On this day in history – Page 130

On this day in history….29th May 1948

On this day in history : 29th May 1948 – The death of May Whitty, English stage and film actress – and one of the first women entertainers to be made a Dame for services to the Arts….

Born in Liverpool on the 19th of June 1865 she was christened Mary Louise Whitty but was to become known by her stage name of May Whitty…. Her father, William Alfred Whitty, was a newspaper proprietor and her grandfather was Michael James Whitty – who founded the police force and fire brigade in Liverpool and was founder of the Liverpool and Daily Post….

May made her stage debut in 1881 at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool – in the chorus of ‘Mountain Sylph’…. A year later she joined the Lyceum Company in London’s West End, which was then being managed by Henry Irving and Ellen Terry…. In 1895 she was to tour the USA for the first time, with Irving….

On the 3rd of August 1892 she married actor-manager Ben Webster and they had two children…. Their first, a son, sadly died at birth but their daughter, born in 1905, was also to become an actress – as well as a successful producer and director (Margaret Webster)….

For some 25 years May was known as one of the UK’s best leading stage actresses…. She made her first film appearance in 1914, a silent film ‘Enoch Arden’…. She did not care much for this form of acting and made only a few more of such films….

In 1918 May was made Dame Commander of the British Empire by King George for her service to the Arts and for entertaining the troops during World War One…. She was then to go on to have a run of successful hits on Broadway…. Back on home soil she was involved in the formation of Equity, when it was created in 1930 by a group of West End performers at her home in West London….

In 1937, at the age of 72, May made her Hollywood debut in the lead role of ‘Night Must Fall’ for which she received an Oscar nomination…. However, perhaps the highlight of her Hollywood career was as Miss Froy in Hitchcock’s 1938 film ‘The Lady Vanishes’….

Theatrical release poster, 1938 – Fair use

In 1939 May moved to the States permanently…. She was often cast in heart endearing roles – and sometimes as a cantankerous old lady…. 1942 saw her second Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress in ‘Mrs Miniver’…. When once asked about her late coming Hollywood career, she replied “I’ve got everything Betty Grable has – only I’ve had it longer”….

Theatrical release poster, 1942 – public domain

May died of cancer at the age of 82 in Beverly Hills – shortly after completing the 1948 film ‘the Sign of the Ram’….

On this day in history….28th May 1911

On this day in history : 28th May 1911 – The birth of actress, comedienne, presenter and writer Dame Thora Hird – who with a career spanning more than 70 years was to become a British institution….

Dame Thora Hird, 1974 – Image : Allan Warren, own work CC BY-SA 3.0

Thora was born in Morecambe, Lancashire…. Her mother, Mary Mayor, had been an actress and her father Henry Hird, managed entertainment venues in Morecambe…. Thora’s first stage appearance was at just 2 months old, during a play at the Royalty Theatre, one of the venues her father managed….

On leaving school Thora worked in the local Co-op store and in 1937 she married James Scott…. The couple had a daughter in December 1938, Jeanette Scott, who was also to become a successful actress….

Thora joined the Morecambe Repertory Theatre and then made her West End debut in 1944 in the play ‘No Medals’…. She was to make several film appearances, alongside big names such as Laurence Olivier, before finding her niche in TV comedy…. We probably remember her best for sitcoms such as ‘Meet the Wife’, ‘In Loving Memory’, “Hallelujah!’ and of course as Edie Pegden in ‘Last of the Summer Wine’…. But whilst we may particularly remember her for comedy roles Thora was a versatile actress, winning a BAFTA for best actress in two of Alan Bennett’s ‘Talking Heads’ monologues – and she won another BAFTA for her role in the 1999 TV film ‘Lost for Words’…. She was awarded an OBE in 1983 and made Dame Commander in 1993….

She had a heart bypass operation in 1992 and was widowed in 1994…. Suffering from severe arthritis Thora became a wheelchair user in later life…. However, this was not going to stop her from acting…. In December 1998 she played the part of Dolly’s mother in Victoria Wood’s hit TV comedy’Dinner Ladies’…. Her final acting role was for radio, ‘The Last of the Sun’ – a monologue written for her by Alan Bennett…. Thora died on the 15th of March 2003, aged 91….

