Salford's
Famous Women
K ...............
* Kate Ford
..... Salford-born actress known to millions as Tracy Barlow in Coronation Street
* Katharine Masterson - Kitty Masters
born March 15th 1902 died 1994
..... born in Salford, she was a singer who was a household name in the 1930s and 1940s. At the age of four she gave her first solo performance when she was taken to a Socialist meeting by her father and joined in with the singing of The Red Flag. So enthralled was the gathering that she was lifted on to a table and asked to sing it again. By the age of 6 she was appearing at Manchester concert halls as " Wee Kitty Masters". Early in her career she worked with some of the big variety stars of the day - George Robey, Gertie Gitana and Harry Lauder. During the 1920s she had to care for her mother who was crippled with rheumatoid arthritis, put her career on hold and started a sheet music and record business with her brother. In 1933 she became resident singer at The Ritz Ballroom, Manchester. Her big break came when she recorded for the Sterno Record Company in London and she was engaged by the BBC Dance Orchestra. Her fan mail became so large that it was brought to her in waste-paper baskets. She sold more than 1.5m records and her signature tune was Little Man, You've Had a Busy Day. In 1936 she toured with the vocalist Les Allen as a double act. During WW2 she joined ENSA and entertained troops in France and Belgium and also appeared in workers Playtime on the radio. She appeared at the London Palladium and in the 1945 Royal Gala Performance in Belfast and last sang in public in the late 70s
..... in 1994 she was awarded a British Empire Medal and was the FIRST ever recipient of Salford's Mayoral Citizen Award in July 2001. She was the driving force behind the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital research equipment fund raiser of £1m. The award will be given once per month to citizens who have made an outstanding contribution to Salford. In October 2003 it was announced that Kath, now aged 88, will receive a Pioneer To The Life Of The Nation award for her work for the hospital where she worked for over 20 years
* Kathleen Howie
neé Kathleen Whalley Smith
born 1903 died 1990
..... born at Pendleton, daughter of the 1st Lord Colwyn and in the course of her long career devoted much of her energy and talents to the service of others. She was the youngest JP in Britain but left the bench when the Second World War began and was invited to form the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry in Denbighshire. During the Blitz in the Second World War she became deputy director in the Department of Joint War Organisation at Red Cross headquarters in London and after the war remained with the British Red Cross where she held several posts. In 1946 she was awarded the MBE. When she left the organisation she bought a directorship in a commercial art studio and established an agency for artists. She then worked with Which! magazine liaising with women's organisations. As honorary secretary of the Women's Press Club she transformed its fortunes during her three years in office. A lot of her free time was spent in the Girl Guide movement
* Kathryn Carmyllie
..... FIRST female to be appointed as vicar of St Mary's the Virgin, Ellenbrook Road, Worsley, in its 700-year history - 2007