Herbert/Herbie Orlando 1888-1968
There is a very pronounced theatrical theme running through this family as you will see when you get to James Arthurs family. Herbie ALLEGEDLY ‘was a double’ for Victor McClaughlan (my dad swears blind he’s the bloke being punched by John Wayne in the Quiet Man) and (bottle) blonde haired Herbert Junior (his nephew, Arthurs eldest) was the swimming double for Donald Houston in the Blue Lagoon with Jean Simmons no less. And that is definately true. We’ll get to the younger Herbert later as that one is a cracker of a story, young Herbie is a legend.
Back to the protagonist though, Herbie went to Canada with his family and joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Presumably a previous military career would have helped with this application. There may well have been a shortage of manpower after the first world war. Another anecdote relates that Herbert was wanted for murder and returned to the UK which would be at odds with his (alleged) Police career somewhat. This is under dispute. At any rate Herbert came back to the UK.
Herbert’s medal record. There are 2 Herbert Wrights who served in the Coldstream Guards in WWI. The first one arrived in France in 1914 and seems to have served out the entire campaign. We know Herbert was pensioned out of the army and was married in 1917 so I believe that this is Herbert’s medal record showing the service number 24453. The card shows that like Charlie Herbert received the Victory medal as well as the British Army medal. All soldiers who took part received these APART FROM ONE who we shall very definitely get to later and his tale is fascinating. Oh yes.
Herbert married Jessie Kate Gundry on
19th October 1917.
Here is Herbert’s marriage certificate very kindly forwarded to me by Elizabeth Ince.
Jessie Kate Gundry 1894 –
 Jessie Kate : Little Red Riding Hood | On the back of the photo it said Banister Hovrail or Howard Company, Red Riding Hood, Theatre Royal. This is the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. On Jan 9th 1929 she married David’s father. |
They already had a daughter called Gwendoline who was born at the end of 1916. The marriage certificate from Lambeth Registry office states that Herbert was a former Private in the Coldstream Guards and was now a military pensioner aged 29. In order to be pensioned out of the army you would have had to have been wounded and put out of action for the rest of the war. The PRO has the records of all WWI army pensioners stating their wounds and other information. All 4 Battalions of the Coldstream Guards fought at the Somme in 1916
Jessie was 23. Both of them lived in Brixton. Herbert at 67 Stockwell Park Road and Jessie at 33 Lorn Road. Both roads share a street corner. Curiously Gwendoline was registered at Chester-Le-St which is the registration centre for Birtley. By 1920 they had another daughter called Alma and she was registered in Northallerton. Alma had a son called Barry. Finally Elsie Lillian Mary Wright was born in Stockwell in 1922, a mere stones throw from Brixton. Bearing in mind that Eva, Stella, Dolly and Connie [verification needed] were all in London Herbert wouldn’t have been short of a place to stay there and apparently he was a frequent visitor. Herbert died on 13th September 1968 and this was registered in Hampstead, London..
As all of these relatives are theatricals working in London is it too far fetched to suggest that he met Jessie Kate via one of them?
Back again to the elusive Herbert Jnr. When Herbert died a ‘relative’ had to register the death. An H.G. Wright showed up giving his home address as
1,York Road, Hew Estate, Birtley
This is of course Herbies nephew and namesake Herbert, Arthurs son. Arthurs boys seem to have had a lot of interaction with Herbie. Victor and his brother visited Herbie in Hampstead and took him out for drinks, once Herbie got out of his night shirt and put out his candle. I get visions of Ebeneezer Scrooge for some reason.
There is a Herbert Wright aged 45 and an Agnes who sailed on the Ship Georgic in 1935 to USA/Canada. Surely he’d have been 46/47? This could be Herbert. The date is ok as we know that Jessie Kate had married again and produced a son called David on 10TH November 1934. At some point then Herbert returned to England as he was certainly in Birtley soon after Charles Lewis died in 1946 as he arranged the sale of Charlies tools.
The Wrights Family History 