An unusual story of actresses , stage door Johnnies , early life in Western Australia , African witchcraft , a vivid account of the evacuation of wounded troops from Dunkirk in WW11 , London under the German blitz and condemnation of the British National Health Service Bill emerged in an investigation prompted by a book discovered in Adelaide in the l980s. Published in 1946 , it is an author’s presentation copy of NINETY-NINE AND ALL THAT , by Frederick Kaigh , the nom-de-plume of Dr Gerald Baeyertz Kirkland , eventually married to a famous British musical comedy actress, Jose Collins, who suicided in January 1959 , a month after she died . There is a newspaper cutting , above , taped in which contains details of the suicide.
The front free endpaper contains the following inscription , To Jose , with every possible good wish , Frederick Kaigh , 1947 . On the same page , penned in a different hand , is Witchcraft & Magic of Africa by Frederick Kaigh , followed by Dr Kirkland in brackets. There is another name , possibly Mr Kirkland , Loughton, Essex , 20/3/50. In respect of the book dealing with Witchcraft and Magic in Africa , a reviewer said it was a rather strange work , one which took as its premise that modern science could not explain everything about African witchcraft – “ perhaps this can be explained partly by the fact that Dr Kirkland wrote this hoping to stave off bankruptcy, so a certain amount of sensationalism would help sales.”
Gerald Kirkland was about seven when his father , a London surgeon born in New Zealand, took the family to Perth, WA, early in the 20th century. The autobiographical book NINETY-NINE AND ALL THAT described Perth society as snobbish ,his father getting about in an early Oldsmobile . There is also mention of an incident when the WA governor was brought home by his father to find seven nude children romping about the house . Returning to England, Gerald became a doctor himself , spent time in Africa , became entranced by the actress Jose Collins , at one stage unsuccessfully proposing marriage to her when he was a medical student , and served as a military doctor during WW11 .
Jose came from a theatrical family . He mother , born London 1866 , with the stage name of "Lottie Collins," performed a skipping rope dance when she was 11 , and became a well known "Naughty Nineties" singer and dancer , famous for a bump and grind routine while she sang Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay! Married three times, Lottie Collins died in l910 , aged 44, her early demise attributed by some to her strenuous stage performances.
Her daughter, Charlotte Josephine Collins - "Jose "- born in l893 , also became famous as a singer , actress and a star of early Hollywood movies . The great Caruso is said to have played a part in her singing career . Like her mother, she married three times . With her first husband , Leslie Chatfield , she sailed to New York in 1911 . A write up in the New York Times said Chatfield , son of a colonel of a company of Hussars in the Boer War was also nephew of Admiral Chatfield of the British Navy and owned “sheep ranches” in Australia. He had met Jose when she was performing at the Alhambra , London. One report claimed that in New York she met her father for the first time- Jose Van den Berg , conductor of a New York orchestra and director of an opera company. One of the Gaiety Girls , she was highly popular in the US. In her heyday, Jose had received a much as $3000 a week , but she led the high life and spent recklessly.
Back in England , Jose Collins was acclaimed for her singing part as the gypsy in Maid of the Mountains which struck an accord with couples separated during WW1 . In particular , the song Love Will Find A Way touched the hearts of many in those difficult days. Jose’s autobiography was entitled Maid of the Mountains. Australian soprano , Gladys Moncrieff , also achieved fame through Maid of the Mountains . Jose’s second marriage in 1920 was to Lord Robert Edward Innes-Ker (brother of Henry John Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe), which ended in divorce in l935. She and Dr Kirkland married the following year, he having been wedded before ; during WW11, when he was a major, she worked voluntarily in hospitals where he was stationed .
Near the end of the book Ninety-Nine And All That , Dr Kirkland describes a lunch at Kettner’s, in Soho, first opened as a restaurant by Auguste Kettner, (chef to Napoleon III) in 1867. It provided discreet salons particulieres , was popular with Oscar Wilde, Edward VII, Lillie Langtry, Agatha Christie and Bing Crosby, renowned for incredible parties. Those present included Jose Collins, filmstar Anna Neagle , music hall and variety theatre singer , Clarice Mayne , her husband , Teddy Knox , part of the original Crazy Gang , Mrs Herbert Wilcox and her film producer husband (Neagle later married Herbert Wilcox and saved him from bankruptcy) , an American two- star general , and others . Late in life, Jose and Dr Kirkland lived in St. Olave’s , High Road, Loughton , Essex.
The couple were renowned for doing a local pub crawl , regailing entranced listeners with stories of Jose’s fabulous life. They would totter off home to St Olave’s. Short of money , the house mortgaged over and over , an annuity to Jose from Lord Curzon a real lifeline . A month after Jose died, Dr Kirkland, 61, declared bankrupt in l954 as Jose’s health was declining , gassed himself. At the inquest , Derek Kirkland , an engineer, said he had last seen his brother in a distraught state after Miss Collin’s funeral. His brother had financial worries and was ludicrously generous. It was impossible for him not to dispense largesse to anyone who came along , he added. A typed, unsigned suicide note was found in which suicide was referred to in a “disparaging way.”
A blue plaque was placed on St Olave’s marking the fact that the famous actress had lived there. When the building was demolished it was replaced by a block of flats called Collins Court. In the year 2000, the Loughton and District Historical Society ran a paper by Dr Donald Pohl about Jose and Dr Kirkland in which they were likened to , in their own way, as great a couple of lovers as were Antony and Cleopatra, and just as tragic. Dr Pohl ended the talk thus :
Now you know the story behind the blue plaque – stardom, love, ridicule and double bankruptcy. Spare a moment when you pass to ponder and think about the fame, the love and the tragedy that lies behind it. And always remember, as José herself reminded us, that “Love Will Find A Way”.
