PYKE, Montagu Alexander (1874-)

Born Quarter Jun 1874 – Holborn, London, Middlesex.
Marriage Jun 1905 – Westminster, London, Middlesex
J 77/1122/4047  Divorce Court File: 4047. Appellant: Genevieve Alix Marie Pyke. Respondent: Montagu Alexander Pyke. Type: Wife’s petition for divorce wd. 1913
Daily Express 9th July 1914 “Scene at the carlton  Dramatic Divorce Story  An illused wife’s attempt to commit suicide was described in the Divorce Cort yestersay, when Mrs Genevieve Alix Marie PYKE was granted a decree nisi because of the cruelty and misconduct of her husband, Montagu Alexander PYKE of Wanborough Manor, Guildford, managing Director Amalegamated Cinematographgh Theatres.
Mr. Barnard, Q.C.,said-the marriage took place in 1905 and Mr.and Mrs.Pyke lived atEnnismore-Gardens. There were two children.
The marriage was not a happy one and continued ….”
“Pyke (figure 1) was a larger-than-life figure, formerly a commercial traveller, gold miner and bankrupted stock market gambler who was inspired by the success of some of the first cinema exhibitions in London to make a quick fortune.”
“Pyke was a charlatan and a crook, one whose dubious methods of raising capital were rapidly exposed, and who in 1915 was bankrupted once again, as well as being puton trial for manslaughter when an employee died in a nitrate film fire in the basement of the Cambridge Circus Cinematograph Theatre itself”
Source: “Diverting Time: London’s Cinemas and Their Audiences, 1906–1914 LUKE MCKERNAN” http://www.lukemckernan.com/LDN2202.pdf Accessed 16th November 2008.