1964 Bournemouth Pier Theatre programme – Image : Alwyn Ladell via Flickr

Radio Times, 4th May 1968 – Image : Bradford Timeline via Flickr

British History

On this day in history….27th May 1975

On this day in history : 27th May 1975 – The Dibbles Bridge coach crash, near Hebden, North Yorkshire kills 33 people – and is the highest ever death toll in a road accident in the UK….

Dibbles Bridge – Image : Karl and Ali CC BY-SA 2.0

The coach, belonging to Riley’s Luxury Coaches, was carrying elderly passengers from Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire to Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales on a day trip….

Whilst travelling along the B6265, on a downhill stretch between Greenhow and Hebdon, coach driver Roger Marriott missed a gear and applied the brakes…. The previous week the brakes had undergone a service and new linings had been fitted…. However, the brakes were unable to hold the coach and it continued to accelerate – the brakes began to heat up and then failed altogether…. The vehicle hurtled down the 1,300m 1:6 gradient hill from Fancarl Top to the bottom of the valley – before crashing through a steel barrier and then a 1m high stone wall above the bank of the River Dibb…. The coach landed on its glass fibre roof some 5m below in the garden of a cottage – its sides buckled on impact…. The owners of the cottage were enjoying a barbeque at the time and son-in-law Lincoln Seligman was first on the scene….

An inquest was held at Skipton Town Hall in July 1975 and was told that because of defects, due to the service and maintenance carried out, there was no breaking on the offside rear wheel…. Owing to deficient brakes the driver had been unable to negotiate the bend in the road…. The main loss of life had been caused by victims being crushed between the seats…. 33 were killed, including the driver – and a verdict of accidental death was recorded…. The owner of the coach company was fined £75 (the equivalent of just under £650 in today’s terms) for running a vehicle with defective brakes….

There had previously been another fatal coach crash at Dibbles Bridge…. In June 1925 seven people were killed and a further eleven injured when a coach carrying members of the York Municipal Employees’ Guild and their families on an outing to Bolton Abbey also suffered break failure….

1925 postcard of Dibbles Bridge coach crash – public domain

British History

On this day in history….26th May 1868

On this day in history : 26th May 1868 – Irish terrorist Michael Barrett, who was responsible for the Clerkenwell explosion, leaving 13 dead, is hanged in what is to be England’s last public execution….

Clerkenwell Prison, seen from within, after the bombing – unknown author – public domain

Barrett was born in 1841 and at the age of 27 he joined the Fenians, a political movement which dominated Irish Republican politics during the 1860s…. Ireland had been under British rule since the beginning of the 1600s…. The Irish Republican Brotherhood was founded in March 1858 with the aim of establishing independence and democracy for Ireland – its American counterpart, the Fenian Brotherhood, was founded in 1859…. By 1865 there were some 100,000 members and many acts of violence were being carried out across mainland Britain….

In 1867 the organisation was planning an armed uprising against the British – but the authorities had got wind of their plans and the leaders in Ireland were arrested…. However, two managed to evade capture and fled to England – but were caught in Manchester…. On the 18th of September, as they were being transferred to court, an ambush was to take place on the police van and the two prisoners were freed…. In the process police sergeant Charles Brett was shot dead….

Five men were arrested for the ambush and tried for murder….three were hanged at Salford Gaol on the 23rd of November 1867…. Mass protests had been held to demand clemency and a petition had been sent to Queen Victoria….

Meanwhile, three days before the hangings two more Fenian members had been arrested in London…. Ricard O’Sullivan Burke was charged with treason for securing weapons for the Fenians – it was also he who had planned the prison van ambush – and Joseph Casey, who was charged with assaulting a police officer…. They were placed in Clerkenwell Prison to await trial….

On Thursday the 12th of December their Republican colleagues attempted to rescue them by blowing a hole in the prison wall whilst the prisoners were in the exercise yard…. However the bomb failed to explode…. At 3.45pm the following day they tried again, using a barrel of gunpowder hidden in a street seller’s barrow…. A 60ft (18m) section of the prison wall was demolished – but also several houses nearby were damaged leaving many people injured and 13 dead…. The bombing was to cause much public backlash against the Irish community…. As it was the prisoners had all been locked in their cells at the time of the explosion as the prison authorities had been tipped off – so nobody escaped….

