If you ever go through old Beatle Book Monthly Magazines or Beatles fan club newsletters, you will see the name "Anne Collingham" often in them. From the photos and articles written at the time, you would have assumed that Anne was a Beatle fan who worked with Freda Kelly at the Beatles fan club headquarters. So where is Miss Collingham today?
Well....come to find out there never was a real person named Anne Collingham. It was made up by Tony Barrow in 1963 to help keep things simple at the fan club. A variety of girls who worked at the fan club were used as "Anne Collingham" for photos at the time.
Tony Barrow wrote about this in the May 1983 issue of the Beatle Book Monthly.
I decided in June 1963 that the Club should have a Nation Secretary based in London at our Monmouth Street address. Until then, fans in the South had kept in touch through Bettina Rose in Surrey whilst Freda had looked after the top half of Britain from her NEMS office base in Liverpool.
The name of the new National Secretary was given as Anne Collingham. In fact, no such person ever existed. the "Collingham" part came form part of my secretary's home address in Earls Court, and Anne was my wife's middle name.
It wasn't done in order to deceive the fans. It was intended to be helpful. clearly as the membership grew a full time office staff of clerks and helpers would be needed. there was little to be gained from confusing members by letter them receive replies from an assortment of people, especially as staff were coming and going all the time. So the simplest answer seemed to be to have "Anne Collingham" as the regular signature on all individual reply letters, on newsletters and on all the Club's printed stationery.
there was another massive advantage. The press office and the Fan Club shared a single telephone number, COVent Garden 2332. as the publicity side of things became busier we were not only handling the Beatles but all the other NEMS acts ranging from Billy J. Kramer to Cilla Black. The telephone lines were being used more and more heavily. Therefore it was convenient to know at once if a caller wanted the press office or the Fan Club. If the caller asked or Anne Collingham, it was passed straight through to the right room to be handled quickly.
Personal callers at 13 Monmouth Street always found themselves talking to "come of Anne Collingham's assistants." Ms. Collingham herself seemed to eb permanently unavailable to meet her visiting members!
The Fan club grew so fast that we took an extra floor of office space above the press office's suite of rooms. Here at least half a dozen full time workers coped with the mountains of mail. These peopel included Michael Crowther-Smith, tony Catchpole, Yvonne Sainsbury, Monica Stringer and Macy Cockram. By the end of 1963, Bettina Rose, the Surrey-based South of England Secretary, had been put on the full-time NEMS payroll and was working at at Monmouth Street as the colleague of "Anne Collingham." The two signed themselves as "Joint National Secretaries of the Official Beatles Fan Club." Bettina's physical appearance at Monmouth Street meant that at least one of the Club's chiefs was on hand to meet visitors in person.
I have said that Brian Epstein refused to sell souvenir stuff via the club. He did make a single exception to that wise rule but he only did so to help a relative who ran a firm called Weldons of Peckham in Rye Lane, London SE15. Weldons produced a two-tone Beatles badge embroidered in gold and red. This they stitched onto a black polo neck sweater made of 100% Botany wool. It was a quality product and it was the only item ever to be sold directly through the facilities of the Official Fan Club. The mail order price at Christmas 1963 was 1.15.00 which included postage and packing. Fan Club worker, Mary Cockram, a pretty little brunette with an outgoing personality, was used to model the Beatles Sweater, but the caption beneath the photograph read, "Anne Collingham wears the Official Sweater in the picture above."
I enjoyed the article. However, the first image is incorrectly tagged with the names of the girls shown. The first girl left with The Beatles is (I am pretty sure) Pat Nolan. Pat Nolan also ran the Darryl Quist fan club. (Darryl Quist was a protégé of Billy Fury's manager who didn’t quite make it despite record releases and huge publicity) The second girl (RH girl) is definitely Val Sumpter. (Tony Barrow’s assistant along with Jo Coburg) I know because I also worked at the Fan Club / Press Office at the time. (Tony Catchpole)The image below (modelling the Beatles Sweater) is ‘Anne Collingham’ real name Mary Cockram or 'Cockers' as she was known to all of us. ( We all had nicknames and real names were rarely used. Val Sumpter (and I) moved with Tony Barrow to Nems offices in Argyle Street when Brian Epstein opened his London office. Great days… Anne Collingham (Mary Cockram) is alive and kicking and living in London. 'Cockers' is a treasure trove of information regarding the goings on at the Monmouth Street offices during the period the article refers to.
