Kay Hawtrey (born November 8, 1926) is a
Canadian actress. She was born in
Toronto.
Full name
Katharine Mary Craven Hawtrey, she is part of the Canadian branch of this very old English family, the Anglicized name having been derived from D'awtrey. Their ancient pedigree goes back to their 1565 restoration and enlargement of
Chequers, now the country house of prime ministers of Great Britain, and beyond. Later, the family seat shifted to the
Elizabethan era Eastcote House in the London suburb of
Eastcote, which was demolished to make way for the
London underground extension. Only the
dovecote, a wall, and coach house survive. The family became more visible with Ralph Hawtrey, whose only daughter became Lady
Mary Bankes when she married Sir
John Bankes,
Chief Justice to
Charles 1st. As a
Royalist, she defended their home in
Dorset,
Corfe Castle, against the
parliamentarians in 1643 at the time of the first
Civil War. There is a plaque commemorating her heroic act on the South wall of
Ruislip church. Her great great grandfather was
Edward Craven Hawtrey (1789-1862) headmaster of
Eton College. The family then turned to the quite separate professions of acting, economics, and athletics, producing in the first instance
Sir Charles Hawtrey (not Charles Hawtrey, the
Carry On actor who borrowed the name) and
Anthony Hawtrey,
Sir Ralph Hawtrey, the pre-
Keynesian economist in the second, and thirdly, England's champion runner in the 1906 Olympics,
Henry Hawtrey.
Educated at...
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