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Daniel Francis Dineen
Daniel Francis Dineen
Daniel Dineen was born in Preston, Lancashire in England in 1876. He was the fourth child of Cornelius and Eliza Dinneen. He was just two when his father fell out of the front bedroom window in their house. He was taken to Canada with his uncle and mother in 1884 and settled in West Toronto. There's no record of where he went to School, however he must had something of a musical education that lasted into his adult years. When he was 18 he was a baker with the Haag Bakeries. By 1897 he was able to concentrate on being a full-time musician.
Maud Helen Fanning
Maud Helen Fanning
Maud Helen Fanning was born in Dublin in 1878. She was the third of five children of John Fanning and Eliza McCarthy. She was baptised at St Agatha's Church in North Dublin on 18th October 1878. The family moved from Ireland to Canada in 1882 and settled in Toronto. The family seems to have moved through various rental houses in West Toronto. Its possible that Daniel Dineen and Maud Fanning may have known each other for some time before they were married.
Marriage
Marriage
Daniel Dineen and Maud Fanning were married on 18th September 1899. The announcement was reported in newspapers including the Toronto Saturday Night on 23 September 1899
Toronto Saturday Night 23 September 1899
Within a year Daniel and Maud were in residence in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the booming holiday resort for the industrial East Coast of the US. They were lodging with a local music store owner, Charles Godfrey and his family alongside another musician from Canada. There would have been plenty of lucrative work for Daniel as a musician providing afternoon and nightly entertainment. They spent the season there but returned to Toronto the following year.
The family started growing in 1903 with the birth of a son, Daniel Francis Dineen. This was soon followed by Lucille in 1905 and another child Elizabeth in 1907. Unfortunately, Elizabeth’s life is short and she died the following year. After that tragedy, the family grew with the birth of twins, Madeline Joan and John Dineen in 1909. By the time of the census the family was joined by another daughter, Mona Maria, and also Daniel Dineen’s mother, Eliza, lived with the family at 24 Wallace Avenue in Toronto. The family had one last son, Victor, in 1912.
Photo of the Dineen family taken approximately 1914. Backrow Daniel Dineen, Lucille Dineen. Middle row, Hilda Kirkwood (Family au pair), John Dineen, Madeline Dineen, Maud Fanning. Front row Mona Mary Dineen and Victor Dineen
A musical career
A musical career
In the census in 1911, Daniel Dineen describes himself as a freelance musician who worked at the Theatre. This was a source of mass entertainment for people in Toronto in the 1910s and 1920s. From an obituary of Daniel Dineen’s son (also Daniel Dineen), it appears that he played at the leading vaudeville venues in Toronto including Shea’s Theatre and Loew’s Theatres (Now the Elgin and Winter Garden theatres). As well as working with popular music, Daniel Dineen worked with professional musicians in classical venues. He was particularly associated as an accompanist for Bertha Crawford, known as the ‘Canadian Nightingale’
Lovers of music seldom have the opportunity to witness such a degree of perfection as was exhibited in "The Nightingale" (in Russian). Nightingale never sang sweeter than Bertha Crawford in this rendition. With the flautist, Daniel F. Dineen, a master of that difficult instrument, she warbled and gambolled in perfect ecstasy, revealing a divine beauty of tone that matched so magnificently the flute that vainly endeavoured to rival her.
By the time of the 1921 Census, the family was living on Baldwin Avenue. Daniel Dineen (Snr)’s income was $1300 but this was supplemented by $350 earnings from Daniel Dineen (Jnr) who had begun to play the violin in the same vaudeville theatres as his father. Looking at census records for people around the neighbourhood this was a much higher income than their neighbours. However, there was another note on the census return to say that Daniel Dineen (Senior) had been unemployed for 9 weeks before the census due to ill health. This loss of income due to ill health was bad enough but there was concern on the horizon with the advent of Talking pictures. This new form of entertainment threatened the future careers of the musical theatre orchestra player.
After 1921, Daniel Dineen’s name appears frequently in concert reviews in the Toronto and wider Ontario newspapers and he seems to have been considered one of Toronto’s leading musicians.
