Fonds - Charles H. Danielle fonds

Zone du titre et de la mention de responsabilité

Titre propre

Charles H. Danielle fonds

Dénomination générale des documents

  • Document textuel

Titre parallèle

Compléments du titre

Mentions de responsabilité du titre

Notes du titre

  • Source du titre propre: Title is based on the contents of fonds

Niveau de description

Fonds

Cote

Zone de l'édition

Mention d'édition

Mentions de responsabilité relatives à l'édition

Zone des précisions relatives à la catégorie de documents

Mention d'échelle (cartographique)

Mention de projection (cartographique)

Mention des coordonnées (cartographiques)

Mention d'échelle (architecturale)

Juridiction responsable et dénomination (philatélique)

Zone des dates de production

Date(s)

  • 1881-1901 (Production)
    Producteur
    Danielle, Charles H.

Zone de description matérielle

Description matérielle

2 cm of textual records

Zone de la collection

Titre propre de la collection

Titres parallèles de la collection

Compléments du titre de la collection

Mention de responsabilité relative à la collection

Numérotation à l'intérieur de la collection

Note sur la collection

Zone de la description archivistique

Nom du producteur

(1830-1902)

Notice biographique

Charles H. Danielle (1830-1902), dance instructor and hotelier, was born at Baltimore, Maryland, on 1 November 1830, son of Isabelle and Joseph Danielle. Danielle died at St. John's on 1 May 1902.

Danielle was drawn to the theatre at an early age, and began an acting career at age fourteen. By 1850, Danielle owned and operated his own dance school in Chicago, under the moniker "Professor of the Terpsichorean Art". Danielle deliberately kept details of his personal life shrouded in mystery, including his true name. According to one source, Danielle's real name was Charles Augustus Emerson. Danielle often referred to himself as "The Professor".

Danielle arrived in St. John's in 1861 and opened a dancing school, which proved unprofitable. He returned to the United States, and by 1880, was residing in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He maintained a summer home in Forest Lake Township, "Deer Lodge Farm", until around 1886. Danielle returned to St. John's in 1888 and operated a series of business ventures. In September, he leased a rink located on Prescott St. and held a "grand carnival and oriental ball". He continued to hold dance lessons at the studio, until the rink was destroyed by fire. He then opened a restaurant on Water St., the "Royal". The restaurant did well, but was lost in the fire of 1892. A second restaurant was opened at the top of Beck's Cove, the "Little Royal". This business was also successful, and Danielle soon expanded to larger premises on the shores of Quidi Vidi Lake, the Royal Lake Pavilion. Although the Pavilion was popular, Danielle felt unwelcome by neighbouring businesses and decided to move his premises elsewhere.

In 1895, Danielle dismantled the Pavilion and rebuilt next to a pond outside the city. The building was an eight-sided wonder, known as Octagon Castle, and boasted a ballroom, banquet hall, elaborate bedrooms, with many of the decorations hand-sewn by Danielle. One conversation piece was Danielle's coffin, the lid made of glass and the case lined with thousand of satin shells. The resort was very popular, and hosted many outings by the various St. John's clubs and societies. In 1898, Danielle hired an assistant, Frederick A. Brazill, whom he later adopted and made his heir. "The Professor" produced annual booklets advertising the pleasures of Octagon Castle, which included a lengthy list of house rules.

Danielle began to suffer heart troubles in the early 1900s; in his 1901 booklet, he forecast his own death within one year. Ever the showman, his prediction was accurate to the day. The Professor passed away in St. John's on 1 May 1902. The funeral procession drew crowds, as Danielle was delivered to the Protestant cemetery in his famous glass coffin.

Historique de la conservation

Portée et contenu

The fonds consists of the papers of Charles H. Danielle including, correspondence (1881, 1901); a list of suspected thefts within Octagon Castle (1901); program of "King Momus" Oriental themed masquerade ball (1888), directed by Danielle; 1 sales book, (1894-97), 1 photograph of an unidentified older man.

Zone des notes

État de conservation

Source immédiate d'acquisition

Some of the records were acquired from John Caines, in two accessions on 22 December 1977, and 1 August 1978.

Classement

Langue des documents

  • anglais

Écriture des documents

    Localisation des originaux

    Disponibilité d'autres formats

    Restrictions d'accès

    No restrictions

    Délais d'utilisation, de reproduction et de publication

    Instruments de recherche

    Fonds-level description only

    Éléments associés

    Frederick A. Brazill fonds

    Éléments associés

    Accroissements

    No further accruals are expected.

    Note générale

    Published booklet on Octagon Castle, by C. Danielle, PRL, 647.94 D22 (stored in folder, Vault)

    Désignations alpha-numériques

    M-123

    Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)

    Numéro normalisé

    Numéro normalisé

    Mots-clés

    Mots-clés - Lieux

    Mots-clés - Noms

    Mots-clés - Genre

    Zone du contrôle

    Identifiant de la description du document

    Identifiant du service d'archives

    Règles ou conventions

    Statut

    Ébauche

    Niveau de détail

    Moyen

    Dates de production, de révision et de suppression

    Created - May 15, 2013

    Langue de la description

    • anglais

    Langage d'écriture de la description

      Sources

      Zone des entrées