The Postcard
An A. H. & S. Paragon Series postcard that was published in Margate. The image is a glossy real photograph.
The card was posted in Margate using a 2d. stamp on Thursday the 4th. July 1957. It was sent to:
The Ladies,
Midland Bank Ltd.,
Overseas Branch,
Cable Office,
122 Old Broad Street,
London EC2.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Having a wonderful time.
Weather excellent. We have
just had one storm, but it
was soon over..
The picture is one of our
hotel. It has a heated pool,
and I have been going for a
dip just before we go to bed.
Just what the doctor ordered.
Ann."
Change of Name
The chairman of HSBC Holdings, William Purves, and Group Chief Executive of Midland Bank, Brian Pearse, made an historic announcement on the 17th. March 1992: HSBC Holdings had made an offer for Midland Bank.
On the 25th. June 1992 Midland Bank became a member of the HSBC Group. It was one of the biggest banking mergers of its time.
Queen's Hotel
The Queen's Hotel was sold by Butlin's in the 1960's to Louis Holloway. It was re-named Queen's Motel, and the indoor pool that Ann swam in was converted into a dolphinarium.
The hotel was demolished 1978.
Cliftonville
Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town. It contains the area known as Palm Bay.
The original Palm Bay estate was built in the 1930's as a number of large, wide avenues with detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, garages and gardens. This land was sold by Mr Sidney Simon Van Den Bergh to the Palm Bay Estate Co. on the 23rd. June 1924. Such avenues include Gloucester Avenue and Leicester Avenue.
East Cliftonville
The Palm Bay estate covers the eastern part of Cliftonville, and was fields before the first avenue was built. It extends east beyond Northumberland Avenue and has been developed in phases. The later phase extending eastwards of Princess Margaret Avenue is a modern-style housing estate with small houses largely identical in appearance and of less substantial build quality than the original 1930's estate.
The eastward expansion of Cliftonville has included much of the former parish of Northdown, including Northdown Park and House.
West Cliftonville
West Cliftonville was originally developed as the up-market alternative to bustling Margate, and had many small private hotels and guest houses with outstanding Victorian architecture which catered for the many visitors to what was in the first half of the 20th. century a thriving holiday resort.
Many of the large hotels have been converted into one bed flats; this has brought about positive action from Thanet District Council which introduced selective licensing, ensuring that quality home improvements are maintained by landlords (2006) and restricting planning permission for one bedroom flats (2007).
Cliftonville now has many of its streets protected by conservation area orders. The seafront area once included many large hotels, including at one time a large Butlins complex. Some fantastic hotels remain, e.g. Smiths Court Hotel overlooking the sea, and The Walpole Bay Hotel.
Tourism and visitor numbers have increased in Cliftonville (2018) with the addition of newly opened bed and breakfasts changing the Cliftonville landscape. Northdown Road and Cliff Terrace have also had a resurgence, with many trendy and hip businesses opening up.
The Oval Bandstand and lawns run by community group GRASS Cliftonville bring an opportunity to bring community engagement to Cliftonville, and they host a monthly award-winning farmers' market on the last Sunday of every month.
During the summer there are a number of activities and events, including musical shows. The Tom Thumb Theatre brings a host of music events and theatre to Cliftonville.
Writing and Poetry
During the first half of the 20th. century, Cliftonville was considered the fashionable hotel quarter of Margate. It was during the autumn of 1921 that T. S. Eliot spent a period of convalescence at the Albermarle Hotel. His widow has confirmed that he found inspiration for, and wrote significant sections of 'The Waste Land' in the Grade II listed Nayland Rock promenade shelter.
The spirit of early 20th. century Cliftonville was caught by John Betjeman in his poem "Margate Pier".
Trevor Howard
Trevor Howard was born in Cliftonville on the 29th. September 1913.
Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith was an English stage, film, and television actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved star status with his role in the film Brief Encounter (1945), followed by The Third Man (1949).
He is also known for his roles in Golden Salamander (1950), The Clouded Yellow (1951), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), Battle of Britain (1969), Lola (1969), Ryan's Daughter (1970), Superman (1978), Windwalker (1981), and Gandhi (1982).
