May Wood Brownlee 1899- 1981
1899. Born Tynemouth Sep 31/5/1899- from Babs. No certain Ancestry tree for her - could just be a private one for her
1911C. Aged 11, living Eston Middlesborough Yorkshire, father Alfred a plater , mother Elizabeth .
May Wood Brownlee became another actress in Henry Lewis Osmond's theatre company. She probably became his mistress, or 4th "wife" 1919-1922, after the death of Ethel Beard. "She was the Wardrobe Mistress for the company during Doris's life- had her eyes on Henry"- Gaynor, daughter of Doris Ethel Osond 1912, granddaughter of HLO & Ethel
1917. May appears in press cuttings 1917[ here with Ethel Glyde/Beard too] - 1921[last one in Gloucester in HlO's Puss in Boots -also with Claude Lester]
1918. May Brownlee plays Prince Charming in Henry L Osmond's Cinderella in Coventry in late December, 2 months after Ethel Glyde died
And by 1921 she was living as the wife of HLO
1921C. May Osmond Ormrod, 31, actress, "married"( not really) no children, b. N.Shields, was living? Worked for H L Osmond, out of work. Normal place of work: journeying, no fixed place
May appears as lead actress in Puss in Boots in Gloucester in December 1921 - FMP newspapers
Newspaper refernces to her exist from 1917, in HLO's company alongside Ethel Glyde . No references after 24/12/1921 in Gloucester
"The Gosford Arms, Middlesborough, was the pub that HLO set May Wood Brownlee up to run, whilst he toured with his shows. HLO left May Wood Brownlee maybe just before Patressia's birth 1927 and we are of the opinion that this is also about the time Wendy told us her mother Irene ~ 11yrs said he collected her from boarding school in Liverpool and went to Wales where he ran a fish and chip shop till he got enough money together to go back into the theatre business-living for a time in a caravan on a farm. The story is May "stole" from him but no one knows exactly what she is suppose to have stolen!? that's why he left her."-Linda
I think she might have acted as Wardrobe Mistress 1924-1927- or maybe just been introduced to Doris as such!! - and this is how Doris 1912 knew of her and perceived how fond she was of HLO - little knowing that he had superceded her dead mother & that they lived together!!
Margaret Pitchford 1932[ daughter of Thomas & Charlotte Pitchford & mother of Babs] said she was an excellent principal boy - fabulous legs,and she sang with voice like Marlene Dietrich
May and Henry had 2 children: Luna O Ormrod born 10/4/1923 - Blackpool & Patressia Enid Franks Ormrod born 20/5/1927 - Middlesborough, N. Yorkshire - bmds exist for each of these
It is thought that May and young Luna stayed with Nellie and John Brownlee when Patressia was born and left soon after (as Nellie had her first child at this time - June- too).- Linda/ Nellie's daughter Margaret, not born until 1932, knows nothing, but thinks May possibly went back to the theatre crowd - perhaps we- Babs- can trace where Frankie Franks was. May returned to Middlesbrough just prior to the war and lived with her own parents, who both died during the war. It is thought that May followed Jimmy to Morecambe once he was posted there. ." Will try and get some info from my Mums brother (born 1927) to see if I can fill some gaps"- Babs .
May had a brother John- born 1901- who married Nellie Pitchford in 1924. His parents in law, Thomas & Charlotte Pitchford looked after HLO's illegitimate granddaughter, Agda M Osmond 1924 from her birth in 1924 , adopting her formally in 1930
"In 2014 A lady, Babs Nicholls, contacted Wendy about Henry, she is related to the Brownlee family, one of them adopted my Aunty Agda's illegitimate daughter born in 1924. My mum had told me of this event (but obviously did not know of detail) she never mentioned May Brownlee and Henry's two other daughters to her, I do not think she ever met them or was told of this event in the family, Mum would have been with her grandmother aged 6 or 7 at this time. The daughter of Agda also went into show business, often Agda and she would appear on the same bill, Agda tried to communicate with her but was always ignored. However Mame, as she was known, married an Australian Pilot after the war and they settled in Sydney. She probably could not forgive her mother for giving her up, but I would think in 1924 and being single and constantly touring as a dancer she had no other option".- Babs the granddaughter of John & Nellie Brownlee- her mother likely Margaret Brownlee 1932, who married Joseph Green in 1952 and had Barbara in 1961.
Henry left May and their daughters in 1927, just before Patressia was born . The Brownlee family obviously have a bad opinion of him for this. There seem to be 2 stories of why he left her- was she stealing, maybe creaming off some of takings of the Gosforth Arms or was it just financial difficulties that caused the rupture?. In either case, old Grandpa Brownlee said that HLO was "off to his woman in Wales" - implying that maybe HLO had not been faithful to May
1937. May W Brownlee married James Grogan Cleveland Dec 1937 . They had Ann Grogan Middlesborough Mar1939
Struggling to find her or James Grogan in 1939 Register - searched again June 2018
I can not find a 1981 death for May W Grogan on Ancestry !!