Talk:Helen McKay

Newspaper articles
I found some articles about McKay.

This one from March 1954 mentions that she married a Bob Winnett - https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100915535/evening-standard/

I looked up the marriage on FreeBMD but couldn't find a matching record.

This one from 1951 says that she was 36 as of July that year, so she was born c1915 - https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100915771/evening-standard/

I looked for a birth record for McKay on FreeBMD. The closest match for her birth, if she was born in England or Wales is -

Births Jun 1914

MCKAY	 Helen S	 Vipond	 W. Derby

She seems to have still been alive in November 1986 - https://www.newspapers.com/clip/100916080/derby-evening-telegraph/

Skycloud86 (talk) 23:46, 2 May 2022 (UTC)


 * Yes. Helen was in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOQD6nWpSIc from the National Media Museum, October 1986. I was the originator of this Wikipedia entry and I'm glad to see that we have an approximate birth year (circa 1915). Listening to Helen's voice in the video, it sounds rather London to me so that might be of help in determining her origins. Prudens Hominem (talk) 18:34, 8 August 2023 (UTC)

New Information
I found an article in a 1936 television journal and forum chat by someone who knew Helen.

https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Television-UK/30s/Television-and-Short-Wave-World-1936-09-S-OCR.pdf

This magazine relates that she started work, in a London department store. It suggests that she was a Londoner.

http://westlondonchat.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=1521&title=1986helen-mckayyoutube5-58-to-6-51television-comes-to-bradford&cat=517

After marriage, Helen and husband lived in Hayes before moving to Gerrards Cross.

I'd say Helen was a Londoner. There is also the possibility that her name is a stage name. Her early theatrical career was as a dancer and then singer so it is possible that she changed her name. Prudens Hominem (talk) 08:12, 24 August 2023 (UTC)

Real Name
My suspicions were correct. Helen's real name was Ruby Ellen Northover and she was born in 1910. I was sent a copy of an article written about her in Memory Lane magazine in 2021. I am perusing it now and will update this article later. If anyone has any guidelines on naming conventions with regards to stage/real names then please let me know. Thanks. Prudens Hominem (talk) 23:04, 27 August 2023 (UTC)
 * After finding Helen's real name I have made great strides. Finding her on Ancestry.com and a few distant relatives have permitted me to find her parents and almost a full life history. Prudens Hominem (talk) 07:44, 30 August 2023 (UTC)