Somewhere in the Gallery under people and places there is a photo taken on the Stirling in the 60's I believe. It is of a group of the 'ladies' in all their finery.
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Hi shipmates, I only ever sailed with 1 ( he she or it ) person who"s proud boast was she acted in the film "The Dancing Years" thats how long ago it was, However i must say she kept my cabin absoulutly spotless, she was very pleasant to talk to although its not my scene so i never held her hand!!! believe me. Eddie Grant
I have just read the above thread, and feel sory for Mary. Why cannot people leave other persons alone that are a bit different than them... I am freindly with a family, and the male keeps on about Gays. My nephew is Gay, and when we invited him to our 40th wedding anniversary all he could talk about was " I am going home if they start kissing", This reminded me of that Cook. I was at sea for 21 years and some of my friends were Gay, and they were some of the nice persons that you could meet. I wish that I could turn back the years, and see some of them again. Sorry that letter got to me. Take care...... Terry :mad::mad:
The saddest part is that some of them went to sea to avoid prosceution and percecution. Most lived a fairly happy life but there were no doubt a number like Mary who suffered from something that they wee born with, and to those who do not like them I would say be happy, you are what you call normal.
That chef was the only person I recall who took such actions against the likes of Mary, but had a cheif steward on NZSC who thought they were the Devils spawn and was not afarid to say so. Thankfully todays society is a little more tolerant.
hi john. a great story and a reflection of how some of them were treated. i used to enjoy talking to them and found them very knowledgable and talented. most could put on a good show and when they were dressed up it was hard to tell them from a woman. a lot of the ones from upper class families were paid by thier family to stay away from home. it was a shame really as they were mostly females trapped in a male body. alf
We always had a few on the rangi boats and shaw saville but the most vivid memory I have of them was on the Rangitoto 1962 We were coming up the chanel near southampton heading for Albert docks when we got boarded by special branch detectives who took away our neighbour still in drag but minus wig.
We found out later that he/she was involved with vassal the russian involved in the Profumo scandal but I
dont think there was any convictions at the end of it. We all felt sorry for him getting dragged off in cuffs and wearing a big crinolene dress, guess he should have been more careful who he slept with.
You do get to see some sights in the merch.
Did three trips as waiter on the Capetown late fifties, paid off virgo intacto.