April Ashley, 27th April 1962.(Image: Mirrorpix)

23 photos show life of pioneering model who paved the way for thousands

by · Liverpool Echo

April Ashley paved the way for many in the city

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A pioneering model paved the way for not only thousands in Liverpool but the LGBTQ+ community around the world. The extraordinary life of April Ashley, one of the first people in the world to undergo gender reassignment surgery, is one many will already be familiar with.

But, as this week coincides with the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance, the ECHO has looked back at the life of the Liverpool-born activist in photos.

The activist was born in the Liverpool maternity hospital on Oxford Street in 1935. She spent her childhood on Pitt Street, L1 then Teynham Crescent L11, before joining the Merchant Navy and eventually living in London, Hay on Wye, Paris and California.

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April was only the ninth patient of Dr Georges Burou, a pioneer of gender reassignment surgery. She started living as April during her time in Paris when she saved up £3,000 - the equivalent of over £86,000 in 2024 - for Burou's seven-hour surgery by working at a drag club called Le Carrousel.

Just as her career as an actor and Vogue model was blossoming back in Britain after surgery, the Sunday People outed April as transgender in 1961. April previously told the ECHO about this "horrendous time". Even after moving to the USA and working as a waitress or hostess, April's past always loomed close behind. And every time it caught up, the work disappeared.

Nevertheless, April lived an incredible life, so much so that, an exhibition based on her at the Museum of Liverpool attracted 900,000 visitors. She was photographed by David Bailey and she was once regarded as Vogue’s top underwear model in the 1960s.

The activist was also awarded the Honorary Degree of Laws by the University of Liverpool as a result of her work on transgendered equality within the UK. April died in London two days after Christmas Day 2021, aged 86. Her "last wishes" came true as she was buried with her father and grandparents in Ford Cemetery, Litherland.

  1. April Ashley the night before appearing at the Astor Club in a song and dance act. Pictured in Mayfair. 13 May 1962.
    1 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  2. English fashion model April Ashley in April 1962
    2 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  3. April Ashley, 27 April 1962.
    3 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  4. April pictured with her mother, Mrs Ada Jamieson, at London Airport. They are flying to Gibraltar, where Miss Ashley will meet her fiancé Arthur Corbett. 11 May 1962.
    4 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  5. April Ashley wearing a fur hat, 12 February 1970.
    5 of 23(Image: Getty Images)
  6. A London High Court judge is being asked to decide whether 34-year-old model April Ashley "was a man or a woman" at the time of her marriage. April Ashely in London in November 1969.
    6 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  7. Toasting to a hit for Peter Fenton's (right) new record "Marble Breaks, Iron Bends" is model April Ashley, an old friend of Peter's who looked in on a party he was giving at his Chelsea flat
    7 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  1. April Ashley pictured signing the marriage register with her husband Arthur Corbett (1919-1993) on the day of their wedding in Gibraltar on 11 September 1963.
    8 of 23(Image: Getty Images)
  2. April Ashley (wearing coat) walking in London in September 1963
    9 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  3. April Ashley makes her London stage debut as Countess Josephine in Dracula
    10 of 23(Image: Getty Images)
  4. April Ashley pictured during the wedding of Arabella Churchill and James Barton at the Essex Unitarian Church in Kensington, August 1972
    11 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  1. April Ashley wearing a Cossack-style outfit
    12 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  2. April Ashley in a park
    13 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  3. April Ashley with Gonzalo de Bethencort.
    14 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  4. April Ashley, pictured during a visit to Leamington spa June 1979
    15 of 23(Image: Daily Mirror)
  1. April Ashley pictured at her home in Hay-on-Wye.
    16 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  2. April Ashley pictured during an interview with Marjorie Proops
    17 of 23(Image: Mirrorpix)
  3. April Ashley and Tilda Swinton attend the 'I Am Love' screening at The Electric Cinema on March 18, 2010 in London, England
    18 of 23(Image: Getty Images)
  4. Actor Simon Callow (L) and April Ashley attend an after party following press night of Being Shakespeare at Walkers on June 22, 2011 in London, England.
    19 of 23(Image: Getty Images)
  1. April Ashley poses with her Member of the British Empire medal
    20 of 23(Image: Sean Dempsey via Getty ImagesAFP)
  2. April Ashley in Liverpool
    21 of 23
  3. April Ashley received an honorary degree from the University of Liverpool in 2016
    22 of 23(Image: Liverpool Echo/James Maloney)
  4. April Ashley died on December 27, 2021
    23 of 23