Jennifer Watts
Jennifer Watts (1943 – 2020) was born in Tonbridge, Kent to Betty and Alan on 4th January 1943. Jennifer and her brother Robert moved with their mother to Banbury during the war. In 1957 the family moved to Earley, near Reading, where Jennifer won a scholarship to the Abbey School....
Jenny Baker
Jenny Baker (1945 – 2019) was born in Liverpool to Jean and Harold and had a sister, Val. She passed her eleven plus exam and went to grammar school. Her first job was in insurance, followed by a year in France as an au pair. After returning to the UK, Jenny...
Joan Daniel
Joan Daniel (1935 – 2021) was the youngest daughter of Anne and Jim Lowe. Her elder siblings were James, Arthur and Betty. Born in Warrington, Joan attended the local Grammar School leaving to join the General Post Office (GPO) as a telephonist. She met Eric in 1955 and they married...
Joan Joy
Joan Esther Joy (1935 – 2020) was born Esther Wymer on 20th June 1935, in Norwich, one of six children. She was mainly brought up by her step-father, Bill. Joan married Peter Ward when she was 18. They had two daughters, Marilyn and Anne. They separated after 11 years and...
Joan Kucmyda
Joan Kucmyda (1941 – 2019) was born on 8th September 1941 to John and Vera McManus. She grew up in Halifax and Elland. She went to Clare Hall School. Joan married Tom and moved to Shepley. They had three sons, Brian, Steven and Christopher. After they separated, she moved to...
Joan Luffman
Joan Luffman (1927 – 2017) was born Joan Meacham in Pontypool, Wales on 20 February. She was one of seven children. During World War II she joined the Land Army. Joan was fond of cooking and travelled extensively across the UK and Europe. She married Alf and had three children:...
Joan Marie Dodgson
Joan was born on 22nd August 1930 in Chirk, near Wrexham in North Wales. She had two elder brothers, Syd and Jim, and a younger brother, Stan. Joan worked as a physiotherapist at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Welwyn for most of her career, and contributed to a book,...
Jodi Cade
Jodi Cade (1984 – 2017) was born on 6 May to Geoff and Pattie. She was Staffordshire’s representative to the Youth Parliament before studying Politics at Newcastle University. She later dropped out and worked in Claire’s Accessories and then River Island. After meeting at University, she married husband Jamie and...
John Conway
John Michael Conway (1982-2018) was born and raised in Oxford. He studied Arts and Drama at Abingdon and carpentry at City of Oxford College. John worked at The New Bodleian and then in estate management at the John Radcliffe Hospital. In 2009 he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He...
John Denton (OBE)
John Denton OBE (1937 – 2019) was born in Holmfirth to Wilfred and Emily Denton. He had a twin sister, Dorothy, and an older sister, Muriel. In his late teens John joined the Navy and became a Sick Bay Attendant. During his time in the Navy he enjoyed living and...
John Jarvis
John Mervyn Jarvis (1933-2019) was born in Portsmouth. He was the only son of Kathleen and Jums. His father died in the war when John was seven. His step-father worked in the theatre and introduced John to the world of show-business at an early age. He would go on to...
John Jenkins
John Jenkins (1929 – 2017) was born in Maesteg,Wales, the third of four children. After school, he took on a variety of jobs before settling down as a labourer at British Tissues in Maesteg, working his way up to shift manager before his retirement. He enjoyed cycling and was a...
John Keith Prowse
John Prowse (1934-2018) was born on 8 February in Weymouth, the middle child of five. After attending Weymouth Grammar School, he joined the local council Parks Department where he was to work for forty years, with only a two year gap during which he completed his national service in the...
John Lloyd
John Lloyd (1941-2017) was born in southern Africa during WWII. He was involved in politics at university and became an activist in the anti-apartheid struggle. He was imprisoned for his membership of the African Resistance Movement in 1964. After his release he moved to the UK where he worked as...
John Martin Leo
John Martin Leo was born in County Limerick to James and Mai on 9th March 1951, the ninth of ten children. He was only ever known as Martin. He studied at University College Cork where he met one of his oldest friends, P.J. Another very good friend was his neighbour...
John Naylor
John Naylor (1932-2018) was born on the 12th of June in south-east London, the area he would remain for his whole life. He was one of two children. John attended Eltham College before becoming a state scholar at King’s College in 1950. It was at this time John met Elizabeth,...
John Newman
John Frederick Newman (1941-2019) was born in Salford, Oxfordshire. John was a very talented footballer. He played for the school, local and County teams, winning many cups and trophies along the way. He had trials for West Bromwich Albion and played for their school boys’ team. After his retirement as...
John Russell Savory
John Russell Savory was born in Sydenham on 3rd June 1936 to Lillian and Ernest. He had a sister, Margaret. In 1940 they were briefly evacuated to Sherborne in Dorset. He learned to play badminton and cricket with the local church teams and continued to play throughout his life. In...
John Taylorson (OBE)
John Taylorson OBE (1931-2018) was born in the East End of London with his twin David, to parents John and Edith. He had two older siblings, Olive and Tom. John left Forest School in Snaresbrook in 1947 to do a course at Westminster Hotel and Catering College in London. John...
John Varley
John Varley (1938-2018) was born on 17 January in Liverpool, one of three children. After growing up in Toxteth, he joined the Merchant Navy – serving as a steward on large passenger ships. After leaving the Merchant Navy he joined the nearby Ford car production factory where he would remain...
John Williams
John Grenville Williams (1936 – 2020) was born to Sam and Dorothy in Bedwas, Caerphilly, on the 30th of October 1936. He had a sister, Audrey and a brother, David. Aged 11, he went to a Technical Grammar school and then to New Tredegar Technical College. He represented both at...
Jon Roads
Jonathan Roads (1943 – 2017)was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire on the 26 October. He studied at Seale Hayne Agricultural College in Devon and then had a number of business ventures, including Aquaid, a WaterAid franchise, and Road Hogs, a pig staffing recruitment agency. He enjoyed gardening, growing his own fruit...
Joseph ‘Joe’ Staples
‘Joe’ Joseph Staples (1941 – 2019) was born in Leamington Spa to Joseph and Edith. He had a twin sister, Josie, and a younger sister, Jill. By his early twenties, Joe was serving in the Army with the Queen’s Life Guard and was chosen to be one of the horsemen...
Joseph (Joe) Lucas Jones
Joe was born on the 1st. July 1940, in Islington, the youngest of Gladys and Charles ten children. Charles, Pa, worked as a fish porter in the mornings and in the theatre at night with Ma. Joe, like most of his family, worked in the theatre. He started work at...
