Peggy Jay surrounded by her great-granddaughters Tamsin Slyce, Claudia
Arney and Hannah Boyd (front row), Juliet Kennard, Tabitha Jay and
Amanda Kennard (back row). Below, a tribute from Peggy’s great-grandchildren
Above, Dame Jennifer Jenkins, the widow of the former Labour home
secretary Roy Jenkins – who was to have spoken at the party
– presents Peggy Jay with a birthday gift. Inset, son Peter
Jay
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| CAR SMASH HORROR
ON UNLIT ROAD |
ON Tuesday evening
the uncrowned Queen of Hampstead, Peggy Jay, celebrated her 90th birthday
with a characteristic one-liner: “There is nothing,” she
said, “as liberating as old age; come on, you can say, let it
all hang out.”
Her birthday party was held in Burgh House, the Queen Anne house in
the heart of Hampstead which she was instrumental in saving for the
local community. It was just one of the many battles she has fought
and won throughout her long and crusading life on the London County
Council, the Greater London Council, and as chairman (she is now President)
of the Heath and Hampstead Society. She has been, said her son Peter
Jay, former ambassador to the USA, “a dragon descending on officialdom
. . .not a traditional politician, no soft words or kissed babies
. . .but a fighter.”
Queen Peggy, resplendent in red velvet, sat between her sons, Peter
and Martin, her twin daughters Catherine and Helen, and her friends
Gerald Isaaman, retired editor of the Ham and High who now writes
for the New Journal, and Dame Jennifer Jenkins, a former chairman
of the National Trust. It was to have been the late Roy Jenkins, a
friend of 55 years standing, who would speak at the party, and Peggy
Jay was particularly touched that Dame Jennifer should take his place.
It was an evening for Hampstead friends, and of course, for family.
Among all his mother’s causes, said Peter Jay, the most important
was her family. “To be Peggy’s child or grandchild is
to be loved beyond all things. She gave us love and loyalty, fun and
warmth and chaos, a life that was constantly interesting – even
if we were orphans of our mother’s work for orphans.”
Gerry Isaaman said how appropriate it was that Peggy Jay’s party
should be held in Burgh House. “There is layer upon layer of
Hampstead’s history here, and Peggy is part of it.” He
remembered coming to the Ham and High as a young reporter in 1955
and realising very soon that a hotline to Peggy was essential. “She
has a zest for life few can equal. A banner should be raised above
Hampstead for Peggy Jay and all she has done for this place.”
In response Peggy Jay said how lucky she was to have lived all her
life in Hampstead, that everyone had been so generous and kind that
she didn’t recognise herself – “I was a bad mother
and above all a bad cook”– and that all she was waiting
for now was the birthday cake and coffee.
First, though, she was regaled with what Peter Jay described as “some
kind of musical incident”, a song with lyrics by Peggy Jay’s
son-in-law, Rupert Pennant-Rea (husband of Helen), sung by great-nephew
Oliver Crawley, accompanied on the piano by distinguished QC son-in-law
Stuart Boyd (husband of Catherine), and backed by a chorus of grandchildren
– just a few of the tribe of grandchildren who refer with irreverent
affection to their Granny, the legendary defender of Hampstead’s
trees, as Proto-Swampy. |
