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The Sisters Rae

"In Northern Ireland & England, Agnes and Sarah McEwan sang and danced as The Sisters Rae (not sure about the spelling of Rae). Their stage names were Violet (Agnes) and Freda (Sarah) I have some postcards of them in costume. They were in a concert/revue/show called "Passing Clouds" in 1921? but I don't know where it took place. Apparently Dickie Henderson's sisters were in it The Henderson Twins. Sarah married a black musician from New York named Oliver Parker."
I am assisting my sister in law with her family research and this is all I have to go on so far... hoping somebody will be able to point me in the right direction. Many thanks. Jim

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Permalink Reply by Kate Steere on August 27, 2009 at 5:30am

Good morning, Jim-

Welcome to the group. :)

I'm thinking, I would start with Sarah's marriage, did Oliver Parker travel to the UK to marry her or did she go to the US?

Additional thoughts:

Do you know approximate birth/death dates for the sisters? Could you scan the postcards so we could see the time period?

I will take a look at Ancestry.com and see what I can find, if you have any stories or hints, please pass them along. :)

Kate

Permalink Reply by Kate Steere on August 27, 2009 at 5:47am

Hi Jim-

I'm finding information on Dickie Henderson, I'm assuming he was born in 1922? I'm just trying to place Agnes and Sarah in the right time period, were they children in the 20s or older?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickie_Henderson
http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/hend.htm

Kate

Permalink Reply by Kate Steere on August 27, 2009 at 6:21am

Hi Jim-

In my search on Google Books, I see a possible mention in a book, Sixty Years of Theatre, by Ernest Henry Short, it was published in 1951, so I could only see a snippet, but there is a mention of the Sisters Ray. Short also wrote two other books, Theatrical cavalcade and Fifty years of vaudeville .

From the snippet, it mentions the marriage of one of the sisters, but not the date or which sister was to be married, but at least its a nudge in the right direction. :)

Permalink Reply by Jim Phelan on August 27, 2009 at 10:00am

Agnes was born in 1896 and died in 1942 aged 46. Sarah died in 1945 aged 50 but I'm not sure she was 50 as the 1911 census states she is one year younger than Agnes. I can't find details of the Oliver Parker marriage but assume it took place in the UK, she was buried as Sarah Parker. Have looked in most obvious places but details hard to find. Will scan a postcard later...many thanks for the Sixty Years of Theatre lead, I'm sure something must be in print somewhere. Thanks. Jim

Permalink Reply by Jim Phelan on October 5, 2009 at 12:01pm

Hi, finally got the wedding details... the were married in Tredegar in Wales, possibly on tour there? Does this open up any new areas of investigation? Jim

20th October 1917, Bedwelty Register Office

Ollie Parker, 24yrs, Bachelor, Music Hall Artist, 14 Bournville Terrace, Father Charlie, Stone mason, journeyman

Sarah McEwan, 22yrs, Spinster, ----------------- 14 Bournville Terrace,
Father William (Deceased) Commercial Traveller

Witness's Agnes Owen and M Amos.

Permalink Reply by Jim Phelan on October 5, 2009 at 12:11pm

Hi, finally got the wedding details... they were married in Tredegar in Wales, possibly on tour there? Does this open up any new areas of investigation? Jim

20th October 1917, Bedwelty Register Office

Ollie Parker, 24yrs, Bachelor, Music Hall Artist, 14 Bournville Terrace, Father Charlie, Stone mason, journeyman

Sarah McEwan, 22yrs, Spinster, ----------------- 14 Bournville Terrace,
Father William (Deceased) Commercial Traveller

Witness's Agnes Owen and M Amos.

The Sisters Rae

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