On a recent visit to Brighton, I looked again at the plaques on the Palace Pier and marvelled yet again they made no mention of Gilbert Laye (father of the late, great Evelyn Laye) having been pier-master for a number of years.

I wrote to the owners of the pier about this and they were interested but, unfortunately, I couldn't tell them exactly which years they were.

I know he was there in 1915 because that was when Evelyn (always known as Boo) waylaid a friend of his, a touring manager, on the pier and begged him for her first job.

She made her first appearance on the stage at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, in August 1915 and appeared in that theatre during her final run in Glamorous Nights of Drury Lane Theatre in 1992, at the age of 92.

A career that spanned 77 years should also rate a blue plaque in the house where the Laye family lived at that time but, again, I don't know the exact address.

The mother of a friend, who knew Boo at this time, said she thought it was Queen's something or other and Boo said, in her autobiography, it was near a park.

I'm sure all this information must be archived. I would be very grateful if it was unearthed so this wonderful artiste - and one of the nicest people who ever trod the boards - could be honoured as she deserves.

-Brenda Hargreaves, Streatham Hill, London SW2