Page 641 - Reading Mercury

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Martin leaves her son, Mr. Cathrow Martin, and her
daughter, Mrs. Edna Girdler, to mourn her loss.
The funeral will be at St. Paul’s, Wokingham, today (Saturday), at 2.30 p.m.

th
Sat 18 June
FILM STARS AT WOKINGHAM
Garden Party At Glebelands
THE CINEMA IN THE EARLY DAYS
A garden party which, in the words of the organisers, was designed to “show
Glebelands to the subscribers,” was held on Saturday at this charming Wokingham
country house, now the convalescent and rest home of the Cinematograph Trade
Benevolent Fund. It will be remembered that Sir William Jury, a resident of Reading
and president of the fund, bought Glebelands for this purpose two years ago.
Miss Gracie Fields did not attend, contrary to expectation, but, other stars present
were Gene Gerrard, the comedian, Gibb McLauchlin, Graham Moffat and Moore
Marriott—in the garb they wore in Will Hay’s “Oh, Mr. Porter,” Binkie Stuart, the
British Shirley Temple, and Joan Gardner.
Among those present were: the Mayor and Mayoress of Wokingham (Councillor
and Mrs. F.S. Perkins), the Mayor and Mayoress of Reading (Councillor and Mrs.
E.E. Langston) Sir William Jury, Lieut.-Col A.C. Bromhead (trustee) and Mr. R.C.
Bromhead (chairman).
Mr. R.C.O. Viveash, secretary to the fund, told a representative of this paper,
“Glebelands is steadily fulfilling the function for which it was donated by Sir William
Jury, and the number of permanent resident guests is steadily growing. It is not
intended by the Fund Council that the general relief that is extended in response to
various appeals from different parts of the country should be curtailed through the
upkeep of Glebelands, which makes the support of the Cinematograph industry all the
more essential.
Glebelands costs nearly£5,000 to keep up, and last year the fund expended
generally—in addition to Glebelands—about £10,000. We have over 100 pensioners
depending upon the fund, some of them pioneers of the industry, and others
incapacitated by sickness or old age, as well as widows and children. There are people
here who helped build the technique of the industry 40 years ago”.
A programme of sports was carried through during the afternoon, and there were
good entries, especially in the ladies’ events. A number of employees of various film
companies took part, such as Paramount, County Cinemas and National Screen
Services Ltd.
A Veteran’s Collapse
One elderly man collapsed in the veteran’s race after running only a few yards .He
was all right after a rest, however, and the ambulance men had nothing to do. The
veterans of the1903 Society—those who have been members of the fund since it was
formed in that year—had a race on their own, and this was won by Mr. C.W. Perry.
Mr. T.A. Welsh, appeals organiser to the fund, is one of the ‘pioneers of the industry
who is taking a hand in the work of Glebelands and of the fund generally. He is
appeals organiser to the Benevolent Fund. Snatching a brief interval from his work as
a sports official, he mentioned something of the work of the early days when he was
associated with Colonel Bromhead—a trustee of the fund, with Sir William Jury and
Mr. John Maxwell—in Gaumont. At that time the now famous concern was just a
branch of a French film agency.

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