DIANA MELLY, aged 87
She met a series of husbands in nightclubs before marrying a famous jazz singer and becoming his manager and helper. It was a very unconventional marriage.
BRIAN SHERRIFF, aged 94
A designer of women’s underwear, he became a beekeeper after going bust and designed a revolutionary suit to protect people from bee stings.
DAPHNE SELFE, aged 97
A model and actress, she retired when she married. In her seventies she made a comeback and became an international sensation – the oldest model in the world.
CHERRY VALENTINE / GEORGE WARD, aged 28
Growing up in a travelling community he became a mental health nurse, but also had an alter-ego as a Drag Queen, becoming a television star and an advocate for LGBT rights.
LADY MARY RUSSELL, aged 88
As her family were friends with the Royal Family, she was chosen to be one of Queen Elizabeth’s Maids of Honour at the Coronation. She had vivid memories of the occasion.
LEO BECKETT, aged 95
From being a political agent he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to his wife, who became a ground-breaking politician.
ROBIN FOY, aged 78
After experiencing strange phenomena in the RAF, he set up the Sole Experiment project to prove that there is life after death.
EILEEN ASH, aged 110
Before the war she played test cricket for England and then joined MI6. She resumed her cricket career and went on to be the world’s oldest test cricketer.
RICHARD SNELL, aged 69
A chair designer of great renown, he designed school chairs and seating arrangements for well-known places like the Royal Albert Hall and the Eden Project.
STELLA JAYE EDWARDS, aged 103
Learning to fly at the start of the Second World War, she was a pilot for the Air Transport Auxiliary, flying and delivering all types of planes around the country.
Roy Hackett, aged 93
Part of the Windrush generation coming to the UK from the Caribbean, he organised the Bristol Bus Boycott , which led to the first race relations legislation.
ANDY ROSS, aged 65
Originally in a punk band, he moved into music journalism and then created his own music label. He discovered bands like Blur (and Jesus Jones) and was responsible for the Britpop rivalry with Oasis.
MICHAEL WILSON, aged 79
A linguist who spoke both German and Russian fluently, he was a noted birdwatcher, writing and translating articles and books on birds, becoming an expert. He was also arrested by the KGB as a spy.
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