Howard Imber (1931-2014) 

A CAREER as a comedy scriptwriter allowed Howard Imber to rub shoulders with TV superstars like Chris Tarrant, Lenny Henry and Bob Monkhouse.

Born at Manthorpe Road, overlooking Wyndham Park, he went to Brownlow, Harrowby Infants and Little Gonerby before going to King’s School.

He became a quantity surveyor, first with the Air Ministry then after a spell with a private company went to Fosters Builders,with whom he eventually became sales and marketing manager.

Howard was working as a quantity surveyor for Wharf Road builders Fosters in the early 1970s when he sent scripts with topical jokes into Radio 4 topical comedy show Week Ending.

His jokes were such a hit he became a regular contributor to a show that was to prove his launch pad to becoming a TV writer, with The Two Ronnies his first show.

Howard wrote funny news items for the show’s finale, immediately before the ‘It’s goodnight from me’ ‘It’s goodnight from him’ catchphrase.

A glut of TV work followed, with Howard writing for Bob Monkhouse and Lenny Henry and working on Tarrant’s TISWAS and OTT programmes.

Working with Tarrant led to Howard working on one of the best-loved gameshows of the 1980s.

He met Jim Bowen on set, and with the comedian in need of a scriptwriter for the third series of Bullseye, Howard stepped into the breach and continued for several successful series.

Other noted celebrities Howard worked with include Angus Deayton, a fellow script associate on OTT, Cilla Black and Michael Barrymore.

A former King’s pupil, Howard has twice been chairman of the school’s Old Boys Society, including during its centenary year.

He also helped launch the society’s newsletter, The Old Granthamian, and still writes for it today.

Howard says his comic talent may have come from his grandmother Sarah Rilett, a keen performer who lived in Barkston and gave famous turns at the village hall.

He developed his writing skills during his time as a member of Grantham Round Table, and says encouragement from fellow members following after dinner speeches gave him the confidence to expose himself to a wider audience.

After retiring he received an Open University degree.

A keen sportsman, Howard was a forward for Kesteven Rugby Club and a member of Grantham Tennis Club, a sport at which he was of county standard.

But in 1992, as he crossed the road to the Welford Road ground to watch Leicester Tigers, he was struck by a car which left him badly injured. Within six months he was in New Zealand following the British Lions tour, but the accident had taken its toll and he ceased to write any more comedy.

 

Jon Nixon (b1948)

BORN at Ilkeston, Jonathan Nixon began his footballing career at Derby County and Ilkeston Town, before scoring 65 times in a total of 420 appearances for Notts County.

He joined  Peterborough United, where he scored the winning goal in the FA Cup match against Nottingham Forest that sent The Posh to Old Trafford, Shrewsbury Town, Barnsley and Halifax Town.

After spells at Long Eaton United and Burton Albion, Jon came to Grantham as Player/Manager, making his debut in the opening County Cup tie of the 1981/82 season at home to Boston United.

He  scoring his first goal in the October league fixture against Buxton. He played in many of the games during that season, while the following campaign saw appearances for him in the County Cup Final victory at Scunthorpe United and the final qualifying round of the FA Cup against Telford United, with what would turn out to be his last goal for the club in the previous round at home to Armitage.

During that spell, he came up with the immortal statement “We’re in a winning rut!”. He was referring to the team playing appallingly, but because they were winning it was difficult to justify changes.

Jon missed many of the games in the latter half of that campaign, but played in the closing fixture at Matlock Town. He went on to join the management teams at Shepshed Charterhouse and then Kettering Town, but by the mid 1990s was working with his old team-mate, Dave Needham in a company supplying personalised number plates.

He is now a sales director for an internet learning company.

Compiled with assistance from Jon Barnes

William Whitaker (1830-1914)

BORN in Leeds, 15-year-old William Whitaker came to Grantham as an apprentice to tailor George Gibbon in 1845.

In 1869, on the death of Mr Gibbons, William took over the business and gave his name to it until his retirement in 1904 when his son Frederick took over.

