MURIEL LEVY 1903-1972
Muriel Augusta Levy was born on 2nd August 1903 in Paddington, London, the youngest daughter of Polish-born Louis Levy, a boot and polish dealer, and his British wife Amelia. By 1911 the family had moved to Bedford Street, Liverpool. Muriel was educated at the prestigious Liverpool College for Girls in nearby Grove Street. In the early days of BBC Radio, Muriel’s was one of the first voices to be heard on the Liverpool station, 6LV, which began broadcasting on 11th June 1924. She soon became a radio personality, known to generations of children as “Auntie Muriel”. By the late 1920s she was organising Children’s Hour and Woman’s Hour for 6LV. The first studio was above a cafe in Lord Street, Liverpool, providing programmes for a few hours each day for listeners via their crystal sets. Her career developed as she began to write scripts for radio, eventually totalling more than 3000, and she adapted literary works such as The Forsyte Saga for broadcasting. She always took an active interest in promoting literacy, and from the 1920s, through her weekly column in the Liverpool Echo – Auntie Muriel’s Treasure Chest – she encouraged children to read and draw for inclusion in her articles. She also sat on the Committee of the National Library for the Blind, helping to choose books to be translated into Braille. Muriel Levy served as Chairman of the Liverpool Child Welfare Fund, and was Vice-President of the Women’s Branch of the Royal British Legion. In 1927 Miss Levy was a Charter (Founder) member of SI Liverpool, and served as the Club’s
President in 1958. She was married twice, and had one daughter. She died on 30th March 1972, aged 68.
Photo SI Liverpool archives