark 20
Rosina E Clark 16
Mary Spencer 29

The family are also on the 1891 census, living in Plymouth. There is a brother, Bertie, on that census. Robert's occupation then was given as Lodging house keeper.

Is Olive's father's occupation on her marriage cert?

I think Potty has the right family -- I don't think she took the name Rosina when she married, I think that was her real name. Olive Mabel was part of her stage name, it would seem.

It could help to know whether she gave a middle name when she married -- she's Rosina E on the 1901 census (Rosey in 1891, transcribed by Ancestry as Posey).

Robert W Clark 43
Emma Clark 43
Robert W Clark 17
Ernest Clark 16
Bertie Clark 14
Eveline Clark 10
Posey Clark 6


I think this is the birth of the Rosina in that family:

Name: Emma Rosina M Clark
Date of Registration: Jan-Feb-Mar 1885
Registration district: Plymouth
Inferred County: Devon
Volume: 5b
Page: 276

-- with the M quite possibly standing for Mabel. She went by the middle name Rosina -- her mother was Emma and it was common for a child named for a parent to be called by their middle name. It's also common to see the first name represented as a middle initial in census records in that situation.

This could be her passage to the US:

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/passengerListPersonSearchStart.action

CLARK Emma Unknown F 1908 Plymouth USA New York

I don't have a subscription but someoene who does might check what that record says.


Vaudeville is the generic term for musical/comedy variety theatre.


The sister of my (notorious hereabouts) gr-grfather Hill/Monck, Ada the Actress -- the picture on the left -- was a 16-yr-old actress (at the Adelphi Theatre) in London in the 1871 census . I lose her after 1883 (probably died of the family plague, TB), but I've wondered whether she headed west too ...

the one Janey quoted travelled with two others.
Name: Emma CLARK
Date of departure: 5 October 1908
Port of departure: Plymouth
Passenger destination port: New York, USA
Passenger destination: New York, USA

Date of Birth:
Age:
Marital status: Single
Sex: Female
Occupation:
Passenger recorded on: Page 2 of 3





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The following people with the same last name travelled on this voyage: -

Anna CLARK Page 2 of 3 View transcript
William CLARK Page 2 of 3 View transcript

They were all Americans

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Ship:
Official Number:
Master's name:
Steamship Line:
Where bound:
Square feet:
Registered tonnage:
Passengers on voyage:
PENNSYLVANIA

J C Schmidt
Hamburg American
New York, USA

8526
21

Not her Janey. She went in October and according to the OP our Emma/Olive/Rosina married in May.

If that is her on the US census I posted she travelled over in 1903.

There is a lot of information if you google the Vaudeville Theatre in London....


The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on The Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each new building retained elements of the previous structure. The current building opened in 1926, and the capacity is now 690 seats. Rare thunder drum and lightning sheets, together with other early stage mechanisms survive in the theatre.

Jack Kaufman’s personal scrapbook begins in 1910, corresponding with the act’s move to the more prestigious Orpheum circuit. The first document is a brief announcement that he had married Rosina Clarke Kaufman (a.k.a. Olive York), an English showgirl. They met at the Mayfair in London, and were married in Chicago. A son, Jules Aaron Kaufman, was born in New York on March 3, 1910, while Jack was appearing at Shea’s Theatre in Toronto.


Taken from http://www.mainspringpress.com/kaufman.html

Thanks Shirley -- I couldn't tell whether those two were travelling with or just on the same voyage.

Vaudeville really is the generic name for the type of theatrical performance. Jack Kaufman was "in Vaudeville" in the US. I don't think Thomas meant that they worked at the Vaudeville Theatre.

http://www.mainspringpress.com/kaufman.html

The Kaufman Brothers
A Prehistory of Phil, Jack, and Irving

"They met at **the Mayfair** in London ..."

Thomas ... you have read the PM I sent you in case you didn't know to check back for replies ... you have inexplicably checked a post of Ginny's as "answered" so you have presumably been back to the thread ...


edit

crossed with PM

"Thanks
I'll have to look into it although we were pretty definite that the family name was spelled Clarke"


Well, Thomas, I think you'll find that names like that were commonly spelled interchangeably, particularly when people were far from home.

You'll find, too, that you're dealing with some of the most experienced family history researchers you could meet, here. Our opinions are not to be dismissed lightly! ;-)

No doubt in my mind that these are the correct people.

Iv'e deleted my post as it was marked as 'answered' and clearly, it wasn't

But the thread shows as answered still - !

I did ask Thomas to return to his thread, and he PMed me instead ... and edited his first post ...

Thomas, if you're reading -- as my sig line says, please reply to people here *in the thread*.

Yep...I see deleting my post did no good what so ever!