June Lancelyn Green
We were saddened to here of the death of June Lancelyn Green. Last month. She passed away peacefully on the 12th August. June was a member of our society and many of you will probably have attended one or more of her many talks and the various events that she staged.
Her theatrical involvement started at a very early age - Her father, Sidney Herbert Burdett. was an engineer with the Royal Flying Corps during the First world war, and in peacetime became a motor engineer, both cutting edge technologies of the time, and in their spare time he and Mabel, his wife, ran a concert group, The Keynotes, in which Mabel sang and Sidney was both a ventriloquist and conjurer.
Growing up in this household, June knew how to perform to an audience, and at school she entered and won numerous poetry recital and other competitions, and gained a place to read English at St Hugh's College, Oxford, where she immersed herself in drama and music as well as literature, and it was there that she met Roger Lancelyn Green, a member of the Inklings Literary group and also a keen actor. They were married in 1948 and in 1950 returned to Poulton Hall - the Wirral home that Roger's family had occupied for over 850 years. They had two sons and a daughter - Scirard, Richard and Priscilla (Cilla).
Once the family were back at Poulton Hall. June taught Speech and Drama at the Wirral Girls' Grammar School where many generations of girls were treated to her boundless energy and quirky ideas, and were involved in productions ranging from modest school plays to grand opera. Local dramatic societies were galvanised into action and nobody could refuse her pleas for assistance with every new project. Outdoor plays similar to those at Oxford were introduced, at Poulton and Hill Bark, with works by Shakespeare, Milton, and Euripides, culminating in Alice Through the Looking Glass where the auditorium revolved to each new scene.
Further afield she was a member of the Guild of Drama Adjudicators, which took her to major competitions in Hong Kong and elsewhere.
She was a member of the English Speaking Union, The Soroptimists, who she took on a tour to Australia, the Sherlock Holmes Society, with which she toured Switzerland to retrace the steps of Holmes and Moriarty, and visit the Reichenbach Falls, an event which the whole nation watched nightly on the TV news. She was an accomplished and hilariously funny speaker at hundreds of dinners and events both locally and around the North West, and consequently had a full diary of engagements. She also supported many local dramatic societies and was a keen opera goer.
At Poulton she had the conservatory built to house a whole range of arts courses, while embarking on her project to restore and open the Walled Gardens to the public, which over the last 37 years has raised many tens of thousands of pounds for the National Garden Scheme charities and other beneficiaries.
She was made an M.B.E in 2008 and continued her active involvement with many charitable and voluntary organisations
In 2016 she threw a lavish ninetieth birthday party which members of out society attended. It was covered in the 2016/October edition of the Newsletter. The Alice in Wonderland Walk was revamped for the occasion.
June was a wonderful, energetic member of the society with a keen interest in all things to do with Lewis Carroll which she shared with her husband, Roger. Her wit, enthusiasm and energy will be sorely missed.