ReplyDeleteHey Tadpole! Many thanks for the 'heads up' and acknowledging that there's still life in the ol' dog yet! I've seen this picture before and you are right, it's captioned incorrectly. The girl on the right is indeed Val Sumpter (not Bettina Rose) and the other girl is Maureen Donaldson (not Anne Collingham or Cockers)! It was the best of times at Monmouth Street and my treasure 'chest' is full of happy memories.
ReplyDeleteBettina Rose is still alive and kicking, living a quiet life with her little dog called Rosie in a small village in West Sussex. She was married but now divorced. She had three daughters and a son and seven grandchildren and she adores every one of them.
DeleteI am Tia Bettina and I am Bettina roses granddaughter and I can confirm my Nan was the Beatles secratery
DeleteI used to write a lot to The Beatles. And always received answers with a card saying With Compliments. Usually the name was Freda Kelly. But once I got one from "Anne Collingham" I got confused here. Lots of people used this name or only Mary Cockram? Reading the article I thought it was not a real person that lots of people used. But Cockers comment gives another story. Anne existed. But it was only nickname. Hope one of you will read my question. I got very curious now.
ReplyDeleteHi there. Just saw your comment and will try to clarify. Anne Collingham as such did not exist and initially was just used for fans to write to. However, very soon they wanted to actually met this girl. I was the first to be interviewed for the job in 1963 and consequently became Anne Collingham. My real name is Mary Cockram. I was the only 'Anne' until I left in 1966. Thereafter there were a number of Anne Collinghams until the fan club went back to Freda in Liverpool. The picture showing Anne in the sweater is me. Hope that clears things up for you. Ma
DeleteHello there, I just bought a stack of old Beatles Books and am intrigued, this is such a good read. I'm a radio journalist from Vienna, Austria. Would there be any way to interview you, Cockers? Hope you get to read this. I'll be in London in January to meet up with Beatles-related people (Mark Lewisohn, Philip Norman and others) and it'd be pure fun and such an extra bonus if I could talk to you as well. Have a think, I'll just post my mail here, trusting there won't be any dodgy people hanging out here ;-) so, it's david.baldinger@orf.at, would love to meet you, many thanks and best from Vienna, David
DeleteHi David. Just a quick acknowledgement of your note. Be in touch in a day or so.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes
Mary
Hi guys,
ReplyDeleteI really loved this article. I have loved exploring the relationship between and the fans, and the four boys, particularly through the Beatles Monthly Book. I'm currently writing my dissertation on Beatles fandom, and seeing your articles, you seem to have a lot of good info. Who is best to contact on any questions I might have?
My email is emma.gowar15@bathspa.ac.uk - if the blog isn't the best platform to communicate/
Thanks,
Emma Gowar
Hey guys,
ReplyDeleteI love this article! Great insight into the relationship between the fans and the band, through the fanzine itself!
Sorry if this seems to be copy David's requests, but I am currently researching into my university dissertation on Beatle fandom. Who is best to contact in regards to the magazine, and any general enquiries I might have?
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give.
Kind Regards,
Emma Gowar
Hi Mary and Tony--I hope you both see this message. This is Sara who runs this blog. I am currently working on a book all about the Beatles fan clubs in the UK and the USA. I was hoping I could interview both of you or you two could share a few stories to be included in the book. I hate to bother you, but I really would love to hear more about the runnings of the fan club. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Mary and Tony--I hope you both see this message. This is Sara who runs this blog. I am currently working on a book all about the Beatles fan clubs in the UK and the USA. I was hoping I could interview both of you or you two could share a few stories to be included in the book. I hate to bother you, but I really would love to hear more about the runnings of the fan club. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Sara
DeleteNot sure I'll be able to help but can you confirm that your contact email is still current. If so, I will email you a short note.
Best wishes Mary
You can email me at Starshyne9@yahoo.com
DeleteI look forward to hearing from you.
Hi
ReplyDeleteWriting a book on the Beatles. If anyone reads this and was involved with the band please contact me on marshalj476@yahoo.com
Hi
ReplyDeleteIf Betina Roses granddaughter could get in touch you sent me an email about interview but heard no reply
Thanks
Peter
Hi
ReplyDeleteNever hear from you. Inboxed you yesterday again
Thanks
Peter