For his performance in Sons and Lovers (1960) he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
-- Trevor Howard - The Early Years
Trevor Howard was born the son of Mabel Grey (Wallace) and Arthur John Howard-Smith. Although Howard later claimed to have been born in 1916, the year quoted by most reference sources, he was in fact born in 1913 (this is supported by school and other records).
His father was an insurance underwriter for Lloyd's of London, serving as representative in Colombo, Sri Lanka and elsewhere; Trevor spent the first eight years of his life travelling around the world.
Trevor was educated at Clifton College (to which he left a substantial legacy for a drama scholarship), and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). In 1933, at the end of his first year, he was chosen as best actor in his class for his performance as Benedict in a production of Much Ado About Nothing.
While Howard was still studying, he made his professional debut at the Gate Theatre in Revolt in a Reformatory (1934).
When Trevor left school he worked regularly on the stage, including in Sheridan's The Rivals, several performances at Stratford-upon-Avon, and in a two-year run in the original production of French Without Tears.
-- Trevor Howard in WWII
Howard did little to stop the stories that he had a courageous wartime service in the British Army's Royal Corps of Signals, which earned him much respect among fellow actors and fans.
However, as set out in a 2001 biography of Howard by the journalist Terence Pettigrew, files held in the Public Record Office revealed he had actually been discharged from the British Army in 1943 for mental instability and having a "psychopathic personality".
Howard's widow, the actress Helen Cherry, initially denied this, but after being confronted with the official records, she said that Howard's mother had claimed that he was a holder of the Military Cross, adding that her late husband had an honourable military record with "nothing to be ashamed of".
The London Gazette shows that Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith was actually commissioned into the South Staffordshire Regiment as a Second lieutenant effective 3rd. October 1942, but he had relinquished his commission on the 2nd. October 1943 "on account of "ill-health". This contradicted the post-war stories that he had won the MC and high promotion.
-- Trevor Howard's Career
After a theatrical role in The Recruiting Officer (1943), Howard began working in films, with an uncredited part The Way Ahead (1944), directed by Carol Reed.
He was in a big stage hit, A Soldier for Christmas (1944), and a production of Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie (1944).
Howard received his first film credit for The Way to the Stars (1945), playing a pilot.
Howard's performance in The Way Ahead came to the attention of David Lean, who was looking for someone to play the role of Alec in Brief Encounter opposite Celia Johnson (1945).
Lean recommended him to Noël Coward, who agreed with the suggestion, and the success of the film launched Howard's film career.
He followed it with I See a Dark Stranger (1946) with Deborah Kerr, and Green for Danger (1947), starring Alastair Sim. Both films were successful, as was They Made Me a Fugitive (1947).
That year British exhibitors voted Howard the 10th. most popular British star at the box office.
So Well Remembered (1948) was made with American talent and money, and was a hit in Great Britain, but lost money overall. Howard was reunited with Lean for The Passionate Friends (1949), but the film was not a success.
However, The Third Man (1949), in which Howard starred alongside Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten from a story by Graham Greene, was a huge international success, and became the film of which Howard was most proud.
During filming in Vienna, Howard was keen to get to his favourite bar for a drink as soon as filming had finished for the evening. On one occasion Howard was in too much of a hurry to change out of his uniform as a British Army major.
After a few drinks, he got into an argument and attracted the attention of the Military Police who detained him for impersonating a British officer.
The MPs, being non-commissioned officers, then had to summon an officer to arrest him. On the lieutenant's arrival, the matter was settled by an apology.
Howard was the lead in Golden Salamander (1950), and played Peter Churchill in Odette (1950) with Anna Neagle, a big hit in Great Britain. It was directed by Herbert Wilcox who put Howard under contract.
Herbert loaned Howard to Betty Box and Ralph Thomas in order to make The Clouded Yellow (1950), a popular thriller with Jean Simmons. These films helped Howard be voted the 2nd. biggest British star at the box office in 1950, and the 5th. biggest in 1951.
Howard was reunited with Carol Reed for Outcast of the Islands (1952), and he made a war film, Gift Horse (1952). That year he made his final appearance in Britain's ten most popular actors, coming in at number nine.