Aged 20, he volunteered for the Lincolnshire Rifle Corps (later the 2^nd Volunteer Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment) based at the Barracks, Sandon Road,  in which he served for 38 years, retiring as quartermaster Sergeant.

Not once did he miss the annual camp.

He was also an official in the Grantham branch of the Oddfellows, for one day less than 50 years and was treasurer for the Vale of Belvoir district.

 

SIR William Cecil was born in Bourne, in 1520, the only son of Richard Cecil, owner of the Burghley estate (near Stamford), and his wife, Jane (nee Heckington).

William was educated first at The King’s School, Grantham, then at Stamford School, which he later saved and endowed. In May 1535, at the age of fourteen, he went up to St John’s College, Cambridge, where he acquired an exceptional knowledge of Greek.

He married Mary Cheke who died shortly after the birth Thomas. Three years later, in 1546, he married Mildred Cooke, ranked with Lady Jane Grey as one of the two most learned ladies in the kingdom, and whose sister, Anne, married Sir Nicholas (later the mother of Sir Francis) Bacon.

William Cecil’s early career was spent in the service of the Duke of Somerset (a brother of the late queen, Jane Seymour), who was Lord Protector during the early years of the reign of his nephew, the young Edward VI.

He was elected to Parliament as knight of the shire for Lincolnshire in 1553 (probably), 1555 and 1559 and for Northamptonshire in 1563.

It was rumoured in December 1554 that Cecil would succeed Sir William Petre as Secretary of State, an office which, with his chancellorship of the Garter, he had lost on Mary’s accession to the throne. Probably the Queen had more to do with this rumour than Cecil, though he is said to have opposed, in the parliament of 1555 (in which he represented Lincolnshire), a bill for the confiscation of the estates of the Protestant refugees.

The Duke of Northumberland had employed Cecil in the administration of the lands of Princess Elizabeth. Before Mary died he was a member of the “old flock of Hatfield”, and from the first, the new Queen relied on Cecil.

She appointed him Secretary of State and he was her favourite and adviser.

His tight control over the finances of the Crown, leadership of the Privy Council, and the creation of a highly capable intelligence service under the direction of Francis Walsingham made him the most important minister for the majority of Elizabeth’s reign.

Though a Protestant, Cecil was not a religious purist; he aided the Protestant Huguenots and Dutch just enough to keep them going in the struggles which warded danger from England’s shores.

His action over the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, proved that he was willing to take on responsibilities from which the Queen shrank.

In February 1559, he was elected Chancellor of Cambridge University in succession to Cardinal Pole; he was created MA of that university on the occasion of Elizabeth’s visit in 1564, and MA of Oxford on a similar occasion in 1566. He was the first Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin from 1592 to 1598.

In 1571, Queen Elizabeth elevated him as Baron Burghley. The following year he collapsed, possibly from a heart attack, and died six years later.

Ivan Dawson (1930-1985)

IVAN Dawson was a Labour councillor and one of the founders of Grantham Twinning Association.

And it was on a visit to twin Town Sankt Augustin – where he was an honorary citizen – that he had a heart attack and died in a German hospital.

First elected as a borough councillor in 1971, he represented Harrowby Ward on South Kesteven District Council. He was Mayor in 1976-77.

He was employed by Aveling Barford for 31 years before being made redundant in 1983 when he formed his own home maintenance business.

Apart from his council work, he was a member of RAFA,  the Lions, Grantham Organ Club, vice president of the OAP Club and president of the Spina Bifida Club.

 John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick (b1948)

JOHN Douglas “Rabbit” Bundrick, born in Houston, Texas, is an American rock keyboardist, pianist and organist.

He is best known for his work with The Who and associations with others including Eric Burdon, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Roger Waters, Free and Crawler. Bundrick is noted as the principal musician for the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In the mid-1970s, he was a member of the short-lived group Mallard, formed by ex-members of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band. He is also known as a composer and has recorded solo albums.

