Audrey Mosson
Audrey Mosson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Elsie Audrey Mosson 3 September 1920 Preston, Lancashire, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 1 September 2009 (aged 88) Hastings, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupations | Celebrity, dancer, Railway Queen |
| Known for | 10th inductee of Railway Queen of Great Britain ' |
Elsie Audrey Mosson[note 1] (3 September 1920, Preston – 1 September 2009, Hastings) was an English teen celebrity and later a professional dancer.[1][2] She was a Railway Queen of Great Britain, and twice turned on the Blackpool Illuminations.
Biography
Mosson was born in Preston, Lancashire, and made her stage debut with the Blackpool Tower Children's Ballet.[3]
She was crowned the 10th Railway Queen of Great Britain at the Railway Carnival and Pageant held at 12Belle Vue, Manchester in August 1935 when she was 15 years old.[1] Later in 1935, she turned on the Blackpool Illuminations, an annual lights festival in Blackpool.[4] 50 years later, she again turned on the Blackpool Illuminations alongside actress Joanna Lumley.[5]
In 1936, she travelled to the Soviet Union on a peace visit and met Joseph Stalin.[1]
Audrey and her two sisters all married on the same day at a triple wedding at St Peter's, Blackpool in 1940. It was also their parents' wedding anniversary.[6]
A blue plaque was unveiled celebrating the achievements of Audrey Mosson at her former family home, Lonsdale Road, on 20 May 2023.[7]
Popular culture
Mosson features in the children's books Gracie Fairshaw and the Mysterious Guest and Gracie Fairshaw and the Trouble at the Tower by author Susan Brownrigg.[8][9]
Notes
- ^ also, mistakenly, Audrey Mossom in some sources
References
- ^ a b c Shenton, Kenneth (1 October 2009). "Audrey Mosson: Railway Queen of Great Britain who was entertained by Stalin on a peace trip to the Soviet Union". The Independent. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- ^ "Lives Remembered". Daily Telegraph. 7 October 2009. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- ^ "Audrey Mossom: Railway Queen of Great Britain who was entertained by". The Independent. 2009-09-30. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
- ^ "Blackpool Illuminations". The Electrical Journal. 115. Benn Bros., Limited: 351. 1935. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
Miss Elsie Audrey Mosson, the Railway Queen of Great Britain, performed the inaugural ceremony. The display is to be continued for five weeks and will cost £16 000. It is expected that about 3 000 000 visitors will be attracted to the resort ...
- ^ "Who Switched On Blackpool Illuminations". Blackpool Lancashire's Seaside Town. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- ^ Triple Wedding Aka Blackpool (1940), retrieved 2023-05-22
- ^ "Blue plaque for Blackpool Queen". Blackpool Gazette. 2023-05-12. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
- ^ Brownrigg, Susan (2020). Gracie Fairshaw and the mysterious guest. Jenny Czerwonka. Preston, England. ISBN 978-1-912979-34-9. OCLC 1180171451.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "GRACIE FAIRSHAW AND THE TROUBLE AT THE TOWER – UCLan Publishing". uclanpublishing.com. Retrieved 2021-09-03.