Tyne Theatre: Search for relatives of Victorian staff in old photos

Theatre staff pictured in 1901 at the stage door

Staff at a Victorian theatre are trying to trace the relatives of 13 former workers after finding old photos.

Newcastle's Tyne Theatre and Opera House wants to track down descendants after finding the group shot from 1901 and a photo from the 1800s.

One photo shows 12 staff standing at the stage door and the other is of machinery boss Frederick Humphrys.

The 155-year-old theatre is planning an exhibition on the lives of the workers and their descendants.

The venue, on Westgate Road, opened in September 1847.

The original 1867 stage machinery was discovered concealed behind the cinema screen in 1974.

Project administrator Rachel Snape said: "We want to know if anyone recognises the men and if they are an ancestor.

"We'd love to find some of the descendants of the theatre staff and shine a light on their lives as part of our heritage project."

The original 1867 stage machinery was discovered concealed behind the cinema screen in 1974

The group photo was discovered by project director David Wilmore in a copy of the Evening Chronicle from 1937.

Known as fly staff, the men maintained the wooden stage machinery.

A fly system, or theatrical rigging system, is a system of rope lines, pulleys and counterweights which enable stage crew to hoist props, curtains, scenery and sometimes people, around the stage or into loft space.

Theatre staff know a little bit more about Mr Humphrys whose name first appeared in a theatre programme in September 1884.

Born in Somerset, he had six children with his wife Annie Walkinshaw, four of whom were born in Newcastle.

His father John Davenant Humphrys, a painter and wood carver, was also a props manager at the theatre.

The theatre, a Grade I listed building, is is one of only two known examples in Britain to retain a complete set of Victorian stage machinery.

More is known about Frederick William Humphrys who worked at the theatre in the late 1800s

The theatre, funded by politician and industrialist Joseph Cowen, was originally designed to house a stock theatre company, staging locally-produced drama, opera, musical spectacles and pantomimes.

However, by 1881 it was unable to compete with star touring companies taking advantage of improvements in rail travel.

There were a succession of theatre managers, before it was driven out of business in 1917 and converted to a cinema - the first in Newcastle to show a "talkie".

In 2008 the theatre was purchased by Newcastle City Council which transferred the freehold ownership to the Tyne Theatre and Opera House Preservation Trust.

If anyone has information on the men in the photographs contact [e-mail]

The venue, on Newcastle's Westgate Road, opened in September 1847