| ©2008Julie May Brand All Rights Reserved |
| 1968 - The year it all began, Orsett, Essex, England. |
| Julie May was born on 26th March 1968 at Orsett in Essex. Julie May's Mother Ellen Ethel Laustramere soon to become Clark, from Hampstead in London and Father James Finlay Clark from Scotland. Julie May's parents had both met at Gravesend in Kent after which her Father had been away in the army. Soon after they married they took up residence in Chadwell-St-Mary in Essex where they all lived until Julie May was 8. Julie May attended Herringham Infant School in Chadwell-St-Mary, Essex and often attended Sunday School. During this time Julie May had a love of dancing and had soon started to win medals for Ballroom and Latin American, but decided to quit around the age of 13 once she had achieved the gold. Julie May and her family moved to TilburyTown to a split level town house when Julie May's Father become a Qualified Electrician and landed himself a really good job at Tilbury docks. Julie May attended Jack Lobley Primary School at Tilbury until the age of 11. At the age of 11 Julie May's Father wanted to send her to an all girls school but her Mother insisted that she go to a different one, so she ended up going to St Chad's Comprehensive School in Tilbury which was originally for girls on one side and for boys on the other. Julie May's Mother had also decided to divorce her Father just as she was starting her secondary education at this school. Julie May can remember this leaving her feeling very sad and lonely. She stayed at this school until the age of 16 and then decided to go to secretarial college in London. Her Father had re-married some years later and so did her Mother eventually, sadly those relationships both came to an end. They all remained in that house for quite a few years until they moved again, but this time stayed at Tilbury Town but just changed houses. Julie May's Mother re-married John Clark so did not have to changed her name. He was a long distance lorry driver and had a love of greyhound dogs. Unfortunately he died in 1999 and this left Julie May's Mother a widow, who still resides at Tilbury today. Julie May's Father by that time had moved to Stanford-Le-Hope with his soon to be 2nd wife but continued to work at Tilbury docks for many years until he retired. His future wife worked at the Glaxo factory in East London for many years which later changed names to Pfizer. Tilbury had also by that time become very popular with the soon to be movie stars, and war veteran heroes. Julie May's Father was very much influenced by the likes of James Dean, Paul Newman and Sean Connery. One day Julie May can remember watching a scene from the movie Indiana Jones movie with her Father which was being filmed at Tilbury Docks and directed by Steven Spielberg, she recalls that being such a memorable day. Julie May's Mother's influence came from the likes of Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn but she was also a big Elvis fan, but sadly never got to see him. Julie May's Father also had a love of cars and was often changing them, very much why Julie May also shares his passion for cars today. They often visited the London dungeons and museums and many places of interest and culture. On one occasion when Julie May was 3 years old, she was standing with her Mother at the bus stop and shouted out "Mummy "Mummy that's the lady Daddy takes me to London with and her children. That was the start of her spiritual gift developing, but not such good news for Julie May's Mother who found out that Julie May's Father had been cheating. Julie May was quite academic at school and loved to play hockey and netball. Margaret Whitbread was Julie May's hockey teacher who was also coaching and managing her daughter Fatima Whitbread at the time, who went on to win Olympic medals in javelin. Again it was one of those surreal moments'Julie May had said', when you see a world class athlete perform in front of you. Boy could she throw that javelin stick. Julie May used to bash a few ankles with her hockey stick, especially when she played against the boys. As soon as she had finished her schooling Julie May set her sights on London, she started college in the West end where she did secretarial and book keeping skills. This required her to work with a company one day a week during her time there prepping her for the real working world. Julie May worked for a company in Sloane Street, Chelsea for a while and she absolutely loved it. The people, the shops, it was just up Julie May's street!!. Julie May couldn't wait to get paid each week so she could spend the little bit of money she had earnt. Often the Company Director treated Julie May when she ran errands for him. Whilst working in Chelsea Julie May also got to meet Sophia Loren, she was signing her Autobiography in WHSmiths at Sloane Square. Julie May could not believe how beautiful she was. She can remember just standing there in awe of her youth and beauty, to this day it is certainly one of my finest, Julie May has said. Julie May later left college and landed herself a role as a junior receptionist with a company called the Gathier Group, which is more known today as Bow Brand who had been manufacturing gut and harp strings for over 100 years. They made Julie May feel so welcome, she had certainly felt part of there family. Julie May remained with them for over 6 years until they moved the company to Sandwich in Kent. During Julie May's time with them she had met a few Wimbledon Tennis Legends, these included Ivan Llendl, and Stephan Edburg, whom the Company were sponsoring at the time, she also watched Jahangir Khan play at Wembley Arena a few times win and lose his squash title. By this time also Julie May had started to become quite familiar with London, the theatre and general hustle and bustle which she loved. Julie May also soon got a liking for the night clubs and can remember once going to the Café De Paris and a man dressed up as a woman came walking into the ladies toilets, boy did she give him a ticking off. Also, during this time Julie May had met a young man called Matthew Nimmants who had played football for Millwall when he was younger. Unfortunately his career had to be cut short as he was plagued by injury and his parents were unable to support him financially, so he had to give up. He later became Semi-pro where he played for Grays and Purfleet F/C. Julie May got engaged to him when she was just 19 and they bought a house together in West Tilbury near the Fort. This relationship lasted until Julie May was 24 and they ended up going their seperate ways. Julie May found herself feeling very lonely, although she had met another guy called Chris, life still didn't feel right to her. After being made redundant and splitting with now two boyfriends she needed to do something different. Soon after Julie May had got her first job in retail as a Concession Manager within Dorothy Perkins at Lakeside, it had not long opened. Dorothy Perkins were a part of the Burton Group at that time and today is more known as the Arcadia group with the likes of Top Shop and Debenhams. Within the group she later became a Manager for Top Shop and Dorothy Perkins. Julie May was happy there for a while, six years in fact. Julie May was not one to swap and change jobs. Something very different started to happen to Julie May, the once confident, outgoing person seemed to dissapear and the frail, nervous, child like person had started to emerge. What could this be? Could this be the beginning of Julie May's gift really developing. A nervous breakdown was to follow which was to last for 7 years. |
| Some history surrounding Tilbury |
| "Extracts of Julie May's life" |
| Julie May's Biography TRUE, FUNNY, INDEPENDANT, SHOCKING, EDGY |
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