Daniel's death
Daniel's death
And then, he died. On 28th December 1926, his death was recorded at home by Maud, his wife. This must have been a huge shock to the family, emotionally and financially. His reputation was such that he had obituaries written in leading Canadian and American music journals including Musical Canada and The Flutist.
Daniel F. Dineen By Arthur Semple
Daniel F. Dineen By Arthur Semple
We have to chronicle with deep regret the sudden death on the 28th of December of Daniel F. Dineen, a very well-known flutist of Toronto, Canada. His death was due to a stroke. As a leader and soloist with the Diana Sweets Orchestra, he played up to and including the evening on which he was called, and had arranged his programme for the next day before returning to his home; but shortly afterwards he was stricken and, despite every medical attention throughout the night, all efforts proved unavailing.
He was a remarkable instrumentalist, possessed wonderful technic, and was a distinguished soloist. His genial disposition won him a host of friends in Canada and the United States, both in his extensive touring with leading organizations and in his capacity as leader of the Prince George Hotel Orchestra, where he came into close contact with many distinguished musical visitors, including some of the leading exponents of our instrument. He had been connected With many organizations, such as the 48th Highlanders Band and the "Kilties" of Toronto, under Lieutenant John Slatter and Lieutenant Wm. F. Robinson, respectively. He was also soloist with the British-American Band at Atlantic City, Seymour's Band at Brandywine Springs, at the Taylor Opera House, Trenton, N. J., and subsequently at the Royal Alexandra, Princess, and Shea's Theatres, Toronto. He played with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Frank Welsman and Harmony Symphony Orchestra under Arthur Semple; became director of music at the Prince George Hotel and the "Diana Sweets" Cafe, as above indicated, also director of orchestras of symphony proportions for Annual Recitals given by the Somers and Sternberg Schools of Dancing in conjunction with vocal studios.
A very pleasant incident in his career was his appearance as soloist at a concert given at Rideau Hall (Government House), Ottawa, during the reign of the Duke of Connaught (brother of the then reigning sovereign and uncle of the present King of England), who was at that time governor-general of Canada, when his royal highness personally complimented Mr. Dineen for his excellent performance and presented him with a gold emblem of esteem, which he prized very highly. His services were much in demand by vocalists for flute obbligato work at recitals and concerts. It is a somewhat singular coincidence that he first began playing as a boy with Lieutenant John Slatter and that one of his last engagements was as principal flute with the band of the 48th Highlanders under the same director at the New York State Fair at Syracuse, N. Y.
It will be of interest to your readers to know that Mr Dineen played on what was probably the first Sterling silver flute with a gold head joint; at any rate, it was the first of the kind made by Haynes of Boston and was an experiment suggested to them by Mr Dineen. On completion of the instrument, it was first tried and tested by Chas. K. North, the eminent virtuoso, who pronounced it a wonderful instrument and ordered one of a similar arrangement for his use.
Mr Dineen was the youngest son of former Colour-Sergeant Cornelius Dineen of Her Majesty's 70th Surrey Regiment, who served 23 years in the same regiment and distinguished himself in the Indian Mutiny and New Zealand War
The FlutistThe family stayed living at 215 Delaware Avenue for the next years. The two youngest girls, Madeleine and Mona were students at the Loretto Abbey school. In the 1927 edition of the Toronto city directory, Lucille, like her father and brother Daniel, was also described as a musician. At some point afterwards, she entered the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loretto Sisters) and became known as Sister (later Mother) Maria Giovanni). By 1931, Maud had taken a job as a Saleslady for the Federal System of Bakeries, perhaps an echo to Daniel Dineen’s early trade before he became a professional musician. Madeleine was married to Thomas Riley in 1932 and moved away from the home.
Maud's death
Maud's death
In early 1934, Maud was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She had an operation on 9th April 1934 but did not recover and died on 12th June 1934. She was buried, next to her husband, in the Mount Hope cemetery. She was around 55 years old.
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