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The Bishops Avenue
The Bishops Avenue, London N2, connects the north side of Hampstead Heath at Kenwood (Hampstead Lane), Hampstead to East Finchley and is on the boundary between the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey. It is considered to be one of the wealthiest streets in the world. The road is often referred to by its nickname of "Billionaires' Row". The 66-house street runs downhill north–south and with the parallel Winnington Road displays a variety of architectural styles. Average property prices on the avenue surpassed £1 million in the late 1980s and each property occupies a 2–3-acre plot.New London Property Guide In 2006, the smallest houses in the street were selling for £5 million while a larger house, Turkish tycoon Halis Toprak's Toprak Mansion, sold amidst great secrecy to the president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, for £50 million in January 2008, making it one of the most expensive houses in the world, as listed by ''Forbes'' magazine. Homes on the street ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Winnington-Ingram
Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram (26 January 1858 – 26 May 1946) was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939. Early life and career He was born in the rectory at Stanford-on-Teme, Worcestershire, the fourth son of Edward Winnington-Ingram (a Church of England priest and Rector of Stanford) and of Louisa (daughter of Henry Pepys, Bishop of Worcester). Winnington-Ingram was educated at Marlborough College and Keble College, Oxford; he graduated with second-class honours in Literae Humaniores ('Greats') in 1881. His younger brother Edward and his nephew (Edward's son) Arthur were both priests who became Archdeacons of Hereford. Another nephew of his was Reginald Pepys Winnington-Ingram, a scholar of Greek tragedy and Professor of Greek at King's College, London. He was a private tutor in Europe, 1881–84; curate at St Mary's, Shrewsbury, 1884–85; private chaplain to the Bishop of Lichfield, 1885–89; head of Oxford House Settlement, Bethnal Green 1889–97, chaplain to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Desmond
Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British publisher, businessman and former pornographer. According to the 2021 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Desmond was the 107th richest person in the United Kingdom. He is the founder of Northern & Shell, a publisher known for running The Health Lottery and for having owned a variety of pornographic titles and of celebrity magazines (including '' OK!'' and ''New!''), Britain's Channel 5, pornographic television network Portland, and Express Newspapers. In 2020, Desmond was involved in controversy after pressuring the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Robert Jenrick to overrule the Planning Inspectorate and approve a housing development for Desmond's company. The timing of the decision saved the company £40 million but was later overturned. Early life Desmond was born in Hampstead, London, into a Jewish family, the youngest of three children, and was raised in Edgware, in north west London. Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One of the most successful composers and performers of all time, McCartney is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing, versatile and wide tenor vocal range, and musical eclecticism, exploring styles ranging from pre–rock and roll pop to classical and electronica. His songwriting partnership with Lennon remains the most successful in history. Born in Liverpool, McCartney taught himself piano, guitar and songwriting as a teenager, having been influenced by his father, a jazz player, and rock and roll performers such as Little Richard and Buddy Holly. He began his career when he joined Lennon's skiffle group, the Quarrymen, in 1957, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Sometimes called "the cute Beatle", McCartney later invo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heather Mills
Heather Anne Mills (born 12 January 1968) is an English former model, businesswoman and activist. Mills first came to public attention in 1993 when she was a model and was involved in a traffic collision with a police motorcycle in London. The accident resulted in the amputation of her left leg below the knee, but she continued to model using a prosthetic limb and later sold her story to the tabloid journal '' News of the World''. She began a relationship with Paul McCartney in 2000. They married in June 2002 and Mills gave birth to Beatrice Milly McCartney on 28 October 2003. They separated in 2006, and finalised their divorce in 2008. After her marriage to McCartney, Mills became involved in animal rights advocacy and as of 2012 is a patron of Viva! (Vegetarians' International Voice for Animals) and the Vegetarian and Vegan Foundation. She is also vice-president of the Limbless Association. Early life Mills was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, to John 'Mark' Francis Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emil Savundra
Michael Marion Emil Anacletus Pierre Savundranayagam (6 July 1923 – 21 December 1976), usually known as Emil Savundra, was a Sri Lankan swindler. The collapse of his Fire, Auto and Marine Insurance Company left about 400,000 motorists in the United Kingdom without cover. As a post-war black marketeer, Savundra committed bribery and fraud on an international scale before settling in the UK to sell low-cost insurance in the fast-growing automotive market. By defaulting on mandatory securities, he funded a lavish lifestyle and travelled in fashionable circles. This attracted the attention of the press, who uncovered evidence of major fraud. In a TV interview with David Frost, Savundra demonstrated contempt for his defrauded customers (some of whom were in the studio audience) and denied any moral responsibility. The police had been investigating him, and he was soon arrested and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. Released after six, Savundra died two years later as a dru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asil Nadir
Asil Nadir (born 1 May 1941) is a British Turkish Cypriot businessman, who was chief executive of Polly Peck, which he took over as a small textile company, growing it during the 1980s to become one of the United Kingdom's top 100 FTSE-listed companies, with interests in consumer electronics, fruit distribution and packaging. In 1990, Polly Peck collapsed following an investigation by the Serious Fraud Office and charges were brought against Asil Nadir on 70 counts of false accounting and theft, which he denied. From 1993 until 2010 Nadir lived in northern Cyprus, having fled there to escape a trial in the UK. He remained a fugitive from British justice until 26 August 2010, when he returned to London to face trial. His trial commenced at the Old Bailey on 3 September 2010, on 13 specimen charges of false accounting and theft totalling £34m. He was found guilty of 10 counts of theft totalling £29m and on 23 August 2012 was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Early life Nadir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mousetrap
