Oral history project: Kate Higgins (nee Ballard)

Description

Interview with Mrs. Kate Higgins (nee Ballard) born 1905; recalls her mother's (Emily Ballard) experiences as a dressmaker; Kendalls, where her father, Reginald Ballard worked; Church of England school; Miss Hubbard's 'finishing school' in Mayfield Avenue; secretarial training; the Shakespeare Hotel where she worked from 1921; the Justine family; Marie Corelli; Mr. John Higgins, whom she married in 1941; visits to Shakespeare Hotel by George Bernard Shaw, Charles Chaplin, Raymond Navarro, Frederick March, Janet Gaynor, Adolf Monjou, Jack Buchanan, Ivor Novello, various 'Eastern potentates'; curfew bell on the Guild Chapel; Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations; a grand ball held at the Shakespeare Hotel, 1921; regattas in the 1920s; the Royal Shakespeare Theatre; requisitioning of the hotel during World War II. Includes her own typescript (with copy) of some of her memories.