Ian Gill’s talk explored the life of his mother, ‘Billie’ Newman (1916 – 2006). Handed over to strangers at a few weeks old, this Chinese baby girl was to grow up to become a secretary, editor and broadcaster before being interned in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation. Her career with the UN started after the war in Shanghai and Bangkok, leading eventually to Geneva and an MBE. Later in life she and Ian returned to Hong Kong and China to visit the places she had known as a child and young woman, and Ian met his father, journalist George Giffen, for the first time. Ian also researched the life of his mother’s adoptive father, Frank Newman, son of Mary Anne Warner of Malvern Link, which is how we came to meet him.
The whole fascinating story is told in Searching for Billie by Ian Gill (Blacksmith Books, 2024). We are very grateful to Ian for making a trip to the UK to deliver this talk.
Wendy Gillespie
