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Esther Rantzen
Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes and founded the charities Childline, a helpline for children, which she set up in 1986, and The Silver Line, designed to combat loneliness in older people's lives, which she set up in November 2012. Rantzen has been recognised for her contribution to television and society. She was awarded an OBE for services to broadcasting in 1991 and a CBE for services to children in 2006, and in the 2015 New Year Honours was made a Dame for services to children and older people through Childline and The Silver Line. She is patron for a number of charities, including the charity Operation Encompass, and is a trustee for the charity Silver Stories. Early life and family Rantzen was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, to Katherine Flora Rantzen (''née' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Silver Line
The Silver Line is a free confidential telephone helpline offering information, friendship and advice to older people in the United Kingdom, available 24 hours a day. As of 1 October 2019 The Silver Line joined forces with Age UK to help more of the older people who are struggling with loneliness and isolation. The Silver Line is a subsidiary of Age UK. History The helpline was established by Dame Esther Rantzen, who founded the children's helpline ChildLine in 1986. She wrote about her loneliness following the death of her husband Desmond Wilcox in 2000, and described loneliness among the elderly as "a creeping enemy" which "erodes confidence". The CEO of The Silver Line is Sophie Andrews. The helpline is a charity registered in the UK (Registered Charity no 1147330 in England and Wales, registered in Scotland as charity number SCO44467. Company No 8000807) Objectives The helpline aims to provide the following services: * Offer information, friendship and advice * Link cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dame
''Dame'' is a traditionally British honorific title given to women who have been admitted to certain orders of chivalry. It is the female equivalent of ''Sir'', the title used by knights. Baronet, Baronetesses Suo jure, in their own right also use the title ''Dame''. A woman appointed to the grades of Dame Commander or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg), Order of Saint John, the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Catholic), Order of the Holy Sepulchre, the Order of the Bath, the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, the Royal Victorian Order, or the Order of the British Empire becomes a dame. A Central European order in which female members receive the rank of Dame is the Order of St. George (Habsburg-Lorraine), Order of Saint George. Since there is no female equivalent to a Knight Bachelor, women are always appointed to an Order (distinction), order of chivalry. Women who are appointed to the Order of the Garter or the Order of the Thistle are gi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxford University Dramatic Society
The Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS) is the principal funding body and provider of theatrical services to the many independent student productions put on by students in Oxford, England. Not all student productions at Oxford University are awarded funding from the society. However it is rare, for example, for any student production at the Oxford Playhouse not to receive substantial funding from the society. The society funds many types of shows, mostly at the Oxford Playhouse, Burton Taylor Theatre, and the individual college theatres such as the Michael Pilch Studio at Balliol College, Oxford, Balliol, Moser Theatre at Wadham College, Oxford, Wadham and the O'Reilly Theatre at Keble College, Oxford, Keble. All productions put on by Oxford University students can use the society's services, such as the website, the auditions portal, and advice from the committee, providing their production company is registered. The Society supports a competition for Freshers (''Cuppers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwrights in London in the early 1890s. Regarded by most commentators as the greatest playwright of the Victorian era, Wilde is best known for his 1890 Gothic fiction, Gothic philosophical fiction ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'', as well as his numerous epigrams and plays, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts. Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Literae Humaniores#Greats, Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ada Leverson
Ada Esther Leverson (née Beddington; 10 October 1862 – 30 August 1933) was a British writer who is known for her friendship with Oscar Wilde and for her work as a witty novelist of the fin-de-siècle. Family Leverson was born into a Jewish family. Her father was Samuel Henry Beddington, a wool merchant, and her mother's name was Zillah. She had eight younger siblings, one of whom died in infancy. Her living siblings were named Evelyn, George, Charles, Sybil, Frank, Arthur and Violet. Sybil (who later married David Seligman) had a brief affair and long friendship with Giacomo Puccini. Violet (1874–1962) turned down a marriage proposal from composer Arthur Sullivan and later married author Sydney Schiff. At 19 Ada married Ernest Leverson (1852–1921) without her parents' consent. The marriage broke up when he moved to Canada in 1905. It has been suggested that her trilogy, ''The Little Ottleys'', is loosely based on her own marriage. Her daughter and biographer, Violet L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerald Finzi
