The Masters  
The Powell & Pressburger Pages

Dedicated to the work of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and all the other people, both actors and technicians who helped them make those wonderful films.

A lot of the documents have been sent to me or have come from other web sites. The name of the web site is given where known. If I have unintentionally included an image or document that is copyrighted or that I shouldn't have done then please email me and I'll remove it.

I make no money from this site, it's purely for the love of the films.

[Any comments are by me (Steve Crook) and other members of the email list]

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From Susan Day < susan.day@wanadoo.fr>
"Poppa" Day wseb site walterpercyday.org

Hello Steve,

[I had emailed Susan with some news about Peter Ellenshaw & asked her about the Day/Ellenshaw family tree]

No, I'm delighted when people ask me about my family tree, even though by the time I'm through, they are scratching their heads in bewilderment and wishing they'd never broached the subject.

Walter Percy Day (1878-1965) was my paternal grandfather. He was first married to Ada Chandler whom he vowed he would marry when he first saw her on a street in Luton, when she was about sixteen. She was an adventurous young lady, as she got a job as a governess with a wealthy Tunisian family (she must have been courageous to undertake work abroad alone, and in a Muslim country at that, at the beginning of the century). According to family lore, she met a wealthy man on the ship on the way out who proposed to her. So without further ado, Grandad followed her out and married her in Tunis in about 1906. They had two sons, Arthur and Thomas (my father), who later worked for him as draughtsman and cameraman/photographer, respectively (whence his nickname, in the film industry, "Pop" Day). If you have read the bio on the Internet, they lived in France for over ten years, from about 1922/23, where my grandmother died of a brain haemorrhage in 1927.

In 1932, the Days returned to England to work for Korda, and took a house in Iver (Bucks) near the Denham film studio. Peter Ellenshaw was then an aspiring young painter who lived nearby with his mother, stepfather and sisters. He dropped by to show his work to my grandfather, who hired him and trained him as a matte shot painter. Adeline Eyles, Peter's mother, was ahead of her time, as she had raised three illegitimate children, of whom Peter was the youngest. She eventually married James Hook and had a fourth child, Irene. Peter introduced his mother to Pop Day and the rest they say is history: she fell in love with him, quit her husband and ultimately married him. So Pop Day became Peter's stepfather.

But that wasn't the end of the story : in 1939, Peter's half sister Irene married her step-brother Tom Day, and had me and my sister. So my sister is my step-cousin, and my parents are my step uncle and aunt, if you see what I mean... And in anticipation of the most frequent response to the story, no, I'm not making it up, and no, I'm not a child of incest!

Best,
Susan


Phew, I've heard of some complicated family trees, but not usually that complicated outside the European Royal Families :)

I had to draw it all out to make sense of it

 Walter Percy Day - (Tunis 1906) -  Ada Chandler
   (1878-1965)          |           (? - 1927, Brain Haemorrhage)
                        |
                  +-------------+
                  |             |
             Arthur Day    Thomas Day - (1939) - - - - - - - +
                                                             |
                                                             |
                                                             |
 ?? Ellenshaw - (unmarried) - Adeline Eyles                  |
                     |                                       |
                     |                                       |
   +-----------------+------------+                          |
   |                 |            |                          |
   ??               ??     Peter Ellenshaw                   |
                                                             |
                                                             |
 James Hook  - (??) - Adeline Eyles                          |
                 |                                           |
                 |                                           |
              Irene - (1939) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +
                 |
         +-------+-------+
         |               |
   Susan Day      Susan's sister

Walter Percy Day - (post 1932) - Adeline Eyles
 Adopted Peter, Irene & 2 elder siblings

So Susan is quite right, her parents had a different mother and father.

Quite a few members of this tree did work for P&P :-

W. Percy Day
  • The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
    • associate art director (uncredited)
    • scenic backgrounds (as Percy Day)
  • A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
    • additional effects (as Percy Day)
  • Black Narcissus (1947)
    • Special effects
    • Process shots
    • matte painter (uncredited)
Peter Ellenshaw
  • The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
    • assistant matte artist (uncredited)
  • A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
    • assistant matte painter (uncredited)
  • Black Narcissus (1947)
    • assistant matte painter (uncredited)
  • The Red Shoes (1948)
    • assistant matte artist (uncredited)
Arthur George Day
  • Black Narcissus (1947)
    • matte painter (uncredited)
Thomas Sydney Day
  • Black Narcissus (1947)
    • matte painter (uncredited)

A very talented family.


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