The trailblazing trans woman who made Wales her home after being outed by the press

A trailblazing transgender woman, who found refuge in a small Welsh border town after she was publicly outed by the press, is the subject of a new exhibition in Hay-on-Wye.

Every morning, April Ashley would wake up praying she was a girl.

Born George Jamieson in Liverpool in 1935, April lived most of her early life unhappy through confusion over her gender, and a rocky home life.

After returning home from the Merchant Navy, April attempted suicide, which led her to be sent to a mental institution for electric shock treatment.

In May of 1960 April became part of LGBTQ+ history. For the first time in her life, April woke up as a woman.

The town which April once called home, is now the setting of an exhibition about her life. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

At the age of 25, she became one of the first people to undergo successful gender reassignment surgery.

April travelled to Casablanca, Morocco to become Dr Georges Burou’s ninth patient at his clinic, having saved up the money working at Le Carrousel nightclub in Paris.

After returning to the UK, she became a well known model and actress, even appearing in British Vogue.

However, less than a year after transitioning, she would become the centre of a media frenzy, which started when a friend sold her story to The Sunday People newspaper and she was outed publicly.

From that point, April was a regular feature in the tabloids, including during her divorce from her first husband, The Honourable Arthur Corbett, in 1970.

At the age of 25, she became one of the first people to undergo successful gender reassignment surgery. Credit: ITV Cymru Wales

Their marriage was ruled to be invalid and annulled, on the grounds that April remained a biological man, setting a legal precedent that wasn't overturned until the 2004 Gender Recognition Act was passed.

In an effort to escape the media spotlight, April moved to Hay-on-Wye in the late 1970s.

The town which April once called home, is now the setting of an exhibition about her life.

Mari Fforde, Exhibition Curator and Learning Manager at Hay Castle, said: “April was a well- known part of the community here in Hay, and we were keen to tell her story in a way that expresses the fondness with which she is remembered as well as conveying the important part she played in transgender history in the UK and across the world.

"The idea with the exhibition is to show the two sides of her life – one room looks at the public face of the model who was outed by The Sunday People in 1961 and whose image was all over the headlines during her divorce and the other explores her private life in Hay and the person behind the headlines.”

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