Bundrick toured and recorded with Texan vocalist Johnny Nash and played on Nash’s hit single and album I Can See Clearly Now (1972). He met Bob Marley while in Sweden, while working on the soundtrack to the Swedish film Vill så gärna tro. Marley, Bundrick, and Johnny Nash became roommates there during the stay. Sometime after their return to London, Bundrick was brought in to collaborate on arrangements for Marley’s Catch a Fire album, adding keyboards to the original Jamaican recordings to make the record more accessible to listeners.

Bundrick first worked with Pete Townshend in 1977 when he performed on Rough Mix, Townshend’s solo collaboration with Ronnie Lane, former bass player for Small Faces and Faces. He was invited to play on the Who’s album Who Are You (1978), but broke his arm falling out of a taxi at the studio door and was unable to participate in recording sessions.

Bundrick toured with The Who from 1979 to 1981 along with drummer Kenney Jones and played on their album Face Dances (1981), then briefly parted with the band during the recording of It’s Hard (1982) and the subsequent tour. Bundrick later rejoined the band performing with them at Live Aid in 1985 and has since played live with them for most of the last 20 years.

During this time, his country retreat was a house down the Drift, at Harlaxton.

In the spring of 2008, Bundrick married Canadian Jody Ahern.

In 2008, Bundrick performed at the recording of VH1 Honors The Who in Los Angeles.

Anne Crawford (1920- 1956)

FILM star Anne (real name Imelda) Crawford was born in Haifa, (then Palestine), to a Scottish engineer working on the railways. She was brought up in Edinburgh and studied acting at RADA. From there she worked in rep in Manchester.

She had a tiny role in Prison Without Bars and better one in They Flew Alone.

In the 1920s and 30s she spent much of her time at Denton, living with her Aunt, Mrs Sheardown, at Denton Lodge, Denton.

It was the smash hit Millions Like Us that crystalised her star persona: posh, selfish but basically a good sort.

During her career there were a few attempts to get away from this template, notably her poor mill worker in Master of Banksdam, but British cinema never had a shortage of roles for her type so she was rarely stretched dramatically.

She married James Hartley in 1939.

She made her West End debut in 1949 and her television career ran in parallel to her film career. While starring in the Agatha Christie play Spider’s Web at the Savoy she was diagnosed with leukemia.  She died within about a month of the diagnosis at the age of 35.

It was shortly after a guest appearance to open a Scouts’ fete at Norman Leys, Beacon Lane, Grantham.

For modern audiences Crawford’s perceived poshness can seem a bit distancing, and it’s hard to judge how her career would have panned out had she not died so early. I suspect she would have done okay. She showed enough wit and timing in her few comedy outings and there was always something of the grande dame about her to suggest that she would have only improved with age.

She appeared with Roy Plomley as the castaway on Desert Island Discs in 1951.

 

 Was too Conservative to read the Times

John Cust (1779-1853)

JOHN Cust succeeded Brownlow Cust in 1807 and was raised to Earldom in 1815. A stern and forbidding man, he was reputed to be so conservative he would not even allow The Times into his home, Belton House.

Yet he was a progressive landlord who had the labourers’ cottages on his estates rebuilt and some of them designed by Salvin, the architect who designed nearby Harlaxton Manor.

The fact that each cottage was built with at least three bedrooms – an apparently generous and considerate idea – rendered him unpopular with almost everyone concerned.

It offended neighbouring country gentlemen who could not afford to do likewise, it shocked the farmers who thought that the labourers were being spoiled and even the labourers were annoyed because they wished to let the extra bedrooms but were not allowed to do so.

Cust was the eldest son of the 1st Baron Brownlow and his second wife, Frances. In 1802, he was elected as MP for Clitheroe and held the seat until he succeeded to his father’s title in 1807. In May, 1805 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society

From 1809-52, he was Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire.

He  married Sophia Hume (the second daughter and coheiress of Sir Abraham Hume, Bt.) in 1810 and they had three children:

After she died in 1814,  married Caroline Fludyer daughter of George Fludyer of Ayston, Rutland (and a granddaughter of Sir Samuel Fludyer, Bt.) four years later. Brownlow and Caroline had three daughters:

Caroline died in 1824 and Brownlow then married Lady Emma Sophia Edgcumbe (a daughter of the 2nd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe). Lord Brownlow did have not any children with his third wife. As his  eldest son had predeceased him in 1851, on his own death in 1853, his titles passed to his grandson, John William Spencer Egerton Cust.

