Cable Street veteran Beatty Orwell dies at 105

Beatrice Orwell, the widow of former Tower Hamlets mayor John Orwell, had three children and was the grandmother of 12 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and 12 great-great-grandchildren.

She was born on July 7, 1917, at her home in Goulston Street, Aldgate, during the German bombing of London by Zeppelin airships during World War I.

Beatty entered politics at the age of 19, taking part in mass protests to stop 5,000 Oswald Mosley blackshirts from marching in the Jewish-majority East End.

Family at War: Beatty, John Orwell and Daughter June (Image: Jewish Care)

She had memories of that tumultuous time when 200,000 socialists, communists, Jewish activists and Irish dockers gathered in Whitechapel to stop the Blackshirt movement, the newspaper said. recalled in an interview. Advertisers in East London In 2017, he turned 100 years old.

“I have never seen so many people in my life as in Gardiner’s Corner,” Beatty told the paper. “Then we all went to Cable Street, where the Blackshirts had been bypassed.

“We all screamed when we saw the fascists preparing to march on Tower Hill.they won’t pass‘.

Truck overturns in ‘Battle of Cable Street’ (Image: TH Archives)

“The police called off the march because many of us were prepared for scrap. There would have been murders.”

Beatty married John Orwell in 1938 at Arbor Square Police Station in Stepney, who became Bethnal Green County Councilor in the 1950s and became the second mayor of the newly formed Tower Hamlets in 1966. 1972.

The retired garment trader lived at Collingwood Estate for the duration of their marriage, then moved to a garden apartment 800m away, ran a social club for 40 years, and remained active until the age of 99.

Beatty Orwell on the Cable Street Mural (Image: Jewish Care)

The seasoned social justice activist finally retired from politics in 1982, but continued to serve as Bethnal Green’s school governor for the next 30 years.

Daughter June said this week: Although she lived her eventful life, she was born in a modest environment. ”

Beatty (far right) and Tower Hamlets mayor’s husband John meeting with the Queen Mother in 1966 (Image: LBTH)

Beatty met the Queen at Buckingham Palace and also met the Queen Mother, who visited the East End as mayor in the 1960s. She met with Prime Minister Harold Wilson at 10 Downing Street for tea.

“It’s really not that bad for the Petticoat Lane girls,” June added. “Her mother was the head of our family.

100-year-old Beatty Orwell and daughter June (Image: Mike Brooke)

Daniel Carmel-Brown, CEO of the Jewish Care Charity, also paid tribute, saying: She inspired a sense of community. ”

Beatty died peacefully at home on Friday, June 23, just 14 days before his 106th birthday.