Trevor was then in another adaptation of a Graham Greene story, The Heart of the Matter (1953). Greene also wrote and produced Howard's next film, the British-Italian The Stranger's Hand (1954).
Howard was in a French movie, The Lovers of Lisbon (1955), then supported Jose Ferrer in a war film from Warwick Pictures, The Cockleshell Heroes (1955), which was popular in Great Britain.
Howard's first Hollywood film was Run for the Sun (1956), in which he played a villain to Richard Widmark's hero. He made a cameo in Around the World in 80 Days (1956), and again played a villain to an American star, Victor Mature, in Warwick's Interpol (1957).
Howard starred in Manuela (1957), then supported William Holden in Carol Reed's The Key (1958), for which he received the Best Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
When William Holden dropped out of the lead of The Roots of Heaven (1958), Howard stepped in - the star part in a Hollywood film (although top billing went to Errol Flynn).
After the thriller Moment of Danger (1960), Trevor was in Sons and Lovers (1960), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.
He was nominated for a BAFTA on four other occasions. and received two other Emmy nominations, one as a lead, and the other as a supporting actor. He also received three Golden Globe Award nominations.
Howard was reunited with Holden for The Lion (1962). He was Captain Bligh to Marlon Brando's Fletcher Christian in MGM's remake of Mutiny on the Bounty (1962).
Trevor was in a TV movie production of Hedda Gabler (1962), and played the title role in "The Invincible Mr Disraeli" (1963).
He then supported Robert Mitchum in Man in the Middle (1964), and Cary Grant in Father Goose (1964).
After a cameo in Operation Crossbow (1965), Howard supported Frank Sinatra in Von Ryan's Express (1965), Brando and Yul Brynner in Morituri (1965), and Rod Taylor in The Liquidator (1965).
After a leading role in The Poppy Is Also a Flower (1966), he made two movies with Brynner: Triple Cross (1966), and The Long Duel (1967).
Howard had a change of pace supporting Hayley Mills in Pretty Polly (1968). He then went back to military roles: The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968), as Lord Cardigan, and Battle of Britain (1969), as Air Vice Marshal Keith Park.
He had support roles in Lola (1969), and Ryan's Daughter (1970), the latter for David Lean.
Trevor made a Swedish film The Night Visitor (1971), then settled into a career as a character actor: To Catch a Spy (1971), supporting Kirk Douglas; Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), as Sir William Cecil; Kidnapped (1971); Pope Joan (1972); Ludwig (1972); The Offence (1972), with Sean Connery; A Doll's House (1973), for Joseph Losey; Who? (1974), supporting Elliott Gould; and Catholics (1974) for British TV.
Trevor also appeared in some horror films - Craze (1974), Persecution (1974) - and the more prestigious 11 Harrowhouse (1974), in which his wife Helen Cherry also starred.
In The Count of Monte Cristo (1975), he mentored Richard Chamberlain. He played military men in Hennessy (1975) and Conduct Unbecoming (1975). Around this time he complained that he had to work so hard because of the high rate of tax in Great Britain.
Howard played in Albino (1976), shot in Rhodesia; The Bawdy Adventures of Tom Jones (1976); Aces High (1976); Eliza Fraser (1976), shot in Australia; The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977); and Stevie (1978).
Trevor was one of many names in Superman (1978), Hurricane (1979), Meteor (1979) and The Sea Wolves (1980). He also appeared in a TV series Shillingbury Tales (1980–81).
One of his strangest films, and one he took great delight in, was Vivian Stanshall's Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (1980), in which he played the title role. He and Celia Johnson were reunited in Staying On (1980) for British TV.
Howard was also top-billed in Windwalker (1981).
-- Trevor Howard - The Final Years
Howard appeared in some prestigious movies towards the end of his career: The Deadly Game (1982), The Missionary (1982), Gandhi (1982), George Washington (1984), Shaka Zulu (1986), Dust (1985), and Peter the Great (1986).
At the time of filming White Mischief (1988) on location in Kenya during 1987, Howard was seriously ill and suffering from alcoholism. The company wanted to sack him, but co-star Sarah Miles was determined that Howard's distinguished film career would not end that way.
