Madge Belmont Handcuff Queen
I want to thank everyone, especially Phoenix, for the information on Mary Jane Elizabeth Hawkins (Madge Belmont - Handcuff Queen). I am researching her for a series of articles on female escape artists during the Houdini era. Mary was the first person in England, and only the second in the world, to escape from a straitjacket while suspended upside down by their feet high in the air. Houdini, who became known for this feat, did it two years later. Though he did it outside while handing 100 feet in the air, while Mary did it from the theater’s ceiling or over the stage. Her other feature escapes were from a wooden coffin constructed by a local mortician and from a large locked canvas bag after being handcuffed, chained and shackled. In 1919 she was paid 14£ a week. That is about 700£ in today’s money.
It is amazing that Mary went from being in a workhouse in 1911 to dangling over the heads of the audience in a straitjacket just 2 years later.
Her date of death is still a bit of a mystery. Be careful, the information on the Steatham Park Memorial is not always correct.
If anyone has the birth certificates for her children, I would like to find out what William’s occupation was listed as. Trying to find out more about when he started on the stage. If not, I will order copies.
Thanks again for the help.
Gary
Durham, North Carolina, USA
|