Family collection · South Norwood · 13 December 1916

The Enchanted Rose — a Hawes family production

Two surviving pages of a programme record a fairy play staged in South Norwood on Wednesday 13 December 1916 to raise money for the Red Cross Fund. It was directed by Mrs Wilson Hawes, who was also credited as the playwright. Family testimony identifies her as Mary Ellis, wife of William Edward Wilson Hawes and mother of Walter Joseph William Hawes.

Programme cover

Cover of the 1916 South Norwood programme for a fairy play under the direction of Mrs Wilson Hawes

Venue: The programme heading appears to read “Memorial Hall, South Norwood” (verify against the original).

Date: Wednesday, 13 December 1916. Doors opened at 6:30pm and the performance began at 7pm.

Purpose: In aid of the Red Cross Fund, with a silver collection. Admission by programme cost sixpence.

Direction: Mrs Wilson Hawes. Recitations between acts by Mrs Reid.

Honorary treasurer: W. A. Field, Esq., 26 Lancaster Road, South Norwood.

The Enchanted Rose — cast and credits

The play is expressly credited as written by Mrs Wilson Hawes. The cast list includes the following Hawes family names, alongside other local performers.

The Enchanted Rose cast page listing the Hawes family performers

Part or responsibility	Printed name
King	Miss Gladys Hawes
Bill Bailey, bodyguard to the King	Mr Jack Hawes
Army	Master Eric Hawes
Servant	Miss Annie Hawes
Mrs Spicer	Miss Edith Hawes
Gretchen	Miss Bessie Hawes
Pianist	Mrs Henry Hawes
Author and director	Mrs Wilson Hawes

The programme also names Hilda Brown, Kathleen Field, Marie Ashton, Maisie Rossetter, Jack Brown, Marjorie Brown, Ella Russell and other children. Kathleen Field arranged the dances.

Family identifications: The family identifies Gladys, Jack, Annie, Edith and Bessie Hawes as Walter Joseph William Hawes's siblings. Eric Hawes is Walter's son, while Mrs Wilson Hawes is Walter's mother, Mary Ellis. Some performers may have used familiar rather than registered names, so their birth-record identities will be cross-checked before further names are merged.

Family identification and research value

The name “Mrs Wilson Hawes” is consistent with the use of her husband's middle name in social identification: William Edward Wilson Hawes. The family identifies her as Walter's mother, Mary Ellis. The family also reports that Walter had eleven siblings, making twelve children altogether in that household. The revised Findmypast GEDCOM currently lists seven children including Walter; this family account therefore indicates at least six siblings are missing from that export or need reconciling against other names and records.

Eric Hawes is listed as “Master Eric Hawes”. He would have been about seven years old in December 1916, consistent with the birth registered in 1909. The older Gladys Hawes mentioned as a performer should not automatically be confused with Eric's sister Gladys Madeline Hawes, born in 1913, who would have been approximately three.

Research status: The identification of the cast members as Walter's siblings and the report of eleven siblings come from family testimony; the programme itself supplies names, not parent-child relationships. It lists “Mrs Henry Hawes” as pianist, whose own identity and exact relationship still need clarification. “Mrs Wilson Hawes” is separately identified as the playwright and director.

Archive details

Document: Two pages from an original family-held programme.
Event: South Norwood fairy play, 13 December 1916.
Production: The Enchanted Rose, written by Mrs Wilson Hawes.
Provenance: Family photographs supplied 7 November 2026.