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Mirabel Topham
Mirabel Topham (15 August 1891 – 28 May 1980) was chairman and managing director of Topham Ltd for 36 years to 1973 and owner of Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England, where the Grand National horse steeplechase is held. She was one of the colourful and controversial personalities in UK racing during this time. Early life and stage career Mirabel Dorothy Hillier was born in London on 14 August 1891 and spent her childhood at the Baron's Court Hotel in Fulham that was managed by her grandparents James and Rachel Hillier. Her parents Henry Hope and Nellie Hillier (née Buck) assisted, but by 1922 her father was manager of the Haymarket Theatre, London. She had one brother (Cedric, died 1991, aged 99), a sister Beatrice (1895–1988) and a second sister who died in infancy. The family moved to West Ham and then Walthamstow, by which time the sisters were working as actresses or gaiety girls under the names Hope and Trixie Hillier. As Hope Hillier she appeared in plays, comedie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aintree
Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, northeast of Liverpool city centre. In 2011 the parish had a population of 6689. It is best known as the site of Aintree Racecourse, which since the 19th century has staged the Grand National horserace. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was also a three-mile-long international Grand Prix motor racing circuit on the site, which used the same grandstands as the horserace. A shorter form of the racing circuit is still used for various motorsport events. The northern terminus of the Aintree district is commonly referred to by the local populace as "Old Roan." This nomenclature is a colloquial moniker employed by residents and lacks formal legal recognition as a distinct geographical location. History The name Aintree, thought to be of Saxon origin, means "one tree" or "tree standing alone." It is first re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walker Art Gallery
The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 when the Liverpool Royal Institution acquired 37 paintings from the collection of William Roscoe, who had to sell his collection following the failure of his banking business, though it was saved from being broken up by his friends and associates. In 1843, the Royal Institution's collection was displayed in a purpose-built gallery next to the Institution's main premises. In 1850 negotiations by an association of citizens to take over the Institution's collection, for display in a proposed art gallery, library and museum, came to nothing. The collection grew over the following decades: in 1851 Liverpool Town Council bought Liverpool Academy's diploma collection and further works were acquired from the Liverpool Society for the Fine Arts, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1891 Births
Events January * January 1 ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new African territories. * January 4 – The Earl of Zetland issues a declaration regarding the famine in the western counties of Ireland. * January 5 **The Australian shearers' strike, that leads indirectly to the foundation of the Australian Labor Party, begins. **A fight between the United States and Lakotas breaks out near Pine Ridge agency. **A fight between railway strikers and police breaks out at Motherwell, Scotland. * January 7 ** General Miles' forces surround the Lakota in the Pine Ridge Reservation. ** The Inter-American Monetary Commission meets in Washington DC. * January 9 – The great shoe strike in Rochester, New York is called off. * January 10 – in France, the Irish Nationalist leaders hold a conference at Boulogne. The French government promptly takes loan. * Jan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pantasaph
Pantasaph is a small village in Flintshire, north-east Wales, two miles south of Holywell in the community of Whitford. Its name translates into English as Asaph's Hollow. History The abbey lands at one point belonged to the nearby Basingwerk Abbey. Pantasaph came into the possession of the Pennant family at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The land passed down in the family until 1846, when the sole heiress Louisa married Rudolph, Viscount Feilding, heir to the 7th Earl of Denbigh. They both converted to Roman Catholicism and decided to donate St David's Church, which they had recently built for Pantasaph, to the Catholic Church. This caused a considerably outcry at the time. It was accepted by the Friars Minor Capuchin of Great Britain as their mother house and opened in 1852. The church was designed by T H Wyatt and modified, to make it more specifically suited to Catholic use, by Augustus Pugin, who designed the high altar, the pulpit, the baptismal font, the rer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Dimmock
Peter Harold Moss Dimmock (6 December 1920 – 20 November 2015) was a British sports broadcaster, television producer and television executive for the BBC. He began his career as a racing correspondent for the PA Media, Press Association before joining the BBC as a producer and commentator at their Outside Broadcasts television department, working on almost 2,000 outside broadcasts. Dimmock was the first host of the BBC's long-running ''Grandstand (TV programme), Grandstand'' and of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, BBC Sports Review of the Year awards and the weekly live sports programme ''Sportsnight, Sportsview'' from 1954 to 1964. He was assistant head of outside broadcasts from 1949 before becoming its head in 1954 until 1972, securing broadcast agreements for boxing, cricket, ice hockey, rugby, swimming and tennis and major state events. Dimmock worked at the American network American Broadcasting Company (ABC) as the vice-president of Worldwide Syndication and Mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Williams (actor)
