We’ve had a letter from Mrs K Leek, of Keighley, who is trying to find details on some rather theatrical ancestors, and wonders if Remember When? readers can help.

Mrs Leek writes: “I am a member among hundreds of the public who is trying to find their ancestors and build a family tree.

“I along with members of my family often come up against a brick wall because I don’t know exact dates. We have had a fair amount of success but the following questions are, at the moment, getting us nowhere.

“In the late 1800s- early 1900s a young woman named Mary Ann Whelan/Wellam was in a play called The Derby Winner on stage at The Theatre Royal, Bradford. She was my dad’s cousin (my dad died in 1925 when I was four), and I would like to know her age. Did she take a main part or was she just a member of the cast?

“Time went on and one day she became the landlady of the Rosse Hotel at Shipley, where she had another husband (the first one being imprisoned in Armley Jail for cooking his employer’s book). She had given birth at that time to a baby boy, and her husband had invented something that was a great help at that time to the brewery that served the Rosse.

“What was the invention and what was the name of the brewery and what was the name of her husband, if she was married? The name of her first husband would be the icing on the cake.”

If anyone can help, do let us know and we’ll pass on your information.