‘The Fenian Guy Fawkes’ by John Tenniel, Punch Magazine, 28 December 1867 – Public domain

Six men were tried at the Old Bailey, including Michael Barrett, with the trial starting on the 20th of April 1868…. It was presided over by Lord Chief Justice Cockburn and Mr Baron Bramwell…. Barrett protested his innocence and witnesses testified that he had been in Scotland at the time – however, another placed him at the scene…. Two of the defendants were acquitted by the Judges and after two and a half hours of deliberation by the Jury three more were acquitted…. On the 27th of April Barrett was found guilty and sentenced to death…. There was an outcry – many, including MPs, pleaded for clemency….

On the 26th of May 1868 some 2,000 gathered to watch as Barrett was hanged by William Calcraft outside Newgate Prison…. As his body fell the crowd sang ‘Rule Britannia’ and ‘Champagne Charlie’ and booed and jeered…. And that was to be the last public execution in England….

British History

On this day in history….25th May 1913

On this day in history : 25th May 1913 – The birth of Richard Dimbleby, pioneering journalist and broadcaster and the BBC’s first war correspondent – before becoming its main news presenter….

Frederick Richard Dimbleby was born in Richmond, Surrey to Gwendoline and Frederick J.G. Dimbleby, who was a journalist…. After leaving school in 1931 he began working on the family newspaper, which had been acquired by his grandfather in 1894…. The Richmond and Twickenham Times remained in the family until 2002….

Richard worked on other papers, including the Southern Evening Echo in Southampton, before joining the BBC in 1936…. It was in 1937 that he married Dilys Thomas and they were to go on and have four children….two of whom became major broadcasters in their own right – David and Jonathan….

The BBC sent Richard to Spain to cover the Civil War…. At the time there was no official foreign correspondent and it was at the outbreak of World War 2 that the title ‘War Correspondent’ was created…. During the War Richard was to accompany the British Expeditionary Force to France, making broadcasts from the Normandy beaches during the D-Day landings….and from the Battle of El Alamein, North Africa…. He flew on some 20 raids with the RAF as an observer and in April 1945 he made one of the first reports during the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp….He was a groundbreaking broadcaster, reporting from 14 countries during WW2…. He was among the first into Berlin and was to broadcast from the ruins of Hitler’s bunker….

Liberation of Bergen-Belsen, May 1945…. A crowd watches the destruction of the last camp hut – Image : Bert Hardy No.5 Army Film & Photographic Unit – Public domain

In 1946 Richard was awarded an OBE and then later in 1959 a CBE…. He was to become one of the most familiar and trusted faces on British television…. He was to lead the coverage for the majority of major state and political affairs, including Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation, the Victory Parade of 1946 and the funerals of Sir Winston Churchill, King George VI and John Kennedy…. He was to be the anchorman on the coverage of the General Elections of 1955, 1959 and 1964…. He was also to become the presenter of ‘Panorama’ – the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme….

Of course there were lighter moments in his broadcasting career…. He took part in radio broadcasts on the panel of ‘Twenty Questions’ and hosted ‘Down Your Way’…. He was also involved in the now famous April Fools Day prank of 1957 when he provided the narration for the Spaghetti Tree Hoax….

In December 1965 Richard presented a documentary on the link between smoking and lung cancer…. It was at this time he revealed that he too was suffering from cancer – a subject that was still little talked about…. By talking about his own condition he helped raise public awareness and break the taboo…. Richard had been diagnosed five years earlier with testicular cancer….he was to die just two weeks after the documentary on the 22nd of December 1965 in St. Thomas’ Hospital, London…. He was just 52 years of age….

With funds from public donations the family set up the Richard Dimbleby Cancer Fund – which relaunched in 2008 as Dimbleby Cancer Care…. In 1972 the Richard Dimbleby Lecture, an annual televised lecture, was founded in his memory…. Every year it is delivered by an influential, respected person and over the years has included Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Lord Hailsham, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Sir Terry Pratchett and of course many, many others….