In Memorium
Steve Pink
It
is with great sadness that that the Society learned of the passing of
Steve on the 2nd November 2019. Steve (pictured here with Malcolm
Andrews centre and Peter Anderson right) was a stalwart of the Society,
he joined the NHBS in 1989 and very quickly became involved with Society
affairs jumping in at the deep end in 1990 by not only becoming a
committee member but taking on the role of General and Membership
Secretary. He also edited the Newsletter which all in all must have been
a huge undertaking at a time when the membership was it the region of
five hundred. Steve stood down from this role in 1995 due to taking on a
new business venture which demanded his full attention. He continued
his interest in collecting horse brasses and his membership of the NHBS
and stepped up to mark again in 2003 when the Society was short of a
Membership Secretary. This inevitably went on to combining it again with
the role of General Secretary and Newsletter Editor, duties he
performed from 2006 to 2012. Steve was also the author of a most
interesting paper entitled “The History of Horse Brasses” featured on
this website under Brasses Information from the home page. Steve’s
business life was in finance, following his degree course he gained a
PhD, his claim to fame at one time being the youngest Bank Manager in
the UK but went on to create his own business as a chartered Accountant.
We shall best remember him of course for his fourteen years of
dedicated committee work for the Society.
Jim Speed
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Founder Member The Late Douglas Hull
We are sorry to announce that Doug Hull passed away on the 25th May 2020,
another of our founder members, (his original membership number was 24) His wife
Joy who died a few years ago joined later. When she died, Doug gave her
member’s brasses to the society to be sold for funds. They were very keen and
loyal members who always came up from Devon to attend our meetings especially
Ipsden.
Picture by courtesy of Dick Bradshaw
Many years ago Doug presented a major part of his horse
brass collection to the National Trust and they are on display in the stables
at Knightshays Court, Tiverton, home of the Heathcote Amorys (the stables are
used as the restaurant and the brasses look splendid on the walls in glass
fronted cabinets, I hope they are still there as I have not visited the house
for a while).
He and Joy were very active in local politics and served as
Mayor and Mayoress of Axminster some years back. At Ipsden, in the days when
Ran and Audrey Hawthorne and Ron and Jean Taplin organised the annual get
together, Doug always exhibited his “speciality collection” of brasses which
were all stamped brasses (these were not at Knighthays) and I recall at one
Thimbleby and Shorland brass sale which they usually attended, there was a
large stamped plain sun flash brass up for auction with the initials J H
engraved on it in large bold letters (Pictured above) which Doug successfully bid for. I
remember how delighted they were with their purchase because “J H” were Joy’s
initials.
Peter Ferguson
08.07.20
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The Late Barry Maltby
We are sad to announce the death of one of our past
chairman, Barry Maltby on 22nd February 2020 and send our condolences to his
son Stuart, daughters Kay and Susan and their families.
Barry and his late wife
Connie were early members of the society and keen horse brass collectors.Barry
joined the NHBS committee in March 1982 taking on the role of society
archivist, a job he held for twenty six years.
He was joined on committee by
his wife Connie in March 1990 until 2004 where Connie brought much wisdom and
stability to the committee meetings as did Barry. In March 2002,Barry succeeded
Terry Keegan as Chairman serving for the next six years until 2008 when he
retired from active participation in the life of the society though he remained
a member.The funeral date was10th March 2020
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Gerald Dee
It is with regret that we announce the passing of Gerald Dee on the
24th May 2018 aged 90 of Roos, Hull. Gerald was a collector for many
years and his speciality was commemorative brasses. The Officers and
members of the NHBS extend their deepest sympathy to the family.
Gerald's funeral is to take place on Friday 15th June at All Saints Church, Roos, Hull at 11.00AM
Authors of Anthology Ian Jones and Dick Bradshaw posted the following tribute.
We were v
ery sad to hear of the passing of Gerald and his wife (who predeceased him by a year or so). Gerald and Mrs Dee were very accommodating to us when we spent a very pleasant afternoon with them at Roos whilst photographing for Anthology 1 & 2 which contain many of Gerald's collection. Afterwards Mrs Dee wouldn't let
us leave until she'd provided us with a lovely tea, and a tour around
their extensive garden where this photograph was taken. We were
arranging another visit when we heard of his death and would like to
pass our condolences to his son and family.
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Martin Burtt from Glaisdale, North Yorkshire passed away 17th June
2018 his funeral was attended by over 500 people. He had been a member
of the Society for many years and was also an active member of the NFU
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Keneth Southall
Death Announcement Kenneth Southall
It is with sadness that we announce the death of Kenneth Southall
of Easingwold York on the 21st February 2019 aged 91. Kenneth had been
retired for 40 years after a career with Prudential Insurance reaching
the position of Branch manager. Malcolm Smith informed me that he had
been a collector for over 40 years and had been an NHBS member for a
similar amount of time. Kenneth spent much time researching the history
of his brasses. His funeral has already taken place and our thoughts
are with Gwen and the family at this time.
