A StoneCrabs Theatre Company Project
Charlotte Mew Charlotte Mew, a celebrated poet in her time, is now almost forgotten. Born in 1869 in London, she had strong connections to the Isle of Wight where her father’s family owned a farm. Her father Fred was an Isle of Wight native, the son of Henry Mew who owned the Bugle Inn on… Continue reading Charlotte Mew
Anna Murray is known for her work as a Sexual Health Community Practitioner for Solent NHS Trust, as well as her previous role as Age UK’s LGBTQ+ Domestic Abuse and Hate Crime Lead. She helps run the Island’s only women’s LGBTQ+ group and also runs ‘Time For T’, the only trans support group on the… Continue reading Anna Murray
Karl Love is a councillor for East Cowes, and is one of the first openly gay local councillors on the Isle f Wight. Originally from Yorkshire, Love moved to the Island with his partner in 1992 when he became one of the Isle of Wight’s first Gay Men’s Sexual Health Workers. Love was involved in… Continue reading Karl Love
Patrick Gale is a British author who was born on the Isle of Wight in 1962. As a child, he lived with his family at HMP Isle of Wight; his father was Prison Governor at Camp Hill and his grandfather before him had the same role at Parkhurst. The story of Gale’s father is a… Continue reading Patrick Gale
(1955-2019) In 1983, Phaedra Kelly’s wedding at the Isle of Wight Registry Office made national headlines when he married Vanda, a cis woman at the registry office in Newport with Vanda as the groom and Kelly in traditional bridal attire. Kelly coined the term ‘gender transient’, which was included in the Oxford English Dictionary in… Continue reading Bruce Laker / Phaedra Kelly
(1954-2013) Nikki Dorakis was called Enrico Cortesi when he was born in Ventnor, Isle of Wight. He was a courageous activist, author, musician and psychiatric nurse who was involved in the Gay Rights movement and founded the Campaign for Homosexuality (CHE) group on the Isle of Wight in the 1970s. He arrived home one day… Continue reading Nikki Dorakis
Keith Biddlecombe was born on the Isle of Wight in 1936. He served in the Royal Navy in 1952 and was arrested and questioned in Malta under suspicion of being homosexual. He was sentenced to prison but released early for good behaviour. Biddlecombe was forced to rebuild a career for himself, eventually becoming a skilful… Continue reading Keith Biddlecombe
Tom Priestley is an award-winning British film and sound editor, the son of writer J B Priestley. Tom’s parents owned Billingham House near Chillerton and Tom spent some years living on the Island with them at Brook Hill House in the 1950s. Priestley edited some iconic nineteen seventies films including Tess, The Great Gatsby and… Continue reading Tom Priestley
(1924 – 2012) Kenneth Kendall was a popular British broadcaster, known for his pioneering work as a newsreader on the BBC and as the host of Channel 4’s Treasure Hunt. He had a cameo in the 1968 science-fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey. In 1992 Kendall moved to Cowes on the Isle of Wight, opening… Continue reading Kenneth Kendall
(1899–1963 Seely, 1901–1985 Paget) ‘The Shack’, a small cottage in the grounds of Mottistone Manor on the Isle of Wight was home to Paget and Seely. They were partners in their own architectural firm and referred to each other as ‘the partners’. Paget stated in an interview that they lived a “completely common life together”. Their… Continue reading John Seely and Paul Paget
