DEARMAN & MOLLETT

Kate Evelyn Nason, most well-known as Kate Meyrick, or even Ma Meyrick, is our only famous, notorious even, ancestor.  Owner of nightclubs, mother of eight, mother-in-law of British aristocracy, convicted criminal, she must have been a daunting lady.

Somewhere in the family possession is a portrait of the young Kate, painted at the age of 16 when the future looked bright.  And the future was bright then, and at her birth, but always it seemed disaster was just around the corner.  It is a tribute to this woman’s character that she achieved as much as she did, and more or less completely on her own too.

I’m not sure whether one would consider her beautiful - the photograph above is taken before she embarked on her night-club career, but it is certainly a lively face.  She is the maternal grandmother of the current elder Dearmans, but never known to this particular line of grandchildren, having succumbed to the influenza pandemic of 1933.

She wrote a book, or rather, I suspect, had it ghostwritten - though a very distinctive voice does shine through.  The book is called Secrets of the 43 Club and purports to be a tell-all story of her life.  But it actually tells us very little about her personal life, concentrating as it does on the rich and famous who passed through the doors of her various clubs.  It also has to be said that it is not very well-written, but it was banned at the time - supposedly for the secrets about some of her customers that she revealed.  I don’t recall anything terribly risqué, indeed it is all very discreet.  But I have quoted from it here and there.  They’re making it into a musical it seems!  Andrew Marr has also included Kate in his series on Modern Britain.  If you live in the UK you can watch the program Having a Ball.  Lindy Woodhead has also written a book about her called Midnight Mother, but it seems to be out of print and unavailable, which is a pity as I might have learnt more.  I'm sure it was more thoroughly researched than my efforts.  Or it may just not be published yet - it's a bit unclear.