Newsletter 17 .pub - The Binns Family

Ernest Binns the Impresario
Ernest Binns has featured in several earlier issues of the newsletter, but now, thanks to Ted Jowett, in Canada, we
can identify his family as originating with Abraham Binns (I10816) in Halifax, Yorkshire. Ted’s grandmother was
Elizabeth Binns, sister of Ernest so we have excellent information.
Ted writes: -
“I was born in Bradford. In 1942 when I was 6 years
old I first went for my holidays at my great Uncle
Ernest’s house in Hest Bank near Morecambe.
He lived in a big house at 1, Coastal Drive Hest Bank
it was a fantastic house as far as I was concerned,
after all I lived in a very small terraced house with an
outside toilet in Bradford.
I was in UK last year 2008, I went to see if the house
was still there, it is and it still looks really great. It is
over 67 years old.
He had a very large warehouse in the White Lund
complex where the scenery was stored along with
costumes etc. That is also where scenery was
painted by a gentleman called Mr. MacGregor.
When I was about 10 or 12 years old my friends
and I were allowed to go to the show at the end of
the pier; we went so often we got to know the lines.
We were asked at one point not to go to the show
again as we were giving away the jokes before the
comedian e.g. “Ladies and gentlemen, here is a
special announcement. After the Monday and
Tuesday shows (wait for it)…comes Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday’s shows”; we used to shout
out the last part, the comedian was not happy.
When my father came out of the forces, he was
employed by Ernest Binns; that is when we moved
to Morecambe from Bradford.
Ernest Binns had a show at the Arcadian Theatre
called “The Arcadian Follies.
On occasions Ernest had visitors such as Wilfred
1914
My Grandma Elizabeth Jowett (nee Binns) lived with
Ernest, (her brother) and helped to look after my great
Aunt Miriam (Ernest’s wife) who was not in good
health. In later years he had homes on Broadway and
Torrisholme Road in Morecambe.
My memories of Ernest Binns (I705) were for a period
when he presented the show at the end of the “West
End Pier” in Morecambe. It was called the “West End
Follies.” He also had Christmas pantomimes such as
“Cinderella,” “Puss in Boots,” “Jack and the Beanstalk,”
and “Mother Goose.”
Pickles, Albert Modley, Max Miller and others.
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