Leeke, Harold (1888-1958)

CANON  Charles Harold Leeke, former vicar of St Nicholas Church, Lincoln, was appointed Vicar of Grantham in 1939,  succeeding the Rev G H Warde.

A native of Lincoln, he was the son of Canon E T Leeke, chancellor and sub-dean of Lincoln Cathedral for many years.

Canon Leeke was married with three daughters.

He was ordained in Lincoln Cathedral in 1911and was curate at Boston until 1914.

He spent 15 years with the Universities Mission to Central Africa.

In 1944, when local MP Denis Kendall caused a sensation when he told Parliament that American troops made life intolerable for Grantham women, Canon like tried to calm down the controversy.

Instead he managed to stoke it. He was quoted in the national press as saying he was more concerned about litter.

He said:  “The point is contraceptive appliances should not be left in public because that is poisoning innocent minds. Situations have arisen whereby children are in danger of disease.”

He retired in 1958 and died four months later at Marlow.

  William Whysall (1839-1913)

THE son of a Belper farmer and malster, William Whysall came to Grantham  when he was 30 to open a pharmacy.

He had already spent serve nine years with the renowned pharmacist Mr Pedler of Fleet Street, and when he set up on High Street, became the first qualified pharmacist in town. The family business then continued for a century.

In the same year, he married Charlotte Grummitt who bore hime eight children.

Although he never held a major public office – his one attempt at being elected to the borough council was unsuccessful, he was variously borough suditor, and closely associated with Grantham Savings Bank.

He was also manager of the National School and a commissioner for income tax.

He campaigned successfully for improvements to the unsanitary conditions at Grantham Grammar School (King’s).

A keen musician, he was a co-founder of Grantham Philharmonic Society and at his death was the oldest sidesman at St Wulfram’s Church.

In 1913, he went for his usual 45 minute pre-teatime walk up Barrowby High Road, from his Greenhill home, when thick fog descended.

When he failed to return, a large search party, including a troop of boy scouts, was organised.

His body was found the following day at Denton.

 

 

 

Bob Pine (1940-1996)

ROBERT Pine was born in Pontypridd, South Wales, and initially spent 10 years working for the National Coal Board.

After passing his Certificate of Education he began teaching accountancy.

He became principal lecturer at Southampton Technical College before taking up an appointment at Grantham College.

He was a director of the college when he died. 

Richard Nauyokas (b1962)

RICHARD Nauyokas sprang to fame playing himself in the TV reality series Lads Army and the sequel  Bad Lads Army.

Wide Westgate-born Richard – known as Nookie – was a pupil at Spittlegate School and then the Boys Central School.

He joined the army in 1980, leaving as a Warrant Officer Class 2 (Squadron Sergeant Major) after 22 years of service in which he undertook duties as a driver, radio operator, Physical Training Instructor and Military Training Instructor.

After unsuccessfully applying for the sergeant major role in the 2002 ITV series Lads Army, he accepted the offer of joining the show as the snarling corporal in charge of Blue Section, a role he continued to play during the subsequent Bad Lads Army series in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

The latter charted the progress of young tearaways put through the rigours of conscript training in a Fifties-style boot camp.

Since the series  finished he set up a company called Not All Bad, offering residential boot camps to young men in prison and those with lesser criminal convictions, but without the cameras.

He also played the role of a fitness instructor in the reality television show “There’s Something About Miriam” (2004) and himself in “Greatest Ever 80s Movies” (2008).

After a spell in Aberdare, South Wales, he moved with his family to Billingborough.

He now runs motivational courses in the Lincoln area.

 

Maj Charles Milne Peacock (1872-1942)

Born at Stoneley, west of Graffam Water, Major Charles Milne Peacock was the son of Gilbert Peacock, of Greatford Hall, Stamford.

