Witty, outrageous Diana Dors provided the media with a whole raft of risqué quotes. Born in Swindon in 1931 she went on to become our very own blonde bombshell, Britain’s answer to Marilyn Monroe. She was bold and brassy and lacked the vulnerability of Marilyn Monroe and sadly, today her sleazy lifestyle is better remembered than her considerable acting ability. But it could be said that Diana like Marilyn was a product of her success and the men who used and exploited her during a lucrative career in the 50s and 60s.
She seldom returned to Swindon having left the town behind and following the death of her parents there remains little trace of Diana. Or does there?
Diana’s mother, Winifred Maud Mary was born in Chewton Mendip, Somerset in 1890, the daughter of Mercy Georgina and Elijah Payne. Her first husband, William George Padget, was killed in action in 1916 during the First World War. In 1918 she married for a second time. Albert Edward Sidney Fluck was a railway clerk in the GWR Works. Their only child, Diana Mary Fluck, was born in a nursing home in Kent Road and grew up in a house in Marlborough Road. Her ambition to act, sing and dance became apparent at a very early age and was encouraged by her mother. Her precocious beauty and ambition saw her enrolled at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art at just 14 years old. Diana would later say:
“They asked me to change my name. I suppose they were afraid that if ‘Diana Fluck’ was in lights and one of the lights blew …” A classic Diana quip. The surname Diana chose was her maternal grandmother’s maiden name, Dors.
Diana’s father Albert Edward Stanley Fluck was born on October 10, 1893 in Swindon and baptised on November 12 at St. Mark’s Church, Kingsholm, Gloucester, the church in which his parents had married in 1892. His father Albert Edward Fluck was a railway clerk and had moved to Swindon in around 1889 and can be found lodging with the Jones family at 40 Oriel Street at the time of the 1891 census.
By 1901 the Fluck family were living at 11 Poulton Street, Gorse Hill – Albert E. Fluck 35 a clerk at the GWR Works, Ada 34 and Albert E.S. aged 7. Lodging with the family was George J. Sarwell 37, a Church of England clergyman.
Albert Edward Fluck died on January 24, 1907 aged 40 years. His funeral took place on January 30 and he is buried in Radnor Street Cemetery in plot C1800.
Ada went on to marry widower Albert Ausden a scaffolder employed in the GWR Works. At the time of the 1911 census the family were living at 19 Cambria Place with Albert’s three children Rupert, Florrence and George and her two children Albert, then aged 17, and Gweneva Fluck 7.
Ada died in 1948 aged 81 years and is buried with Albert Fluck in plot C1800. Their daughter Gweneva died in 1966 and is also buried with them.
There does not appear to be a headstone on the Fluck family grave. Probably back in 1907 there was not the money to pay for one. I suspected their granddaughter Diana Dors probably had something big and showy, but surprisingly she hasn’t. Diana died in 1984 aged 52. She was buried in Sunningdale Catholic Cemetery. Her third husband Alan Lake took his own life just five months later. He is buried alongside her and the two have identical headstones.
Radnor Street Cemetery 