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...
Joseph (Joey) Thomas McKeown
Joseph Thomas McKeown, or Joey as he was known to all, was born in the little village of Aghalee, Northern Ireland, on 6th February 1934. He had just turned 87 when he died unexpectedly on 19th February 2021. He was still living in the same weaver’s cottage where he was...
Joshua Bains
Joshua Bains (1989-2018) was born in Northampton to Lyn and Dave. He attended the Campion School. Josh was an adventurous and mischievous boy who became a generous, smart and personable family man. A good salesman and enthusiastic sportsman. He died tragically young, leaving partner, Rebecca, and two children, Cyrus and...
Josie Anne Stuart-Smith
Josie Anne Stuart-Smith (1932 – 2021) was born to Horace and Phyllis Stuart in Leicester on 10th June 1932. She had three brothers Ralph, Trevor and Tony. Josie went to Nottingham University to study agriculture and horticulture where she met Mervyn Smith. They married on 16th July 1954 at the...
Joyce ‘Joy’ Parsonson
Joyce ‘Joy’ Ellen Parsonson (1933-2019) was born Joyce Ellen Southgate in Leyton to Jim and Alice. She was very talented at sport, and was offered a sports scholarship. Joy married Don in 1951. They were married for 60 years and had two daughters, Chris and Lin. They lived in Leyton...
Joyce Holroyd
Joyce Holroyd (1937 – 2020) was born on 14th September 1937. She grew up in Luddenden Foot, West Yorkshire with her mother, Mary, and her younger brother Kevin. At school, Joyce excelled at sport. After leaving she took a secretarial course. She played tenor horn in local bands, where she...
Joyce Pemberton
Joyce Pemberton (1929 – 2019) was born in Derby, on the 14th November, 1929 to Joseph and Hannah Brayshaw. They moved to Blackpool when Joyce was around three. She had an older sister, Joan. Joyce went to Revo junior school in Blackpool and then to Tyldesley Secondary School until she...
Joyce Woodhead
Joyce Woodhead (1930 – 2019) was born in Lower Cumberworth, West Yorkshire, on December 6th 1930, the youngest of the five surviving children of Edgar and Alice Peace. After leaving school she began working at Firth’s Mill at Shelley Bank Bottom, where she met and fell in love with Dennis,...
Judith (Judy) Mary Jones
Judy was born in York, to Dorothy and Reg Clitheroe, younger sister to John and older sister to Gill. She attended Shipton Street Primary School followed by Queen Anne Grammar School, and was a keen girl guide. Following in her father’s footsteps, she joined Rowntree’s in 1968, working in the...
Judith Elizabeth Hanna
Judith Elizabeth Hanna (1954 – 2021) was born in Nowra, New South Wales, Australia to Jack Hanna and Valmai St Clair, the eldest sister to John, Peter, Julian, Zena and Roslyn. Judith was schooled in various places including New Guinea, due to her father’s postings as a naval aviator. She...
