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Roger Ostime was born on 5 June 1928 in Hendon, Middlesex, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Baker Street Boys (1983), The Lost Boys (1978) and Probation Officer (1959). He was married to Hilary Mason. He died on 18 December 2019 in Reigate, Surrey, England, UK.

Ray Alan was born on 18 September 1930 in Greenwich, London, England, UK. He was a writer and actor, known for The Two Ronnies (1971), Hancock (1963) and Give Me Your Word (1969). He was married to Greta Gray and Jane. He died on 24 May 2010 in Reigate, Surrey, England, UK.

Kenneth Alford was born on 21 February 1881 in London, England, UK. He is known for Wild (2014), Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) and The Little Rascals (1994). He was married to Annie Louisa Holmes. He died on 15 May 1945 in Reigate, Surrey, England, UK.

Max Kester was born on 11 December 1901 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, UK. He was a writer and actor, known for The 39 Steps (1935), Crook's Tour (1940) and Alexandra (1934). He died on 14 December 1991 in Reigate, Surrey, England, UK.

Mike Sammes was born on 19 February 1928 in Reigate, Surrey, England, UK. He was a composer, known for Carry on Don't Lose Your Head (1967), Stork Talk (1962) and Tiffany Jones (1973). He died on 19 May 2001 in Reigate, Surrey, England, UK.

Malcolm Campbell was born on 11 March 1885 in Chislehurst, Kent, England, UK. He was a writer, known for Burn 'Em Up O'Connor (1939) and Speed Limit (1931). He was married to Betty Nicory, Dorothy Evelyn Whittall and Marjorie D. Knott. He died on 31 December 1948 in Reigate, Surrey, England, UK.

British novelist William Harrison Ainsworth's career lasted so long (60 years) and his output was so prolific that some critics have termed him "the king of historical potboilers". His most lasting of the many books he wrote is probably the series about the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin, which was so popular that there was a successful series of films featuring him in the 1920s.

Harrison was born in Manchester, England, in 1805. He picked up his taste for history and writing as a youngster. His father was a criminal-defense attorney, and as a child William would sit fascinated as his father told tales of the daring highwaymen and bandits he defended. His father also moved in Manchester's social circles, and young William met such literary figures as Charles Dickens and Edward George Bulwer-Lytton at the family estate. The youngster began writing melodramas and plays while still in grammar school, and even set up his own theater in the basement of his parents' home where he would stage these productions, making all the costumes, props and scenery himself. He also began submitting poems and short stories to local literary magazines, and began getting published in such publications as "The New Monthly Magazine", "London Magazine" and "Edinburgh Magazine".

In the early 1820s he struck up a friendship with noted historian Charles Lamb. In 1824 his father died and Ainsworth, now an attorney, took over his father's law firm in London, and stayed there for two years. He and a friend, John Partington, co-wrote a romance novel, "Sir John Chiverton", which became quite popular and attracted the attention of writer Sir Walter Scott, who wrote Ainsworth to request a meeting. Ainsworth married Fanny Ebers, the daughter of a prominent book publisher, in 1826. He began helping his father-in-law to run his business, but soon tired of that life and set up his own law practice. However, he still kept his hand in the writing game, and in 1834 his novel "Rookwood" became a national best-seller. cementing his reputation as an author and giving him the financial security to devote himself full-time to writing.

His novel "Jack Sheppard" (1839) was also a success, both critically and financially. In addition to writing, Ainsworth was also editor of "Bentley's Miscellany" magazine from 1840-41. In 1846 he attended a dinner given at the home of Charles Dickens--with whom he had now become close friends--and Dickens gave him a personally signed copy of his new novel, "The Haunted Man". In 1842 Ainsworth began his own literary magazine, "Ainsworth's Magazine", while still working as editor of both "Bentley's Magazine" and "The New Monthly Magazine". Unfortunately, he was forced to terminate his own magazine in 1854 for financial reasons but bought "Bentley's Mischellany" (and was forced to sell that in 1868). He was still writing novels and they were selling, but not in the numbers that his earlier ones had, and he soon moved from the glitz and glamour of London to the more staid (and less expensive) seaside community of Brighton. His financial situation didn't improve much, though, and he eventually moved from Brighton to lower-rent Tunbridge Wells in 1867. He soon had to sell his magazines, and even some of his family property, to stave off financial ruin. He was eventually forced to work for what was called a "penny dreadful" magazine, "Bow Bells" (penny-dreadfuls were adaptations and severely edited versions of major British works, which were then sold--without even covers--for a penny apiece), to make a living.

He died at Reigate, Surrey, England, on Jan. 3, 1882.

Francis Frith was born on 7 October 1822 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, UK. Francis is known for Gates of Heaven (1978). Francis died on 25 February 1898 in Reigate, Surrey, England, UK.

Malcolm Campbell was born on 11 March 1885 in Chislehurst, Kent, England, UK. He died on 31 December 1948 in Reigate, Surrey, England, UK.

Alwyn Sheppard Fidler was born on 8 May 1909 in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, UK. He was married to Margaret Kidner. He died on 4 January 1990 in Reigate, Surrey, England, UK.

Irene Langer was born in 1920. Irene is known for Death in the Hand (1948). Irene was married to Wyndham Fitzgerald Harding. Irene died in 2001 in Reigate, Surrey, England, UK.