In an interview with Terence Pettigrew for his biography of Howard, Miles describes how she gave an ultimatum to the executives, threatening to quit the production if they got rid of him.
Trevor's His final film role was in The Dawning in 1988.
Throughout his film career Howard insisted that all his contracts include a clause excusing him from work whenever a cricket Test match was being played.
Howard recorded two Shakespeare performances, the first, recorded in the 1960's, was as Petruchio opposite Margaret Leighton's Kate in Caedmon Records' complete recording of The Taming of the Shrew; the second was in the title role of King Lear for the BBC World Service in 1986.
-- The Personal Life and Death of Trevor Howard
Trevor married stage and screen actress Helen Cherry in 1944.
A British government document leaked to the Sunday Times in 2003 showed that Howard was among almost 300 people who had declined an official honour of the United Kingdom. He declined to be made a CBE in 1982.
Trevor Howard died, aged 74, at his home in Arkley, Barnet on the 7th. January 1988. The cause of death was hepatic failure and cirrhosis of the liver.
Jenny Seagrove
So what else happened on the day that the card was posted?
Well, the 4th. July 1957 marked the birth of the English actress Jenny Seagrove.
She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and first came to attention in the film Local Hero (1983), as well as playing the lead in a television dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance (1984).
Jenny starred in the thriller Appointment with Death (1988) and William Friedkin's horror film The Guardian (1990). She later played Louisa Gould in Another Mother's Son (2017).
Jenny is known for her role as the character of Jo Mills in the long-running BBC drama series Judge John Deed (2001–07). Her credits as a voiceover artist include a series of Waitrose television advertisements.
-- Jenny Seagrove - The Early Years
Jenny was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaya (now Malaysia) to British parents, Pauline and Derek Seagrove. Her father ran an import-export firm, which afforded the family a privileged lifestyle.
When Seagrove was less than a year old, her mother suffered a stroke, and was unable to care for her. Seagrove attended St. Hilary's School in Godalming, Surrey, from the age of nine.
After leaving school, Seagrove attended the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, in spite of her parents' wishes for her to have a career as a professional cook.
Seagrove developed bulimia in her early adulthood, but recovered:
"I could feel myself tearing my stomach,
and I kind of pulled out of it. It was a
very slow process."
-- Jenny Seagrove's Career
(a) Theatre
Seagrove's theatre work includes the title role in Jane Eyre at the Chichester Festival Theatre (1986); Ilona in The Guardsman at Theatr Clwyd (1992); and Bett in King Lear in New York, again at Chichester (1992).
Jenny played opposite Tom Conti in Present Laughter at the Globe Theatre (1993); Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker at the Comedy Theatre (1994); and Dead Guilty with Hayley Mills at the Apollo Theatre (1995).
She played in Hurlyburly for the Peter Hall Company when the production transferred from the London Old Vic to the Queen's Theatre (1997); co-starred with Martin Shaw in the Parisian thriller Vertigo (Theatre Royal Windsor October 1998) and then with Anthony Andrews (also Windsor, 1998).
In 2000 she appeared in Brief Encounter at the Lyric Theatre; followed by Neil Simon's The Female Odd Couple at the Apollo (2001). Again at the Lyric Theatre in 2002 she played the title role in Somerset Maugham's The Constant Wife, followed by a revival of David Hare's The Secret Rapture in 2003, and The Night of the Iguana two years later in 2005.
Coming to the West End from a UK tour, she played Leslie Crosbie in Maugham's The Letter at Wyndham's Theatre (2007), co-starring with Anthony Andrews.
In December 2007, Jenny played Marion Brewster-Wright in the Garrick Theatre revival of Alan Ayckbourn's dark, three-act comedy Absurd Person Singular.
In 2008, she and Martin Shaw starred in Murder on Air, at the Theatre Royal, Windsor.
In 2011, Jenny once again starred alongside Martin Shaw in The Country Girl at the Apollo Theatre, playing the part of Georgie Elgin.
In early 2014, she appeared as Julia in a revival of Noël Coward's Fallen Angels. The production was produced by her partner Bill Kenwright, and also starred Sara Crowe.
