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- Keith Armstrong, 24/5/08: "...I said in my original contact that my mum is the illegitimate child of Rose Emily Douglas and I am particularly keen to see if there is any information you might know or be able to discover that might support my mum?s stories. Mum, (Kay) is suffering from emphysemia and until recently has been very tight lipped abouther past, but has just told me in the past few weeks a few bits of info which seem interesting but slightly un-provable. It is fantastic that I have a grand aunt Pearl still alive. I wonder if she might know of any of this story?
All I know of the Douglas name before Mum is from birth certificates,I have a copy of Rose Emily?s birth certificate. That tells us that dad was Herbert Edward Douglas who was a restaurant waiter in Kensington and lived with his wife Emily (formerly Hales) at 2 Upper Phillimore Place, Kensington. I had no idea that Rose had 3 sisters and that Pearl is still with us. I was hoping that Rose might still be alive as well.
Rose Emily was born on 23 December 1921 and I think Herbert must havebeen very young as well? About 16, unless I have dates wrong.
My mum?s birth certificate shows that she was born on 22 July 1936 atthe Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead. Rose would still only have been14 years old. The certificate lists her as unemployed but living at 13 Hargrave Park, Islington, London N19. Father unknown. According to my mum at this time the Douglas family were working for a family called Sims, and the address is probably the Sims home. The Sims family came from Edinburgh originally, but the man of the house at this time was Alastair Sims the actor who went on to make about 60 films mainly at the Ealing Studios, and included parts such as the Headmistress in the St. Trinians films. Mum has told us only about a month ago that Alastair Sim was her father!
Naturally, I initially thought her mind was straying with old age, but there are some strange coincidences that might support what she says. After being born Rose had mum placed in a Dr Barnardos home for adoption but actually maintained contact by visiting the home and ?helping? when the children were taken out on trips. I don?t know whether this was supported by the family but mum said at first she did not know the girl was her mum and only discovered it after quite a number of visits.
Mum was never officially adopted but when she was about 11 years old she went to live with a lady called Hester Levy in Rayners Lane, Harrow, Middlesex. This was whom I knew as grandma. Mum, as it turned out, was good at acting herself, and worked on stage as a teenager doing comedy and impersonations, writing her own material. She was in a doubleact called Kay and Yok. Maybe she was a chip off the old block?
Her mum was also approached by a famous actor, Alastair Sim (again) who offered to sponsor Kay in a form of apprenticeship with an acting dame of the age. This would have meant 2 years without a wage coming in, so Hester would not let it happen. Perhaps he was an absent father keeping a watchful eye on his offspring?
Mum also got a part as a child extra in one of the Ealing Comedies ofthe time. These are circumstancial points and it might all be coincidence or pure fiction, but it would be great to know. I checked and found that Alastair Sims was working in London in 1935 to 36, on a musical in the West end but it was at this time that his career really started to snowball and he made about 8 films in those 2 years.
I don?t know exactly how long mum kept contact with Rose Emily but she seems to think that Rose married someone called Murphy. Perhaps youcan confirm. I just found a death certificate for Rose Emily Murphy at Newham, London in Jan - Mar 1999. Is this Rose Emily? I would love to know her story and see any photos for resemblance to my mum. There are photo?s of Kay on my web site. I have looked at photo?s of Alastair Sim and now he seems very like my mum around the eyes and nose, butthis is probably the circumstancial anecdotes I have playing havoc with my eyesight!..."
Felicity Hardman (Peacock) 25/5/08: "...If her husband was this Mr Murphy, he was in the RAF - this is the only thing Pearl remembers. Because of this, and the baby (not Keith?s mother, but an official baby!),Rose acquired one of the early pre-fabs erected in the bombed-out spaces in London - Pearl remembers visiting this place just the once, butnot where it was. .."
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