He was brother to Lady Kesteven and uncle to Lady Londesborough.

He joined the 4^th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment in 1891 becoming a Second Lt.

He began his career in banking as a clerk at the Bank of England, London, the following year. Three years later he joined the Bourne branch of Peacock, Willson and Company and in 1912 became supervisor of all the branches when they amalgamated with Lloyds Bank.

In 1914, he joined the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry and went to France two years later, returning in 1919 as a major. Returning to civvy street, he was appointed manager of Lloyds’ Grantham branch.

He married in 1916, to the daughter of Capt and Lady Elizabeth Taylor, of Pickenham Hall, Swaffham.

He retired in 1937, but remain a Justice of the Peace in the county.

In the Second World War Maj Peacock  was commanding officer from the inception of the 2^nd Kesteven Battalion Home Guard.

And all round sportsman, he hunted with the Cottesmore and enjoyed shooting.

A keen cricketer, he played for the MCC and was captain of Belton Park Golf Club.

He lived at Barrowby House, Barrowby, and was an active member of the village church.

 

Additional information byPeter Reichelt

Rev Canon Chris Andrews (B1947)

THE Rev Canon Chris Andrews was appointed Vicar of St Wulfram’s (Rector of Grantham) in 1996 until his retirement in 2013.

Born in pre-fab in Glen Parva, Leicester, he was the son of an aeronautical engineer who at the time was working with jet-engine developer Frank Whittle.

The early years were unsettled. The family moved variously to Farnborough, New Maldon, then three years at Woomera, Australia, before moving to Salisbury when his father moved to Boscombe Down.

Salisbury was Chris’s final school from where he went to Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge to read first English, then theology.

He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Michael Ramsey at Canterbury Cathedral.

His first post was at Croydon where he met Christine, whom he married before moving to Newcastle.

He recalled: “This was a great adventure. I had been to Australia but not the north of England.”

He spent three years at Gosforth, setting up a new church on a 10,000-home Kingston Park estate. While the church was being built, his home was the only place of worship.

From there he went to St Michael’s, Alnwick and finally Grantham.

He became an active member of Grantham Choral Society.

During his time in Grantham, apart from his pastoral duties, he worked on strengthening relations between Christians and Muslims and in community development in Egypt and the Middle East.

He retired to   Bury St Edmunds in August 2013.

Gary Mills (b1961)

GARY Roland Mills started his football career with Nottingham Forest and became the club’s youngest league player after making his first team debut at the age of 16 in 1978.

Born in Northampton, he played for a local village team before being spotted by a Nottingham Forest scout at the age of 11 and by 14 he had broken into their reserve team

He played in the victorious 1980 European Cup Final, which made him the youngest finalist in European Cup history.

He left the club in 1982 to join American team the Seattle Sounders and during his period with the club he had a loan at Derby County.

He returned to Forest in 1983 and left for rivals Notts County in 1987 having made over 130 league appearances over his two spells at the club. Mills then joined Leicester City in 1989, with whom he made 200 league appearances and helped win promotion to the FA Premier League in 1994.

He subsequently returned to County and after leaving in 1996 he had made over 120 league appearances for the club over two spells.

He started his managerial career as player-manager with Grantham Town in 1996 and after leading the team to the Southern Football League Midland Division title in his second season He resigned a week later in May 1998 as the club’s takeover by local businessman Reg Brearley included introducing his own manager, Danny Bergera.

He subsequently had a spell as player-manager at King’s Lynn from 1998 to 2000, which was brought to an end after he resigned.

He was appointed player-manager of Tamworth in 2001 but left in 2002 to take over as first team coach at Coventry City. Mills was handed his first managerial role in the Football League with Notts County in 2004, but was sacked later that year several months after the club were relegated.

After being appointed Alfreton Town manager in 2005 he returned to Tamworth in 2007, although he was unable to prevent the club being relegated.

He led Tamworth to the Conference North title in 2009 and left the club in 2010 to become York manager.

There he won the FA Trophy in 2012, as well as guiding them to promotion to the Football League via the Conference National playoffs.

