Salford's
Famous Women
PQ ...............
* Lady Elwyn-Jones
ne้ Pearl Binder
born 1904 died 1990
..... author, playwright, stained-glass artist, lithographer, sculptor, ceramicist and champion of the Pearly Kings and Queens, she was a legendary character who had a lifelong fascination with the East End of London where she settled in the 1920s. She was born in Salford and studied art at evening classes. In the early days of television she presented a programme on the history of fashion and in the course of her life travelled extensively in Russia and China, wrote a musical, designed costumes for a theatre company, wrote stories for children, designed a Pearly mug and plate for Wedgwood and instigated and executed 22 armorial windows at the House of Lords. In 1937 she married Frederick Elwyn-Jones and in 1964 he became Lord Chancellor. She took little part in politics but was always a keen supporter of women's rights
born February 24th 1921 died 2008
..... FIRST woman in the UK to have her own hour-long BBC television series - The Pat Kirkwood Show. She was said to be Britain's answer to Betty Grable and her legs were described as the eighth wonder of the world. Besides the theatre she appeared in films and conquered Las Vegas when she starred for a record-breaking three months in cabaret. She was born in Seedley Terrace, Pendleton, Salford and made her debut at the Royal Hippodrome where she was billed as The Schoolgirl Songstress. At the age of 18 she starred in the lavish West End revue Black Velvet, the FIRST theatrical production visited by King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth after the outbreak of war