Sir Denys Lowson
Sir Denys was knighted as a Lord Mayor of London in the early 1950s and he and his family used to holiday mostly in August at the Marine Hotel. At that time the proprietrix/manageress was the formidable Miss/Mrs Young – a lady who commanded, indeed demanded, respect – and ruled the premises with a rod of iron. One of her laws was that dogs were not allowed in the public rooms. A rule which was at that time – the 1960s – a fairly standard in such establishments and the douce Marine Hotel was no exception. It is said that Miss Young enforced the rule to the exclusion of the Lowson’s full-size poodle to anywhere other than in their room. That was, so the story went too much for Sir Denys, who promptly purchased the hotel and thereby circumvented all Miss Young’s rules. Sir Denys however did not enjoy the fruits of his purchase for very long. He actually died in 1974 but not before various financial irregularities seemed to have come to light in the various (at one time believed to be 28) companies controlled by Sir Denys. In my book he will always be remembered as the man who managed to upstage Miss Young.
Submitted by Graham Johnston
I worked as a porter and lounge waiter in the Marine Hotel during the summer of 1956, Easter 1957 and again during the summer of 1957. It is worth pointing out that Mrs Young was almost invariably referred to by hotel staff simply as ‘madam’
I remember well sir Denys Lowson staying at the hotel. However I do not remember his poodle. Possibly sir Denys brought the poodle after 1957