Clement May - papers, ca. 1913-1964

PXE 944

fonds

ca. 1913 - 1964

Graphic Materials, Textual Records, Clippings, Photographs, Drawings

148676

2 albums of newscuttings, theatre programs and ephemera
2 albums of snapshots and postcards
1 folder of photocopied and annotated newscuttings
Approx. 24 b&w photoprints
1 drawing - pencil sketch - 41.3 x 35 cm.

Clement May was born Sydney George Devine in Bendigo in 1874 and raised in Ballarat. He toured Australia with the London Gaiety Company, Maggie Moore, Max Maxwell and other companies, and studied under Alfred Dampier in Sydney. From 1913 May established a career as a solo performer specialising in character sketches from Dickens. He completed several world tours and lived in Wellington, NZ 1926-34 where he taught elocution, directed the Little Theatre, and met his wife, Violet Taylor. The following years were largely spent touring North America, the Mays retiring in Sidney, BC ca. 1946. Clement survived his wife by some 10 years and died in Sydney, NSW in 1964 -- Reference: PXE 944: newsclippings

BOX 1
Vol. 1: Scrapbook containing newcuttings from Australia, Ceylon, India, New Zealand, Hawaii, Canada, South Africa and US, ca. 1913-1951; theatre programs; 3 pressed sprigs of snowdrops gathered from Dickens' home at Gad's Hill; Clement May publicity leaflet

Vol. 2: Scrapbook containing newscuttings from South Africa, Canada, UK and New Zealand, ca. 1918-1957

Vol. 3: Photo album containing uncaptioned snapshots, mainly of May on beachside holiday with his wife, and some photos of unidentified persons and locations

Vol. 4: photo album mainly containing uncaptioned snapshots from travels and holidays, with May and his wife with unidentified persons. Includes photographs of May at Dickens' birthplace; 1 snapshot of New Zealand Governor-General Lord Bledisloe and Lady Bledisloe posing with a koala and kangaroos, autographed "Elaine Bledisloe" and "Bledisloe, November 1934"; 1 photograph of a middle-aged male before a house, inscribed "Happy memories of Vancouver and you `John' & Clement, from Ivan"; captioned postcards of British Columbia, the Canadian Rockies, Washington and New Zealand

Vol. 5: Folder containing photocopied newscuttings, 1936-1964, annotated by vendor; photocopied newspaper index cards; Clement May publicity leaflets; 1 newscutting

BOX 2
Approx. 24 b&w photographs, mainly of Clement May as Dickens characters, and some snapshots; 1 pencil sketch of May as Micawber, by Californian artist Alfred James Dewey; 1 colour photocopy of oil portrait of May as Dick Phenyl by the same artist, accompanied by canvas fragment bearing title handwritten in charcoal; 1 bromide of pencil sketch of May by the same artist; 1 printed cartoon representing May with multiple heads of Dickens characters, captioned "Sketch by Harry Julius, Sydney Bulletin", mounted inside rear board detached from an album

The names `John' and `Pete' found in some inscriptions were the Mays' nicknames for each other, for Violet and Clement, respectively -- Reference: PXE 944: newsclippings
Many of the publicity photographs used by Clement May were taken by his wife -- Reference: PXE 944: newsclippings