Last year our church hired a new worship leader. Her name is Cristabelle – which I think is a rather nice name. Her mother is a distant cousin of mine – both on her father’s side (11th cousin) and mother’s side (10th cousin, twice removed), so that makes Cristabelle a distant cousin as well (11th cousin, once removed and 10th cousin, three times removed). Cristabelle is a talented musician – both as a singer/songwriter and as a pianist and guitar player.
But as I was reviewing some old blogs that I had
written (see here),
I became aware of another individual with that same name in my extended family
tree – but spelled slightly different. Her name was Christabel Hamilton. I hadn’t
done a whole lot of research on her, as the blog was about a picture of her
mother, Hattie Giles, that someone had found in an antique shop. I was able to
pass along that picture to Hattie’s great-granddaughter, my niece. But I
thought it might be good to do some further investigation into Christabel
Hamilton, the grandmother of my niece.
Christabel was born on 1 Aug 1901, in Brattleboro, VT.
Her parents were Gilbert Wilson Richardson and Harriet (Hattie) Chenery Giles.
As I noted in my prior blog, their marriage did not last and they divorced
while Christabel was a young child. In 1909, Hattie remarried, this time to
Robert Hugh Hamilton. Robert adopted Christabel and her name then became
legally Christabel Giles Hamilton. Robert had four sons by his first marriage,
but they were all older and had married and moved out by the time Robert and
Hattie married. Robert, Hattie, and Christabel eventually moved to Montague, MA
in late 1910 or early 1911.
Hattie was evidently a piano player and passed along
her musical abilities to her daughter. At a very young age, Christabel began
appearing in the local newspaper as she began making use of her considerable
musical skills. Here are just a few of the newspaper articles I found about
her:
· 28
Jan 1910 (age 8): in Vermont Phoenix – performing in a play about Mother Goose –
played Baby Bunting and a flower girl.
· 20
May 1910 (age 9) in Brattleboro (VT) Reformer – “Pre-Memorial Exercises” from
local school district “… recitation, The Blue and the Gray, Christabel
Hamilton, grade four;…”
· 28
Oct 1911 (age 10): in Greenfield (MA) Recorder – in a play about the Pied Piper
of Hamlin – performed a “flag dance”; article notes, “Christabel Hamilton has
already won a reputation for her fine dancing and singing.”
· 13
Dec 1913 (age 12): in Recorder – “Miss Christabel Hamilton sang a solo sweetly.”;
also noted that she was a violinist.
· 30
Oct 1921 (age 20): in The Musician – “The Boston Flute Player’s Club gave an
interesting concert … The assisting artists were Miss Christabel Hamilton, soprano;”
· 6
Oct 1926 in Montreal Gazette – “… Miss Hamilton consisting of songs in Italian,
French, English and Spanish…”, “Miss H showed herself to be possessed of a
charming lyric soprano voice admirably suited to the delicate, light type of
songs she had selected for her programme.”
· 27
Jan 1927 in Allentown (PA) Morning Call: announcement of upcoming radio
programs – WPCH 1100AM – “Christabel Hamilton, soprano”
· 8
Apr 1927, Glen Falls Post-Star: “Lyric Soprano in Program of H.S. Music Club”, “Miss
Christabel Hamilton, lyric soprano of New York, was presented in the third
annual concert.” “Miss Hamilton has a pure soprano voice of high quality and
displays excellent training. She has studied under Prof. Fredie E. Bristol of
New York and has been in demand as soloist for club and social events.” “Her
enunciation was so clear and distinct that even in the French and Spanish songs
each syllable could be heard.”
· Newspaper
articles mentioning her were from VT, MA, NY, CT, PA and Canada.
On 16 Feb 1929, Christabel married George Chester
Burns. His parents were already deceased. Being in their late 20’s, they
immediately began efforts to have a family. Their son, George Robert Burns (who
went by Robert) was born 9 months later on Nov 1st. Despite being married,
Christabel retained her maiden name as that was the name she was known under in
the music circuit. She continued to perform for the next several decades.
· 31
May 1938, Greenfield (MA) Recorder: “…Mrs. Christabel Hamilton Burns … gave vocal
solos.”
· 27
Nov 1948, Greenfield Recorder: “Miss Christabel Hamilton, who is studying voice
in New York City, came home, Sunday, for a week.”
· 28
Jul 1951, Greenfield Recorder: “Miss Christabel Hamilton will broadcast from
WBZ at Springfield this week Wednesday evening.”
· 9
Jul 1960, Greenfield Recorder: As You Like It, “Miss Christabel Hamilton …
contributed much to the production”.
During just one ten-year period, all of Christabel’s ancestors
passed away as well – her mother, Hattie, in 1938; her stepfather, Robert, in
1944; her biological father, Gilbert, in 1945; and her husband, George, in
1947. With Christabel and her son Robert only having each other, they remained
close for the rest of Christabel’s life. She eventually passed away on 17 Mar 1970.
As the above articles show, she was still going by her maiden name. However, her
obituary finally calls her by her legal name of Mrs. Christabel (Hamilton)
Burns. By that time Robert had married my cousin in 1963 – he was 33 and she was
only 20.
I have searched in vain for any recording of
Christabel singing. But since she was singing during an era when performances were
done live, there are none to be found. However, the above newspaper clippings
are just a small sample of the ones mentioning her name, and she was evidently
a very good singer and quite well known.
I find it interesting that I only know two people with
this beautiful name and both of them are skilled singers and musicians.
No comments:
Post a Comment