Harold Blackham
Harold Blackham (1903-2009) was a leading British humanist philosopher, writer and educationalist and is considered one of the pioneers of modern humanism. He was born in West Bromwich and following the end of World War I he attended Birmingham University. He played an important part in forming the British Humanist...
Harold Rhodes
Harold Leo Rhodes (1923-2010) was born in Newcastle to Charles and Mary Rhodes and had a younger sister, Maureen. They moved to London when Harold was 10, where he studied engineering. He became a Bevin Boy during the war, working in the Staffordshire coal mines. Harold was interested in politics...
Harry Mellanby
Harry Mellanby (1930 – 2017) was born in County Durham on 6 October and grew up near Stockton-on-Tees. He worked in local government, was responsible for the building of the Strode Swimming Pool, and had a street named after him. He enjoyed watching football, travelling, and gardening. Harry married Jean...
Hazel Birkby Pennington
Hazel Birkby Pennington (1928 – 2019) was born on the 9th of June 1928 in Richmond, Surrey, to Isabelle and Reginald. She had two brothers and three sisters. She went to Trafalgar Junior School in Twickenham and Nella Secondary School. She left school at fifteen and trained as a tracer...
Hazel Mason
Hazel Mason (1923-2018) was born to Stan and Maud Pettitt in Birmingham where she grew up with her sisters Win and Carol. She won a scholarship to King Edward’s School for Girls, where she showed an aptitude for art. After a brief evacuation to Cheltenham, she returned to Birmingham to...
Heather ‘Shirley’ Rowland (Née Auburn)
Heather ‘Shirley’ Rowland (Née Auburn) (1957-2018) Heather Shirley Auburn was born and raised in Northampton. She had four siblings, Linda, Peter, Jennifer and Diane. She attended St. George’s School and Kingsthorpe Upper School. She had various local jobs until meeting Paul Rowland, whom she married in 1977. She soon became...
Horace (Harry) Hurst
Horace (Harry) James Hurst (1920 – 2019) was born in Llandaff, Cardiff, to Horace and Lillian. He had a younger sister, Mavis. He left school at fifteen and joined the Royal Air Force. He entered as a trainee technician and underwent his training at Llandow. While posted to a camp...
Howard Grimmett
Howard Grimmett (1944 – 2019) was born on the 17th April 1944 in Ilford, Essex. He had a twin sister, Lesley and a brother, Noel. He left school in 1959 and spent a short time farming. He then joined Dunn & Co, the clothing retailers, followed by Harrison Gibsons, the...
Howard Thomas Palmer
Howard Thomas Palmer (1946 – 2022) was born to Beryl and Tommy Palmer in Cambridge. After leaving Coleridge Boys’ School, Howard took a City and Guilds qualification at the local catering college. He became a trainee chef at Lyons Corner House in London after which he returned to Cambridge to...
Hubert Beaumont
Hubert Preston Beaumont (1935-2018) was born in Oldham, son of Cyril and Hilda and brother to Margaret. He was husband to Yvonne and father of Harriet and Oliver. He was also stepfather to Anna and Tassy and step-grandfather to Iris, Fraser and Willa. Hubert went to St.Edwards School and then...
Hugo Slack
Hugo Slack, a much loved son of Sophie and Greg, and a baby brother to Eira.
Iain George Renfrew
Iain George Renfrew (1939 – 2020) was born in Paisley on 17 May 1939 to Jeannie and Tom. He had two younger siblings, Kay and Jim. To avoid National Service, he joined the Merchant Navy in 1955. Iain met Annette whilst on shore leave in Swansea and they married in...
Ian Edwards
Ian Edwards (1981-2010) was born on May 24 in Solihull where he lived most of his life. He grew up extremely close to his mother and his father, and it is from the latter he inherited his lifelong love of football. After spells of volunteering for the National Trust and...
Ian Leslie Picking
Ian Leslie Picking was born in Mitcham on 24th October 1947 to Moyna and Leslie, the eldest of three children. Ian’s first job was as a telephonist working at Fanum House, the headquarters of the Automobile Association (AA) in Leicester Square. Over the years, Ian moved from telephony into customer...
Ian Wiley
Ian Charles Wiley (1949 – 2019) was born in Keynsham, Somerset on the 8th June 1949 to Viv and Joan. He grew up in Marksbury with his six siblings, John, Dave, Viv, Mick, Keith and Jenny. Ian got a place at grammar school and then went to Lanchester Polytechnic. He...
Ian Yates
Ian Yates was born in Barnsley General hospital on 28th November 1960, to Rhoda and Ken Yates, younger brother to Joan, Geoff and Denise. Ian was interested in music from an early age, singing and playing drums to his school friend Kev’s guitar at 11 and then, with Kev, joining...
Ida Mary Steele
Ida Mary Steele was born in Wraysbury, Buckinghamshire, on 26th October 1923, the youngest of three children. The river Thames provided opportunities for swimming and rowing. After leaving school, she trained as a shorthand typist. In 1949, Ida married Ken Steele, a skilled cabinet maker. They set up home in...
Ida Rado
Ida Rado (1910 – 2015) was born on 1 July. She survived the Holocaust and was then forced to move to England from Hungary in 1957 after the Hungarian Revolution. In order to earn money, she sewed evening dresses. Ida enjoyed painting and cooking Hungarian food. She got married in...
Irene Louisa Staines
Irene Louisa Staines (1939 – 2021) was born in Ladywood, Birmingham on 12th April 1939. She had an older brother, Arthur. They were evacuated during World War Two. After her first job as a Bluecoat at a holiday camp and a spell in an advertising agency, she established her first...
Iris Blake
Iris Blake (1920-2018) was born Iris Holgate in Wakefield. She had an elder brother, Harold. She attended Wakefield Girls’ High School and then went on to do teacher-training. Iris volunteered as a fire-watcher during WWII. After the war she married Ian, her childhood sweetheart. They spent their first five years...
Iris Robinson
Iris was born in Cork in 1932. She came to England at an early age and grew up in Bournemouth with her younger siblings Esther and Ken. Their parents were Plymouth Brethren. On leaving school Iris went to Paris as an au pair to widen her horizons before returning to...
Ivy Blofield
Ivy Blofield (1919 – 2021) was born in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire on 1st December 1919 to Bert and Alice Gale, the fifth of seven children. At the age of fourteen Ivy started work in the Post Office near Slough. She relocated to London working through World War 2 and the...
James Alington
James Patrick Alington (1947-2018) was born in the Medway Towns, brother to Bill and Eve. After working for his father, Jim joined the RAF, becoming a pilot. He settled in Cornwall having been stationed there with the RAF. After leaving the RAF he worked for a building society and became...
James Drewery
James Drewery (1927-2019). Jim was born in Aberdeen where he grew up with his sisters Dorothy and Lydia. On leaving Robert Gordon College, he did his National Service with the Gordon Highlanders based in Somaliland. He achieved a first class degree in psychology at Aberdeen University and then started his...
