Sheila Borrett (born Margaret Sheila Graham; 20 June 1905 – 30 April 1986) was a British radio presenter, the first female announcer on the BBC’s National Service.[1] At the time of her work as a BBC announcer she was referred to as Mrs Giles Borrett,[2] but she generally used the stage name Sheila Stewart, or during a later marriage Sheila Wasey.
Sheila Borrett | |
|---|---|
| Born | Margaret Sheila Graham 20 June 1905 |
| Died | 30 April 1986 (aged 80) Clearwater, Florida, U.S. |
| Other names | Sheila Stewart Mrs Giles Borrett Sheila Wasey |
| Occupation(s) | Radio broadcaster, actress, radio station programmer |
| Years active | 1930s–1970s |
Life and career edit
She was born in Harrow, Middlesex, England. She was a theatrical actress known as Sheila Stewart when she first appeared in plays broadcast by the BBC,[3] and married Giles Borrett in 1930. She had ambitions of becoming an announcer, and was employed by the BBC in a well-publicised initiative in July 1933,[2] to become the first ever female announcer on the station.[4] She later said that she was hired for her strong, low-pitched voice, adding: "In those days, radio was so bad technically that a woman's high-pitched voice was very displeasing to the ear."[3] After just three months, she was removed from the position in November 1933[5] after the BBC received thousands of complaints from listeners who were uncomfortable with hearing a woman announcer.[6][7]
After she and her husband opened a cleaning business in 1934,[3] she continued to work occasionally as an actress at the BBC, especially in reading novels aloud for broadcast.[8] She and Borrett divorced; she then married Ian Cox, a former BBC colleague, in March 1940. They divorced in July 1945. She continued to broadcast for the BBC, as an announcer, during and after the Second World War.[2][3] She married an American, Gager Wasey, and moved to the United States in 1952,[7] becoming a naturalized citizen in 1961.[9] In 1967, as Sheila Wasey, she was working as Programme Director at WQXM (FM) in Clearwater, Florida.[10] After her husband's death in 1970, she moved to Dunedin, and from the 1970s, again using the name Sheila Stewart, she hosted programmes at WUSF (FM) in Tampa.[11]
She died in 1986 at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, aged 80, after suffering a stroke.[3]
Legacy edit
The University of South Florida created a memorial fund to commemorate her broadcasting career.[11] She was featured in the book Behind the Wireless: An Early History of Women at the BBC by Kate Murphy[12] and The Untold Story of the Talking Book by Matthew Rubery.[13]
References edit
- ^ "#OTD 1933: Sheila Borrett became the first female announcer on the BBC's National Service". Twitter. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
- ^ a b c Denis Gifford, The Golden Age of Radio, B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1985, ISBN 0-7134-4235-2, p.177
- ^ a b c d e Death notice, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, May 2, 1986, p.11
- ^ "The BBC: A Timeline". Scotsman. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
- ^ "Women's History Timeline". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
- ^ "Women in News and Current Affairs Broadcasting (Communications Committee Report) — Motion to Take Note". They Work for You. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
- ^ a b "Sheila Borrett - the first female announcer on the BBC", David Lloyd's Radio Moments: A Dozen Great Women, 20 February 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2021
- ^ Search, Sheila Borrett, Radio Times, BBC Genome. Retrieved 25 March 2021
- ^ Sheila Stewart Wasey, Florida Naturalization Records, 1880-1991., Tampa, Florida. Petition Number: 17416
- ^ "WQXM - A History", RadioYears.com. Retrieved 25 March 2021
- ^ a b "USF to pay tribute...", Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Florida, June 19, 1986, p.32
- ^ Murphy, Kate (2016). 'You Feel Their Personal Touch': Women Broadcasters. Springer. pp. 221–250. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-49173-2_8. ISBN 978-1-137-49172-5.
- ^ Rubery, Matthew (14 November 2016). The Untold Story of the Talking Book. ISBN 9780674545441. Retrieved 5 November 2017.