Elsie Audrey Mosson (3 September 1920, Preston – 1 September 2009,

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

) was an English teen celebrity and later a professional dancer.

Biography

Mosson was born in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

, she was crowned the 10th Railway Queen of Great Britain at the Railway Carnival and Pageant held at Belle Vue,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in August 1935 when she was 15 years old. Later in 1935, she turned on the

Blackpool Illuminations Blackpool Illuminations is an annual Illuminations (festival), lights festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 18 September that year, held each autumn in the British seaside resort of Blackpool on the The Fylde, Fylde Coast in Lancashire ...

, an annual lights festival in Blackpool. 50 years later, she again turned on the Blackpool Illuminations alongside actress

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...

. In 1936, she travelled to the Soviet Union on a peace visit and met

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

. She made her stage debut with the Blackpool Tower Children's Ballet. Audrey and her two sisters all married on the same day at a triple wedding at St Peter's, Blackpool in 1940. It was also their parents wedding anniversary.

Popular culture

Mosson features in the children's books ''Gracie Fairshaw and the Mysterious Guest'' and ''Gracie Fairshaw and the Trouble at the Tower'' by author Susan Brownrigg.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mossom, Audrey 1920 births 2009 deaths Entertainers from Preston, Lancashire English beauty pageant winners English female dancers