He was sacked the following March but in September 2013 was taken on as manager of  Conference Premier side Gateshead.

Henry More (1615-1687)

THEOLOGIAN and philosopher Henry More’s father was Alexander More who had been mayor of Grantham on several occasions. He was the seventh son of Alexander and Anne.

Alexander was financially well off and able to give his son a top class education. Little is known of his childhood except for a few comments More makes himself in the Preface of his Collected Works. There he writes his parents were great Calvanists and very pious.

After attending Grantham Free School (King’s School), More was sent to Eton when he was 14 years old.

Here he rejected Calvinism which had the notion of predestination as a metaphysical necessity and the basis of faith. More came to the belief, which he held strongly throughout his life, that salvation was possible though goodness.

During this time his father had put his upbringing in the hands of his uncle Gabriel More who tried to prevent the young More from being so forward by flogging him to try to make him return to the Calvinist ideas about free-will. Flogging certainly did nothing to return More to Calvinism, perhaps it had just the opposite effect.

In 1631 he entered Christ’s College, Cambridge, at about the time John Milton was leaving it. He took his BA in 1635, his MA in 1639, and immediately afterwards became a fellow of his college, turning down all other positions that were offered.[

He would not accept the mastership of his college, to which, it is understood, he would have been preferred in 1654, when Ralph Cudworth was appointed. In 1675, he finally accepted a prebend in Gloucester Cathedral, but only to resign it in favour of his friend Dr. Edward Fowler, afterwards bishop of Gloucester.

More taught many notable pupils, including Anne Finch, sister of Heneage Finch, subsequently Earl of Nottingham. She later became Lady Conway, and at her country seat at Ragley in Warwickshire, More would spend “a considerable part of his time.”

She and her husband both appreciated him, and amidst the woods of this retreat he wrote several of his books.

Like Newton, More was born close to and attended the free school at Grantham. In fact he had lodgings in Grantham for seven years with a Mr Clark, the brother of a teacher at the Free School. More, who was about 30 years older than Newton, often returned to his home town of Grantham and when he did so he lived with one of the two Clark brothers. Therefore when More was a major figure at Cambridge he must have got to know the young pupil Newton.

More’s ideas of space and gravity could well have influenced younger Newton?

More never sought advancement within Cambridge, refusing to stand for positions such as Master. He was a modest man who felt that he did not have the necessary talents for such roles.

He died at Cambridge.

 

 

 

 

 Miles hardy (1851-1931)

FRISKNEY-born Miles Hardy, who lived at 31 Wharf Road, was regarded at Britain’s best ploughman.

He gained national fame when he won his first match at Bennington, near Boston, when he was only 16.

He went on to win six other leading championships that year.

He won his first England championship in 1875, the year he moved to Grantham.

Even at the age of 72, he was still recognised as England’s finest.

Bernard Millhouse (1914-2012)

BERNARD Millhouse was born in Grantham, where he lived and worked all his life.

In 1931 he joined auctioneers Goldings, founded by his father, Louis F. Millhouse, in conjunction with Mr Golding, in 1900. At the age of 23 he was accepted by the Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers and became a familiar figure on his rostrum in Grantham open market, held for many years in Wide Westgate.

He was called up in 1941 and although he wanted to join the Royal Air Force, he was assigned to the Fire Service because of his pre-war, part-time experience as a voluntary fireman. He eventually became the mobilising officer of C Division of Lincolnshire, which covered about half of the county.

He became a partner of Goldings in 1951 and developed the property and building society side of the firm.

Regular sales of furniture and household goods were also held in the Old Wharf Road salesrooms. He retired in 1987, after 55 years of professional service.

He acted as Bailiff’ to the Local Authority, a role he shared with and then took over from his Father. When senior partner of the business he worked as Auctioneer to the Sheriff’s Officer of Lincolnshire and was the Official Receiver in bankruptcy.

He joined The Rotary Club of Grantham in 1959 and remained a member until his death. He was soon recruited to the District Vocational Service Committee and was the treasurer of his own club for many years. He was a member of Probus Club.

