May Geraldine Hamilton-Eddy was born at 13 Streatham Place on 15 May 1919, the daughter of the Revd. Charles Chaloner Lindsey OBE and May Lindsey. Her father had served as an army chaplain throughout World War I.
She lived in London throughout the Second World War and endured the Blitz and the later V-weapon attacks. Her brother, Patrick Chaloner Lindsey, with whom she was very close, was killed in action in the Battle of Britain flying Hurricanes for 601 (County of London) Squadron. In July 1941 at Caxton Hall, Westminster, she married Arthur Godfrey Hamilton-Eddy, a chartered accountant.
After Arthur's death May moved to a flat in 22 Cleveland Street, a house where Charles Dickens had lived twice
(Fitzrovia News)