Michael Leonard Williams (9 July 1935 – 11 January 2001) was a British actor who played both classical and comedy roles. He was best known for co-starring in the sitcom '' A Fine Romance'' with his wife Dame Judi Dench, and for voicing Dr. Watson in the long-running Sherlock Holmes adaptations for BBC Radio. Biography Williams was born on 9 July 1935 in Liverpool, Lancashire. Williams married Judi Dench on 5 February 1971, the same year in which they co-starred in a stage production of John Webster's ''The Duchess of Malfi'', and, as RSC actors, in '' Pack of Lies'' and ''Mr. and Mrs. Nobody''. They had one daughter, Finty Williams, who is also an actress. Williams was also godfather to the actor Rory Kinnear. Williams was the President of the Roman Catholic Actors' Guild. Shortly before his death from lung cancer aged 65, Williams was appointed a Knight of St Gregory (KSG) by Pope John Paul II for his contribution to Catholic life in Britain. The honour was official ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Widely considered one of Britain's greatest actors, she is noted for her versatility, having appeared in films and television, as well as for her numerous roles on the stage. Dench has garnered List of awards and nominations received by Judi Dench, various accolades throughout a career that spans seven decades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, two Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Television Awards, six British Academy Film Awards, and seven Olivier Awards. Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she performed in several of Shakespeare's plays, in such roles as Ophelia in ''Hamlet'', Juliet in ''Romeo and Juliet'' and Lady Macbeth in ''Macbeth''. Although most of Dench's work during this period was in theatre, she also branched out into film work and won a BAFTA Film Award for Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, BAFTA Award as Most Promisin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dick Francis
Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England. After wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winning over 350 races and becoming champion jockey of the British National Hunt. He came to further prominence in 1956 as jockey to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, riding her horse Devon Loch which fell when close to winning the Grand National. Francis retired from horseracing and became a journalist and novelist. Many of his novels deal with crime in the horse-racing world, with some of the criminals being outwardly respectable figures. The stories are narrated by the main character, often a jockey, but sometimes a trainer, an owner, a bookmaker or someone in a different profession, peripherally linked to racing. This person always faces great obstacles, often including physical injury. More than forty of these novels became international ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dead Cert (1974 Film)
''Dead Cert'' is a 1974 British crime thriller film directed by Tony Richardson and starring Scott Antony, Geoffrey Bateman and Judi Dench. It was written by ex jockey and ''Daily Telegraph'' racing correspondent Lord John Oaksey and Richardson, adaptated from the 1962 novel of the same name by Dick Francis. Oaksey was also technical advisor and a riding double in the film. Plot Alan York is stunned when his dear friend, skilled jockey Bill Davidson is killed during a simple steeplechase. Convinced Davidson's death was no accident, York begins an investigation with a suspicion that Davidson's racehorse, Admiral, was drugged in a murderous act of sabotage. Assisting him as he delves into this world of high stakes, horses and gambling is Davidson's devoted widow, Laura. Cast The horse Admiral was played by the three-day eventing champion Cornishman V, the same horse that played Arizona Pie in '' International Velvet''. Production Some scenes were shot at Fontwell and Aintre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, Moss won a record 212 official races across several motorsport disciplines, including 16 Formula One Grands Prix. In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Moss won the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1954 12 Hours of Sebring, 1954, as well as the Mille Miglia in 1955 Mille Miglia, 1955 with Mercedes-Benz in motorsport, Mercedes. Born and raised in London, Moss was the son of amateur racing driver Alfred Moss and the older brother of rallying, rally driver Pat Moss, Pat. Aged nine, Alfred bought him an Austin 7, which he raced around the field of the family's country house. Initially an equestrianism, equestrian, Moss used his winnings from horse riding competitions to purchase a Cooper 500 in 1948. He was i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aintree Racecourse
Aintree Racecourse is a horse racing, racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England, near to Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase, which takes place annually in April over three days. Aintree also holds meetings in May, October (Sunday), November and December (both Saturdays). The Aintree Racecourse had suffered three major disruptions in post-war history, starting with the 1993 Grand National due to a series of false starts and no winner was announced, followed by the 1997 Grand National, postponed to Monday because of an IRA bomb threat and the 2023 Grand National was delayed due to Animal Rights protesters. History of the course Horse racing was popular in Liverpool from at least Tudor dynasty, Tudor times, In the 18th century Nicholas Blundell organised races on the sands at Crosby, Merseyside, Crosby. In 1829, William Lynn, the owner of the Waterloo Hotel in Ranelagh Street, Liverpool, approached the Second E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Bingham Mildmay, 2nd Baron Mildmay Of Flete
Anthony Bingham Mildmay, 2nd Baron Mildmay of Flete (14 April 1909 – 12 May 1950) was an English amateur Steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechaser, who raced in the Grand National. He also inspired Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother's interest in National Hunt racing. Early life Mildmay was the son of Francis Bingham Mildmay, 1st Baron Mildmay of Flete and his wife Alice Grenfell.L. G. Pine, ''The New Extinct Peerage 1884–1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms'' (London, U.K.: Heraldry Today, 1972) He was educated at St Cyprian's School, Eastbourne, where he was encouraged to equestrianism, ride on the South Downs, and at Eton College, Eton. He then went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Pitt Club, University Pitt Club. He fought in World War II, as an officer in the Welsh Guards, rising to the rank of captain. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Baron Mildmay of Flete on 8 February 1947. St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