During his time as president through his Community Service Committee, he established the League of Friends of Grantham Hospital and remained involved with the beginning of the Rotary Swimarathon and was still helping with this event at the swimming pool.

With his wife, Connie, enjoyed indoor bowling and caravanning with the International Caravanning Fellowship of Rotarians.

In his younger days he was secretary of the Granthaml Photographic Society and treasurer of Grantham Swimming Club.

Grantham and District Chrysanthemum and Dahlia Society was at one time a big part of his life when  he was the secretary and grew chrysanthemums to show. Grantham Flower Club was formed at this time with a lot of help from him.

Richard Brownlow (1553-1638)

WHEN Richard Brownlow was born in 1553, the future for England appeared remarkably unpromising.

Young King Edward VI was dead of consumption, the nine-day Queen, Lady Jane Grey, had been executed, and Mary Tudor was on the throne. The country lacked stability and direction.

Not until well into Elizabeth’s reign did England’s fortunes revive and by that time Richard Brownlow was exactly the right age to ride the wave of confidence and steady improvement influenced by Elizabeth’s deft handling of affairs.

Married to Katherine Page, daughter of John Page of Wembley (one of the original governors of Harrow School), Richard was a shrewd man whose abilities justified his appointment in 1590 as Chief Prothonotary at the Court of Common Pleas in London.

This position, which he held until his death 47 years later, gave him the opportunity to amass a considerable personal fortune and with his customary foresight, he ensured that only a quarter of his income was spent on his family, preferring to invest the rest in the rich sheep pasturelands of Lincolnshire.

By 1617 his annual income was in the region of £6,000 – well over half-a-million pounds into today’s money – and it was about this time he purchased the estate of Belton with its tiny rural cottages, and its old manor house and church, both mentioned in the Domesday Book.

It is likely that he was extremely satisfied with his new investment and considered the £4,100 a sum very well spent. After all, Belton’s 600 acres were only a few miles from Grantham, a popular and busy coaching stop on the Great North Road, and in days when travel was both dirty and hazardous, this was a factor of supreme importance.

Richard continued to prosper and, when he died in 1638, he left his son John an inheritance of £4,000 a year.

 

 

PHILIP John Boyer is an English former footballer who played for various clubs during his career, including Southampton, Norwich City, Bournemouth and Manchester City. He has the rare distinction of having played over 100 league games for four different clubs. He also made one appearance for England.

Born in Nottingham, Boyer attended Musters Road School, Nottingham, from where he joined Derby County as a trainee in August 1965. Although he signed as a professional in November 1966, manager Brian Clough allowed him to leave the Baseball Ground  for York in July 1968, without having made a first team appearance.

In 125 appearances, Boyer scored 34 times but played an important role in creating opportunities for forward partner Ted MacDougall, with whom he was later to play at three other clubs.

After his team-mate moved to Bournemouth, it was only a matter of time before Cherries manager John Bond signed Boyer as well and when Bond moved to Norwich City in November 1973, he took the pair with him.

Boyer made two England under-23 appearances before manager Don Revie called him into the senior national squad and gave him his only full cap, in a 2–1 victory over Wales thus becoming Norwich City’s first English cap.

In August 1977, Lawrie McMenemy, signed Boyer for Southampton, which MacDougall had joined a year earlier.

In November 1980, he joined Manchester City for £220,000 and in February 1982 he moved to Hong Kong, where he played for Bulova on-loan.

He then joined Grantham Town something of a major coup for new manager, Bob Duncan. His debut came in the September 1983 in a Northern Premier League game at Horwich RMI, with his first goal coming the following week at home to Mossley.

He left Grantham towards the end of their time in the NPL to have short spells at Stamford and Shepshed Charterhouse, before Barry Shaw brought him back to Grantham as his assistant during the 1985-86 season.

He retired although briefly followed Barry Shaw in a management role at Harrowby United.

Since retiring from playing he has worked as a bank courier and also scouted for various Football League clubs, including Northampton and Blackpool.

 

Compiled with help of Jon Barnes