Gerald Raphael Finzi (14 July 1901 – 27 September 1956) was a British composer. Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Large-scale compositions by Finzi include the cantata '' Dies natalis'' for solo voice and string orchestra, and his concertos for cello and clarinet. Life Gerald Finzi was born in London, the son of John Abraham (Jack) Finzi and Eliza Emma (Lizzie) Leverson. Finzi became one of the most characteristically English composers of his generation. Despite his being an agnostic of Jewish descent, several of his choral works incorporate Christian texts. Finzi's father, a successful shipbroker, died a fortnight before his son's eighth birthday. Finzi was educated privately. During World War I the family settled in Harrogate, and Finzi began to study music at Christ Church, High Harrogate, under Ernest Farrar from 1915.McVeagh, p. 9 Farrar, a former pupil of Charles Villiers Stanford, was then aged thirty and he described Finzi as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
West London Synagogue
The West London Synagogue, abbreviated WLS, and fully the West London Synagogue of British Jews () is a Reform Judaism, Reform Judaism, Jewish congregation and synagogue, located near Marble Arch, at 34 Upper Berkeley Street, in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation was established on 15 April 1840. The current synagogue building was dedicated in 1870, and was Listed building, Grade II listed in 1989. It is one of the oldest synagogues in the United Kingdom and it was the oldest house of prayer affiliated with the Movement for Reform Judaism, before its affiliation lapsed in February 2023. History 19th century On 15 April 1840, 24 members of the Mocatta, Goldsmid family, Goldsmid and other families announced their secession from their respective congregations, the Sephardi Bevis Marks Synagogue and the Ashkenazi Great Synagogue of London, and their intention to form a prayer group for neither "German nor Portuguese" Jews ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montague Leverson
Montague Richard Leverson (2 March 1830 – 26 September 1925) was a British lawyer known for his diverse career and controversial views. Born in England, Leverson pursued a legal career before emigrating to the United States. In the US, he initially settled in Colorado, where he became a rancher, embracing the rugged frontier lifestyle. His legal expertise soon led him to California, where he continued his work as a lawyer and became involved in politics. Leverson was a homeopathic physician, advocating for alternative medical practices at a time when conventional medicine was becoming more established. His medical views extended to a staunch opposition to vaccination, making him a prominent figure in the anti-vaccination movement. Leverson also denied the germ theory of disease, which posits that microorganisms are the cause of many diseases, a stance that placed him at odds with the scientific community of his time. Throughout his life, Leverson's outspoken opinions and uncon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barney Barnato
Barney Barnato (born Barnet Isaacs; 21 February 1851 – 14 June 1897) was a British Randlord and diamond magnate who was one of the entrepreneurs who gained control of diamond mining, and later, gold mining in South Africa from the 1870s up to World War I. He was known as a rival of Cecil Rhodes. Early life Barnato was born Barnet Isaacs in Aldgate, London, on 21 February 1851, to Isaac and Leah Isaacs. He and his siblings, Harry, Kate, Sarah and Lizzie, grew up in Whitechapel. Their mother died in 1852 and their father made a living by selling second hand clothing and fabric remnants. Barnato was educated by Moses Angel at the Jews' Free School, but left school with Harry in their early teens to join their father's business. The brothers performed on stage in the music halls as the Great Henry Isaacs "and Barnett too". They became known as Bar-na-to, or the Barnato, Brothers. Barney also become a prizefighter.Stephen Inwood (2005). ''City of cities: The birth of modern Lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slum
A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily inhabited by impoverished people."What are slums and why do they exist?" UN-Habitat, Kenya (April 2007) Although slums are usually located in urban areas, in some countries they can be located in suburban areas where housing quality is low and living conditions are poor. While slums differ in size and other characteristics, most lack reliable sanitation services, Water supply, supply of clean water, reliable electricity, law enforcement, and other basic services. Slum residences vary from shanty town, shanty houses to pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spitalfields
Spitalfields () is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and situated in the East End of London, East End. Spitalfields is formed around Commercial Street, London, Commercial Street and Brick Lane. It has several markets, including New Spitalfields Market, Spitalfields Market, the historic Old Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane Market and Petticoat Lane Market. The area has a long attracted migrants from overseas, including many Jews, whose presence gained the area the 19th century nickname of ''Little Jerusalem''. It was a Hamlet (autonomous area) of the large ancient parish of Stepney (parish), Stepney in Middlesex, and became an independent parish in 1729. Just outside the City of London, it formed part of the County of London from 1889 and was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Stepney from 1900. It was abolished as a civil parish in 1921. Origin and administration Toponymy The name Spitalfields appears in the f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
