Elsa Joel

Soprano singer Elsie Blanche Joel was born in Warwick in 1872 to Catherine and Michael Joel. The family had moved to Islington, London, by the census of 1881.

She began her career in the theatre after landing the starring role of Josephine in the operetta HMS Pinafore, where she wowed the audience with her singing voice. By the census of 1891 she was using her stage name of Elsa and gives her employment as "professional vocalist". Reviews from around this time describe her as having grown from a precocious child star into a tall and beautiful young woman. She appeared at many London theatres including the Empire music hall in London's Leicester Square, where Cuthbert Clark was employed. Cuthbert was already married but began an affair with Elsa, and ultimately left his wife for her. They moved to Manchester where Cuthbert took up a position as conductor at the The Palace theatre. They lived in Moss Side and had three children: Kate (born 1894), Cuthbert Victor (born 1895), and Gladys Florence (born 1897). By 1900 their relationship had ended and Elsa married Herbert Tetlow Francis on 1 September of that year. This marriage was not to last and Elsa petitioned for divorce just four months later, claiming Herbert had hit her several times and committed adultery. She also cited her husband's habit of brandishing a revolver had left her "terrified" .

Elsa returned to London and clearly kept in touch with the Clark family.  On the night of the 1901 census, Elsa and four-year-old Gladys were living at an address in St Pancras; meanwhile, the two older children were staying in West Ham with their grandmother Maria (Samuel's estranged wife), Maria's adult daughters Maud, Kate and Lillian, and Claude's girls Audrey and Irene.

By 1911 she was living in Brixton with her three children who had all followed their mother into the theatrical profession. Elsa began a relationship with Monte Bayly, a variety hall star and chairman of the Variety Artistes' Federation. Elsa adopted his surname and lived with Monte but they never married. This relationship also ended after a few years. 

In 1929 Elsa married Charles Valentine Barker and moved to Clapham in South London. After Charles' death in 1944, Elsa moved to Thanet in Kent, where she passed away in 1953 aged 80.