Dates

• Existence: 1877 - 1953

Biography

Richard Monte was Randall Williams son-in-law.

Richard war born in 1877 and he married Randall William's daughter Caroline. Richard run Randall's cinematograph show together with his wife and brother James (d.1939) carried on his shows.

Richard had been employed at ‘Haydon and Urry Ltd.’, one of the first companies to produce cinematographs for showmen. Using the popularity of Williams’ exhibits, Caroline and Richard toured their bioscope under the name ‘Randall Williams Cinematograph Show’ from 1899 to 1913. In 1906 they added a large 110-key Gavioli Organ to the show. It was considered one of the best in the country, taking 4 years to construct and boasting 3200 pipes as well as automatic coloured light changes. The shows were highly praised by the local and national newspapers alike.

In 1913 the show was almost completely destroyed in a fire at Thirsk Marketplace, and the bioscope was one of the items that was lost. This didn’t stop the Monte-Williams family, however, and they continued travelling with attractions such as a Scenic Railway and steam gondolas.

During the first years of WWI the family continued travelling their shows and organised charitable concerts and events to raise War Relief Funds for the war effort, joining the new wave of voluntary activity and the surge on the foundation of charities around the country. By 1918 restrictions on travelling and lighting had taken their toll on the business and the fairground equipment was sold off. This same year Richard started to work for the Forestry Commission hauling timber with his traction engines, steam wagons and horses.

After the war, Richard returned to his original occupation running a chain of cinemas until 1924 when Caroline and him separated. He then went to manage a Scenic Railway attraction for Pat Collins Junior in the Midlands and later settled on Canvey Island where he died in 1953. James Monte continued to tour his show during and after the war until 1933, when he returned to London to run a company which supplied gaming machines until his death in 1939.

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