Gloria was born in 1928. She was brought up by her Grandparents and was an evacuee during the war as her Grandad rather cleverly anticipated the concept and had already bought a house in Skegness for this purpose. One can only assume he was very clever. What would a Nazi do in Skegness?
When she was 18 she met F.T. "F.T" was Roger Frank Thomas Quilliam, Captain at that time in the Education Corps. They met raving the night away at the Plaza Ballroom in Derby.
They married in 1948.
Oddly they then moved to Spencer Place in Chapeltown, Leeds.
They took up residence in the ancestral home at Springfield Mount in 1949 and as the war (and rationing) was very much still a shadow in England they decided to make it a hotel. At that time in Leeds the area was very green and just outside town. There weren't many hotels. Certainly none with an enviable late license bar where Gloria very cleverly encouraged police to drink after hours and was repayed with items that were hard to come by then.
The Faversham Hotel became very famous. During the Don Revie era of Leeds Utd the entire team stayed regularly and Gloria received gifts and cards from people such as Billy Bremner all her life. Funnily enough whenever he was working anywhere within a couple of hundred miles of Leeds, Spike Milligan used to insist on his regular room there. He often spent time with a kid there called Roger. Who turned out fine
There was no doubt Gloria was the engine that drove The Faversham. She was receptionist, Barwoman, chambermaid, manager and cook all rolled into one. The Fav was her life and she lived there on the top floor right up until it was sold just a few years ago.
She had a hard time. Losing F.T, her life-long friend Frank and her beloved son Guy all within a few years and some say a few years she never recovered from.
I had the honour of living at The Fav for a few years and Gloria made me breakfast and tea whether I wanted it or not. The first words she ever said to me after a few weeks of being part of the privileged few allowed upstairs were ; "We get a lot of weirdos up here. I like you. You do what you say." We were mates ever since and she has had me in stitches more times I can care to remember. I've heard every tale she had to tell, some several times and always a pleasure. Her double act with her son Roger was a sight to behold.
She spent her whole life thinking of everyone but herself and was simply one of the best people I ever met and felt very much to me as a surrogate grandma, having lost my own many years ago. Indeed her nickname of 'Granma Glor" at The Fav belied the razor-sharp mind behind the little old lady.
She passed away on Thursday 4th August after a long battle with Diabetes and it's many associated ailments, sadly just at a point when we all thought she'd beaten the worst of it.
There'd be no Fav without Gloria.
Rest in peace Glor.
When she was 18 she met F.T. "F.T" was Roger Frank Thomas Quilliam, Captain at that time in the Education Corps. They met raving the night away at the Plaza Ballroom in Derby.
They married in 1948.
Oddly they then moved to Spencer Place in Chapeltown, Leeds.
They took up residence in the ancestral home at Springfield Mount in 1949 and as the war (and rationing) was very much still a shadow in England they decided to make it a hotel. At that time in Leeds the area was very green and just outside town. There weren't many hotels. Certainly none with an enviable late license bar where Gloria very cleverly encouraged police to drink after hours and was repayed with items that were hard to come by then.
The Faversham Hotel became very famous. During the Don Revie era of Leeds Utd the entire team stayed regularly and Gloria received gifts and cards from people such as Billy Bremner all her life. Funnily enough whenever he was working anywhere within a couple of hundred miles of Leeds, Spike Milligan used to insist on his regular room there. He often spent time with a kid there called Roger. Who turned out fine
There was no doubt Gloria was the engine that drove The Faversham. She was receptionist, Barwoman, chambermaid, manager and cook all rolled into one. The Fav was her life and she lived there on the top floor right up until it was sold just a few years ago.
She had a hard time. Losing F.T, her life-long friend Frank and her beloved son Guy all within a few years and some say a few years she never recovered from.
I had the honour of living at The Fav for a few years and Gloria made me breakfast and tea whether I wanted it or not. The first words she ever said to me after a few weeks of being part of the privileged few allowed upstairs were ; "We get a lot of weirdos up here. I like you. You do what you say." We were mates ever since and she has had me in stitches more times I can care to remember. I've heard every tale she had to tell, some several times and always a pleasure. Her double act with her son Roger was a sight to behold.
She spent her whole life thinking of everyone but herself and was simply one of the best people I ever met and felt very much to me as a surrogate grandma, having lost my own many years ago. Indeed her nickname of 'Granma Glor" at The Fav belied the razor-sharp mind behind the little old lady.
She passed away on Thursday 4th August after a long battle with Diabetes and it's many associated ailments, sadly just at a point when we all thought she'd beaten the worst of it.
There'd be no Fav without Gloria.
Rest in peace Glor.