Gillian Raine

Gillian Raine (b. Gillian Mary Lorraine, Ceylon now Sri Lanka, 28 December 1927) is an actress, singer and was the wife of the actor Leonard Rossiter from 1964-1984 (his death), though they had been living together since 1962. They had one daughter, Camilla (b. 1972).

Raine has appeared in a variety of repertory theatre, TV drama and film productions. Her theatre works includes Hedda Gabler (as Juliana Tesman), 2005, at The Duke of York's Theatre, Richard Eyre’s production of La Grande Magia for the National Theatre, Mike Bradwell’s Mackerel Sky at the Bush Theatre and Bill Bryden’s production of A Month in the Country at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre and in the West End at the Albery Theatre. Film work includes Darling and A Night to Remember and on television Kiss Me Kate, Suddenly Last Summer, Vanity Fair, A Very Peculiar Practice and Under the Hammer. She met Rossiter when they were both appearing in the play Semi-Detached in 1962 at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry. At this time Leonard was married to Josephine Tewson. During the play's second run at the Belgrade, in September 1963, Leonard and Gillian fell in love and started to live together, although they did not to marry until 1972. During his time with Raine, Rossiter had an affair with the BBC broadcaster Sue MacGregor which Raine was unaware of until after Rossiter's death in 1984.

Double Bay, New South Wales

Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra.

Double Bay takes its name from the bay of Sydney Harbour. It refers to the two geographical formations between Point Piper and Darling Point, which are interrupted by a miniature point in between. The eastern part is also known as Blackburn Cove. Colloquially it is often referred to as "Double Pay", a term coined in the 1980s, due to the high income of people living there, and the nature of the shopping area which features high-end fashion labels.

History

Double Bay developed soon after initial European Settlement in 1788. In the early years of the colony, Double Bay was used as shelter for fishermen who would regularly fish around the harbour. Farming mostly cattle and lettuce a farm had developed and by 1814 it had increased to envelop the valleys leading into the area currently known as Woollahra, Bondi Junction, Bellevue Hill, and Point Piper.

Leonard Rossiter

Leonard Rossiter (21 October 1926 – 5 October 1984) was an English actor with a long career in the theatre. His enduring popularity and fame came in particular from playing Rupert Rigsby in the British comedy television series and film Rising Damp from 1974 to 1980, and Reginald Perrin, in The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin from 1976 to 1979.

Early life and stage work

Rossiter was born on 21 October 1926 in Wavertree, Liverpool, the second son of Elizabeth (née Howell) and John Rossiter. The family lived over the barber shop owned by his father. He was educated at Liverpool Collegiate Grammar School (1939–46). His ambition was to go to university to read modern languages and become a teacher. However, his father, who served as a voluntary ambulanceman during the Second World War, was killed in an air raid in 1942 and Rossiter had to support his mother. He therefore could not take up the place he had been offered at Liverpool University. Instead he did his National Service as a sergeant, initially in the Intelligence Corps, then in the Army Education Corps, spending much of the time in Germany writing letters home for other soldiers. After being demobbed he worked for six years as an insurance clerk in the claims and accident departments of the Commercial Union Insurance Company.

Gillian

Gillian (variant Jillian) is an English feminine given name, frequently shortened to Gill. It originates as a feminine form of the name Julian. It is also in use as a surname.

Notable people with the name include:

Given name

Bondi Beach

Bondi Beach or Bondi Bay (/ˈbɒndaɪ/ BON-dye) is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located 7 km (4 mi) east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Eastern Suburbs. Bondi, North Bondi and Bondi Junction are neighbouring suburbs. Bondi Beach is one of the most visited tourist sites in Australia.

History

"Bondi" or "Boondi" is an Aboriginal word meaning water breaking over rocks or noise of water breaking over rocks. The Australian Museum records that Bondi means place where a flight of nullas took place.

In 1809, the road builder William Roberts received a grant of land in the area. In 1851, Edward Smith Hall and Francis O'Brien purchased 200 acres (0.81 km²) of the Bondi area that included most of the beach frontage, which was named the "The Bondi Estate." Hall was O'Brien's father-in-law. Between 1855 and 1877 O'Brien purchased his father-in-law's share of the land, renamed the land the "O'Brien Estate," and made the beach and the surrounding land available to the public as a picnic ground and amusement resort. As the beach became increasingly popular, O'Brien threatened to stop public beach access. However, the Municipal Council believed that the Government needed to intervene to make the beach a public reserve. On 9 June 1882, the Bondi Beach became a public beach.