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Death Announcement Peter Willows 06.03.19
It is with Great sadness we announce the death of Peter Willows who
was a founder member of the NHBS. Peter who lived in Somerset was
General Secretary of the Society between 1996 and 2006 he also carried
out the duties of Treasurer for a year 2005 to 2006 before handing over
to the present Treasurer Brian O'Riordan
The funeral will take place on Tuesday 26 March at 13.30 at St
Andrews Church Banwell North Somerset BS29 6EA where he was a bell
ringer. A wake will take place for afternoon tea at Banwell Castle,
Castle Street Banwell BS 29 6NX parking on the day will be at the castle
as parking at the church is limited, a mini bus will be laid on to
ferry those who wish to attend
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Mark Roberts
A fitting tribute to Mark Roberts as written in the latest Newsletter no 74
The Mark Roberts Collection sold 28th November 2017
Mark Roberts was well known at the NHBS Church Stretton Meeting
where he produced the above magnificent display of horse brasses. The
picture on the right is taken from his funeral service card and shows a
heavy horse bowed in respect and sorrow.
Mark was born in St. George’s village, between St Asaph and
Abergellie in 1927 and like many of his relatives was involved in World
War II but after the conflict, Mark spent 3 years in Germany hauling
timber for the British Army in the reconstruction of the country. Many
of his jobs were around horses or Shows. He worked for many years with
the firm of Woodhouse erecting marquees and sheds at various events
including at Wembley for the Horse of the Year show. He became Head
Forester at Cefn Estates near St. Aseph and renewed his connection with
Shire horses. Mark was very active in the Welsh Shire Horse scene being a
founder member of Abergele Shire Horse Society (later to become part of
the North Wales Shire Horse Society) and supporter of many societies to
do with farming.
His longtime friend, Terry Williams, travelled with him to many
shows helping to erect his extraordinary collection of horse brasses
which was regarded by some as one of the biggest in the world. Terry
recalls how in 1962, Mark helped him on his way into horse brass
collecting and how they had established an enduring friendship.
He died on 16
th
April 2017 at the age of 89. Terry represented NHBS at the funeral.
Brian O’Riordan
October 2017
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Peter Anthony Lacey 1956 -2015
It
is with much regret that we announce the death of Pete who passed away
after a long illness bravely borne. Pete was admitted into Poole
Hospital on 11th November 2014 suffering from a rare
condition, Guillain Barre Syndrome. The recovery time from this
debilitating disease was known to be at least twelve months and although
he was making excellent progress, he suffered a relapse on Monday 2nd
March and lost the battle in the early hours of Tuesday Morning.
Di and Pete at Church Stretton, and right in his WW2 vintage, Daimler Dingo scout car.
Pete
was born the son of a saddler in Dorchester the county town of Dorset
his Fathers’ business ran under the name of J Miles & Son. It is no
wonder that one of the great interests in his life would be the
collection of horse brasses and he had built up in particular a large
collection of brasses related to Dorset together with a vast knowledge
on the subject. His expertise had on occasions been called upon by
auctioneers Thimberly & Shorland famous for the Reading sales and
Dorchester Museum as well as giving advice on many private collections;
Pete was also a regular contributor to the columns of the NHBS journal
with many interesting items.
He
had been a member of the NHBS for over twenty years and had served on
the committee for at least ten years and recently acting Society
Chairman an office which would have been confirmed at the 2015 AGM on
Saturday 7th March. His enthusiasm and generosity always shone through
at our gatherings and often fixed fellow collectors up with just the
brass they were looking for. My first connection with Pete was helping
with the NHBS exhibit at the Great Dorset Steam Fair where he greeted
Society members from various parts of the world sharing his vast
knowledge on the subject of harness decoration its origins and usages
and I might add as a relative newcomer to the hobby he taught me a great
deal. Pete would often scoot off around areas of this vast show and
come back with bits of antique harness which now amounts to a complete
set regularly displayed as a part of our exhibit at the GDSF. I leave
the state of the beer glasses in the picture to speak for itself!!
Pete’s
interests extended beyond horse brasses and he was a keen supporter of
the Keep Military Museum in Dorchester and attended various events with
them in full second world war uniform of the Dorsets' including
authentic rifle. He had a substantial collection of military medals some
with the history and picture of the original recipient as well as other
military memorabilia but his pride and joy was his Dingo armoured scout
car, can you imagine the look on peoples face when on occasions Pete
and Di arrived at Tesco’s car park to do the weekly shop!!
Pete
spent his working life in the medical profession, at the time his
illness struck he was Nurse Practitioner at Swanage Hospital and through
this background was able to pursue yet another of his interests. He was
a keen supporter of Poole Pirates Speedway and was a valued member of
the medical team at their fixtures. See also the tribute on the website
of Poole Speedway.
Pete
was a super guy with a broad smile and gentle nature and was taken from
us all too soon. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to Di and all of the
family at this time of great sadness.
Jim Speed
NHBS 5.3.15
Below,
Pete conversing with Jan Thompson of Kings Lynn who died suddenly on
15th September last year. As many of us know, Jan was not only a dear
friend by was a valued asset as my researcher for the journal, and was a
popular figure at our AGM in early March.
I
will miss my conversations with both; especially Pete who I often spent
two hours at a time on the phone with, not to mention my highly valued,
second opinion on all things medical!!
I shall miss them both terribly.
Dick Bradshaw.