Lewis George Spratt 1907 - c1987

A chief stage electrician and window cleaner and the son of Leonard Spratt (an agricultural laborer) and Rose Dennett,

Lewis Spratt, the first cousin once-removed on the father's side of Nigel Horne, was born in Northdown, Margate, Kent, England on Sep 13, 19071,2,3,4,5 and was married twice - to Violet Tong (c. Nov 1929 in Thanet, Kent, England) Barbara Parry (c. May 1945 in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales)6. He had 1 child with Violet Tong, Vidal J.

Throughout his life, Lewis lived in several places: on 11 Grotto Road, Cliftonville, Kent on Apr 2, 19118; at 10 De Burgh Street in Cardiff on Sep 29, 19392; and on 22 Buckingham Road, Margate, Kent in 19637.

He died c. Oct 1987 in Thanet4.

Parents

1. Leonard was born on Sep 9, 1877
2. Rose Ethel Muskett was born on Jun 23, 1887

Children

1. Vidal J was born c. Aug 1933

Citations

1. 1911 England Census Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.Original data - Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA), 1911. Data imaged from the National Archives, London, England.
2. 1939 Register - Findmypast (was recorded at this address)
3. England & Wales deaths 1837-2007 - Findmypast
4. England & Wales, Death Index: 1984-2005 Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007.Original data - General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. © Crown copyright. Published by permission of the Cont
5. England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.Original data - General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. © Crown copyright. Published by permission of the Cont
6. England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916-2005 Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2009.Original data - General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. © Crown copyright. Published by permission of the Cont
7. 1963 Kelly's Thanet Directory
8. 1911 Census for England & Wales - Findmypast (was age 3 and the son of the head of the household)

Notes

Lewis Spratt was a stage electrician who was lighting head at the New Theatre Cardiff where he told me he had a run-in with Lawrence Olivier (as he then was) who one day after a performance of “King Lear” said to Lew, “Well Sparks, what didyou think of that?” Lew disliked the man and merely said that he thought John Gielgud had played in much better a few months before. Olivier could do nothing because he knew if he upset Lew (who had a notoriously short temper) that the spotlight would miss him in future performances. Lew then became Head of Lighting at The Coliseum London but eventually had to give up the work he loved because his eyesight had deteriorated so much. Lew ended up a window cleaner in Margate, he and his wife Beryl had their family at their home in 1953 to watch the Coronation on their 9” television.

Media

1963 Kelly's Thanet Directory

Thanet Times - 13 Oct 1987

Lewis George Spratt

Family Tree

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