All Collections
Hookham, Felix Collection
Felix John Hookham, B.Sc., M. Inst.C.E., A.M.I. Mech. E., who was born in Clapham, London on 30 August 1889 and died in Jersey in January 1976, was an engineer, who worked for the British American Tobacco Company (B.A.T.) in China. Felix Hookham left England for China on 5 November 1927. He married Hilda (aka Nita) Acheson Fontes (1894-1988) and they were the parents of Margaret (Peggy) Hookham, who became the celebrated dancer Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991), and a son (also named Felix). The family lived in Tianjin, later in Hong Kong and, more permanently, in Shanghai. In 1933, Hilda Hookham returned to London with Peggy, aged 14, to help her persue her career in ballet. Felix John Hookham was interned by the Japanese from March 1943 to August 1945 at Lunghua Camp, Shanghai. After the war, Felix John Hookham returned to the UK with his second wife Beatrice Ada Nerlind. Only a selection of this collection is currently online – more to come. See 'So this is fame!' Margot Fonteyn in China. HPC ref: Hh-s.