Kids Go Free
Louth Museum

Ruth's Blog

Mayor Julia Simmons

by Richard Lance Keeble

Mayor Julia

Mayor Julia

Julia

Julia

The singer, dancer, choreographer and comedienne Julia Simmons, Louth’s Mayor, who worked for many years with some of Britain’s top actors, has died of cancer. She was 70.

As the Town Council commented on its Facebook page: ‘We have lost a lovely friend and colleague. With her caring nature and ever-present love of life, she was a wonderful person to spend time with’ adding that she was ‘passionate about the town’.

In 1976, she married the ventriloquist Alan Simmons at Holy Trinity Church, Louth, and they regularly appeared together in pantomimes and summer shows around the country. They last performed together in May 2024 at the Mayor’s special charity show at Louth Riverhead Theatre in aid of local foodbanks and ‘Bob’s Brainwaves’ for dementia sufferers and their carers.

Born in Louth in 1954, Julia attended King Edward VI Grammar School and then won a scholarship to study performance arts for three years at the highly prestigious Arts Ed, in London. Immediately after graduating she began performing as a dancer with the popular vocalist Anne Shelton. This launched a decades-long career on the stage working alongside such celebrities as Danny La Rue, Max Bygraves, Ken Dodd, Alvin Stardust, Jim Davidson, Norman Wisdom, Petula Clark and Stanley Baxter. On television, she appeared in Casualty, I, Claudius, The Michael Barrymore Show, The Duchess of Duke Street – and she was even a monster in Dr Who. Her film credits included Ken Russell’s Valentino and the American western, Heaven’s Gate.

During the 1990s, she graduated in nursing from Greenwich University, went on to work in both the NHS and private health sector and later became manager of a private nursing home in Kent.

A proud member of the Grand Order of Lady Ratlings, a show business charity organisation, she raised a considerable amount of money for them, for the Royal Chelsea Pensioners and the Not Forgotten Association for serving and ex-service men and women. In recognition of her charity work, she was invited to Buckingham Palace four times.

Returning to Louth in her retirement, she joined the town council in 2019 and was elected Mayor for 2023/24 and 2024/25, where she served with great dedication – and with Alan Simmons as her Consort. In February 2024, she unveiled a Blue Plaque in Vickers Lane, Louth, on the site where William Brown painted the celebrated Panorama from 1844-1847.