''The Mousetrap'' is a murder mystery play by Agatha Christie. ''The Mousetrap'' opened in London's West End in 1952 and ran continuously until 16 March 2020, when the stage performances had to be temporarily discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic. It then re-opened on 17 May 2021. The longest-running West End show, it has by far the longest run of any play in the world, with its 28,915th performance having taken place as of November 2022. Attendees at St Martin's Theatre often get their photo taken beside the wooden counter (showing a count of the number of performances) in the theatre foyer. As of 2022 the play has been seen by 10 million people in London. A "Whodunit", the play has a twist ending, which the audience are traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre. There are eight members of the cast, and by 2012 more than 400 actors and actresses had played the roles. Richard Attenborough was the original Detective Sergeant Trotter, and his wife, Sheil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Saunders (theatre)
Sir Peter Saunders (23 November 1911 – 6 February 2003) was an English theatre impresario, notable for his production of the long-running Agatha Christie murder mystery, ''The Mousetrap''. Early life and career Saunders was born in Swiss Cottage, London. His father died in a swimming accident (with the boy on his back), and he was subsequently educated at Oundle School and in Lausanne, Switzerland, thanks to an aunt's sponsorship. Although his mother advised him to get a job with Harrods after completing his education, he instead followed his older brother, the film director Charles Saunders, into showbusiness, working at a film studio as a cameraman and director. Following spells as a newspaper reporter and press agent (to Harry Roy, among others), he served in the Second World War as an Army captain in the Intelligence Corps, and following the end of hostilities, he moved into theatre production. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Katie Boyle
Caterina Irene Elena Maria Boyle, Lady Saunders (née Imperiali dei Principi di Francavilla; 29 May 1926 – 20 March 2018), usually known as Katie Boyle, was an Italian-born British actress, writer, radio announcer, television personality, game-show panellist and animal rights activist. She became best known for presenting the Eurovision Song Contest on four occasions, in 1960, 1963, 1968 and 1974; the first three in London and the last in Brighton, England. She was once an agony aunt, answering problems that had been posted by readers of the ''TVTimes''. Early life, modelling and film career She was born in a royal palace in Florence, Tuscany, Italy, which had once belonged to the Italian royal family, the daughter of an Italian marquis (the Marchese Demetrio Imperiali di Francavilla), and his English wife, Dorothy Kate Ramsden. She came to the United Kingdom in 1946 and started a modelling career, which included work for such publications as ''Vogue''. She also appeared i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dame Gracie Fields
Dame Gracie Fields (born Grace Stansfield; 9 January 189827 September 1979) was an English actress, singer, comedian and star of cinema and music hall who was one of the top ten film stars in Britain during the 1930s and was considered the highest paid film star in the world in 1937. She was known affectionately as ''Our Gracie'' and ''the Lancashire Lass'' and for never losing her strong, native Lancashire accent. She was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) and an Officer of the Venerable Order of St John (OStJ) in 1938, and a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1979. Life and work Early life Fields was born Grace Stansfield, a daughter of Frederick Stansfield (1874–1956) and his wife Sarah Jane 'Jenny' Stansfield née Bamford (1879–1953), over a fish and chip shop owned by her grandmother, Sarah Bamford, in Molesworth Street, Rochdale, Lancashire. Her great-grandfather, William Stansfield (b.1805), of Hebden Bridge, Y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Butlin
Sir William Heygate Edmund Colborne Butlin (29 September 189912 June 1980) was a South African-born British entrepreneur whose name is synonymous with the British holiday camp.''#refRiverside, American Heritage Dictionary 2004'', p. 135.#refScott2001, Scott 2001, p. 5. Although holiday camps such as Warner Leisure Hotels, Warner's existed in one form or another before Butlin opened his first in 1936, it was Butlin who turned holiday camps into a multimillion-pound industry and an important aspect of British culture. Born in Cape Town, South Africa, to William and Bertha Butlin, Butlin had a turbulent childhood. His parents separated before he was seven, and he returned to England with his mother. He spent the next five years following his grandmother's family Traveling carnival, fair around the country where his mother sold gingerbread; exposing the young Butlin to the skills of commerce and entertainment. When he was twelve his mother emigrated to Canada, leaving him in the ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nemir Kirdar
Nemir Amin Kirdar (28 October 1936 – 8 June 2020) was an Iraqi Turkmen banker, billionaire, businessman, financier and author. As a founding father of private equity, and an economic and cultural bridge-builder, he was the founder and CEO of Investcorp, a global alternative investment group that operates in Manama, New York, London, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha and Singapore. He spent much of his life in London, and held British citizenship. Early life Kirdar was born in Kirkuk, Iraq, to the influential Turkmen Kirdar family who were prominent in the politics of the late Ottoman Empire and interwar Iraq. He completed his primary education at Baghdad's Saadoun School, his secondary education at the Jesuit-run Baghdad College, and his initial university education at Robert College in Istanbul, initially studying engineering then switching to economics and liberal arts. He envisioned to pursue a political career in his native Iraq, but after a military coup overthrew the Iraqi mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
