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Note from the Archives

Written by Sheelagh Wilson

The HAODS webmaster recently received an email from Sheelagh Wilson whose father lived in Henley and who was a founder member of our society. Sheelagh submitted the originals of the Mikado photographs which can be found on our 2. My father in a production which I cannot identify but would like to be able to do so! gallery page here , Sheelagh corrected the date of the photos, they are in fact from the very first Mikado show in 1922. Sheelagh's note reads:

"The note which my late father, Frederick King, left with the Mikado photos is as follows:

'The Mikado - First of any performance in the local cinema. Presented by the new Henley-on-Thames Operatic Society in about February 1922. The five shows were crowded to the full and scores of people had to be turned away, if they had no tickets, on the Saturday night. In the following years, the Society staged The Pirates of Penzance and The Yeomen of the Guard.'

The 3 additional photographs (shown here) which I would be happy to lend if you think they might be appropriate for inclusion on your website are:

1. My father in Yeomen of the Guard
2. My father in a production which I cannot identify but would like to be able to do so!
3. My father's brother in 'doublet and hose' - again cannot identify the production

My father was born in July 1903 so would have been 18 in early 1922. 3. My father's brother in 'doublet and hose' - again cannot identify the production He moved to Henley when he was about 11 and lived with his parents and brother at Bird Place Cottage by the bridge. His father ran a dairy at 16 Hart Street. They were apparently the first people in the town to own a motor car, apart from the doctor.

sheelaghs father in Yeomen of the Guard My father and his brother attended the Grammar School and sang in the Church choir. They were close friends of the Hobbs family and my father was an accomplished sculler. They moved back to London in the mid 1920s.

My father retained his interest in Gilbert & Sullivan until his death in 1983.

Hope this will be of interest and some use to you.

Sheelagh Wilson"

If anyone in the society can identify the shows to which these photos are associated please let us know here and we will inform Sheelagh. The full images can be seen in greater glory in the gallery section here .

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