In 2015, she and Martin Shaw starred in an adaptation of Brief Encounter, using an original radio script from 1947 and staged as "A live broadcast from a BBC radio studio", at the Theatre Royal Windsor.
Returning to the West End in October 2017, Seagrove played Chris MacNeil in The Exorcist at the Phoenix Theatre.
(b) Film
Jenny Seagrove starred alongside Rupert Everett in the Academy Award-winning short film A Shocking Accident (1982), directed by James Scott. Her first major film appearance was in Local Hero (1983) in which she played a mysterious environmentalist with webbed feet.
Roles in a number of films including Savage Islands (1983) opposite Tommy Lee Jones, and Appointment with Death (1988) followed.
One of her lead starring roles was in The Guardian (1990), directed by William Friedkin, in which she played an evil babysitter.
In 2017, she played the lead role in Another Mother's Son, starring as Louisa Gould, a member of the Channel Islands resistance movement during World War II, who famously sheltered an escaped Russian slave worker in Jersey and was later gassed to death in 1945 at Ravensbrück concentration camp.
(c) Television
Seagrove first came to mass public attention in the 10-episode series of the BBC production Diana (1984) adapted from an R. F. Delderfield novel, in which she played the title role as the adult Diana Gaylord-Sutton (the child having been played in the first two episodes by Patsy Kensit).
Seagrove starred in two American-produced television miniseries based upon the first novels of Barbara Taylor Bradford: as Emma Harte in A Woman of Substance (1984) and Paula Fairley in Hold the Dream (1986).
Jenny portrayed stage actress Lillie Langtry in Incident at Victoria Falls (1992), a UK made-for-television film. As the female lead, Melanie James in the film Magic Moments (1989), she starred with John Shea, who played the magician Troy Gardner with whom she falls in love.
Seagrove, along with Simon Cowell, presented Wildlife SOS (1997), a documentary series about the work of dedicated animal lovers who save injured and orphaned wild animals brought into their sanctuary.
Most of Seagrove's filmed work since 1990 has been for television. Between 2001 and 2007, she appeared as QC Jo Mills in the series Judge John Deed. She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2003 when she was surprised by Michael Aspel.
With John Thaw she guest starred in the episode "The Sign of Four" (1987) of the series Sherlock Holmes. She also guest starred in episodes of Lewis ("The Point of Vanishing", 2009) and Identity ("Somewhere They Can't Find Me", 2010).
A few years later, she appeared in the series Endeavour (the prequel to the Inspector Morse series), in the episode "Rocket" (2013).
-- Jenny Seagrove's Personal Life
Seagrove is an animal rights activist and an advocate for deregulation of the herbal remedy industry in the United Kingdom, and promotes a vegetarian diet.
Since 1994, her partner has been the theatrical producer Bill Kenwright, chairman of Everton F.C. The couple appeared together as contestants on a charity edition of ITV1's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, winning £1,000. They also appeared together on a celebrity edition of the BBC's Pointless which aired on the 3rd. January 2014.
Seagrove was previously married to British and Indian actor Madhav Sharma from 1984 to 1988, and then dated film director Michael Winner from 1989 until 1993.
-- Mane Chance Sanctuary
Mane Chance Sanctuary is a registered charity that provides care for rescued horses, based in Compton, Guildford. The charity aims:
"To provide sanctuary and relief from suffering
for horses, while promoting humane behaviour
to all animals and mutually beneficial relationships
with people who need them".
Mane Chance Sanctuary was established in 2011 by Seagrove, who stepped in to support a friend facing financial difficulties. Seagrove was able to secure land on Monkshatch Garden Farm, and has since grown the charity which today cares for over 30 horses using a unique system of equine welfare.
The charity's trustees include the actor Sir Timothy Ackroyd and the philanthropist Simrin Choudhrie. The chairman is James McCarthy.
In 2014, she performed a duet alongside singer Peter Howarth called The Main Chance, as part of a promotion for the Mane Chance Sanctuary.
Lonnie Donegan
Also on that day, the Number One chart hit record in the UK was 'Gambling Man' by Lonnie Donegan.
