Coordinates: 51°29′25″N 0°07′09″W / 51.4903°N 0.1193°W / 51.4903; -0.1193

Lambeth is a district in South London, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of Charing Cross.

The name is recorded in 1062 as Lambehitha, meaning 'landing place for lambs', and in 1255 as Lambeth. The name refers to a harbour where lambs were either shipped from or to. It is formed from the Old English 'lamb' and 'hythe.South Lambeth is recorded as Sutlamehethe in 1241 and North Lambeth is recorded in 1319 as North Lamhuth. The marshland in the area, known as Lambeth Marshe, was drained in the 18th century but is remembered in the Lower Marsh street name. Sometime after the opening of Waterloo railway station in 1848 the locality around the station and Lower Marsh became known as Waterloo.

The current district of Lambeth was part of the large ancient parish of Lambeth St Mary in the Brixton hundred of Surrey. It was an elongated north-south parish with a two mile River Thames frontage to the west. In the north it lay opposite the cities of London and Westminster and extended southwards to cover the contemporary districts of Brixton, West Dulwich and West Norwood, almost reaching Crystal Palace. Lambeth became part of the Metropolitan Police District in 1829. It continued as a single parish for Poor Law purposes after the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 and a single parish governed by a vestry after the introduction of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855. In 1889 it became part of the county of London and the parish and vestry were reformed in 1900 to become the Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth, governed by Lambeth Borough Council. In the reform of local government in 1965 the Streatham and Clapham areas that had formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wandsworth were combined with Lambeth to form the London Borough of Lambeth.

William Edward Cotton (6 May 1899 – 25 March 1969), better known as Billy Cotton, was an English band leader and entertainer, one of the few whose orchestras survived the British dance band era. Today, he is mainly remembered as a 1950s and 1960s radio and television personality, although his musical talent emerged as early as the 1920s. In his younger years Billy Cotton was also an amateur footballer for Brentford F.C. (and later, for the then Athenian league club Wimbledon, now AFC Wimbledon), an accomplished racing driver and the owner of a Gipsy Moth which he piloted himself.

Born in Smith Square, London, to Joseph and Susan Cotton, Cotton was a choirboy and started his musical career as a drummer. He enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers by falsifying his age and saw service in World War I in Malta and Egypt, before landing at Gallipoli in the middle of an artillery barrage. Later he was recommended for a commission and learned to fly Bristol Fighter aircraft. He flew solo for the first time in 1918, the same day the Royal Flying Corps became the Royal Air Force. He was then not yet 19 years old.

Gladys Mills, née Gladys Jordan (29 August 1918 – 24 February 1978), better known as Mrs Mills, was an English pianist who was active in the 1960s, and who released many records. Her repertoire included many sing-along and party tunes made popular in the music hall.

Born in Beckton, East London, England, Mills' uncle Henry was a harp player and her mother was a main influence in developing her musical ability. She took piano lessons from the age of three and a half until the age of seven.

After working as the superintendent of the typing pool in the office of the Paymaster General in London, in December 1961 she made her first television appearance on The Billy Cotton Show, having been spotted by a talent scout at a Woodford Golf Club dance near her home in Loughton, Essex, where she lived most of her life. She would become a household name by the end of January 1962.

She shot to fame during the same period as her stable-mates The Beatles, with whom she shared space at Abbey Road Studios (as mentioned in the Beatles Anthology DVD bonus materials).