The Peterborough Archives Service recently took possession of a unique, multi-media collection which belonged to Patricia ‘Pat’ Bancroft of the Bancroft family, owners of the Embassy Theatre here in Peterborough. This collection has hundreds of theatre programs from the around the United Kingdom which she collected as memorabilia of her career in theatre management. Bancroft managed several theatre programs, beginning with a small circus, and then an ice-skating show. Eventually she worked her way up and became the company manager of the Sadler’s Well’s Opera, which was the UK’s largest traveling theatre group at the time.
Within this collection are a number of items which pertain to the Embassy. There is an impressive alphabetical list with 4400 names of artists who appeared at the Embassy Theatre (1938-1957) and three annotated volumes of the shows performed at the Embassy including short biographies of some of the most notable performers (1938-1955). There is also an unpublished short history, written by Pat Bancroft, which explains the Bancroft family’s involvement with the performing arts, which stretched back to the original ‘Bancrofts’, Fanny and Harry Abrahams, brother and sister music hall performers active in the 1880’s and 90’s.
This collection has over one hundred signed photographs of actors and musicians given to Bancroft family members and dates from around the 1900’s through to the 1950’s. There are many famous faces amongst the collection including George Formby.
There are fourteen 16mm film reels, which appear to be filmed performances at the Embassy Theatre, however further research is needed to confirm this. Currently equipment is not available to play these performances but there is an ambition on our part to digitise these recordings in future.
This collection has an audio interview on cassette with Mrs. ‘Puddy’ Bancroft which marked the theatre’s 50-year anniversary.
If you are interested in viewing this collection, please make an appointment in advance of your visit. We are open Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 10am-1pm.
Call: 01733 864160
Email archives.service@peterboroughlimited.co.uk