Tower and Town, February 2019

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Michael Gray 1942-2018: A Tribute

Michael Gray died on 24th November after a short illness.

He was educated at the old Grammar School (meeting Jenny, his future wife and mother of his three sons, Matthew, Tom and Sam) and sang in St Mary’s Church choir. Initially he trained as a solicitor but the law was not for him. His great interest was history, a passion he indulged by becoming a noted antique dealer. For some years he had shops in the town including one in Kingsbury Street and at Cavendish House in the High Street although latterly he traded at an antiques emporium in Lechlade and at his recently opened shop in Devizes.

The 1960s was an era of terrible destruction of historic townscapes. Michael mounted a vigorous defence of the old buildings of Marlborough and initiated several campaigns to save them. In the 1970s he chaired the Civic Society, acquiring something of a reputation as an enfant terrible so far as council planners and developers were concerned.

Michael’s greatest success was in getting people, planners and councillors to look at things in a different way – that historic buildings could be given a new lease of life to give pleasure to a new generation. Realising that the Merchant’s House was a rare survival, a working building from the Cromwellian era that was virtually intact, he persuaded a much-changed Town Council to buy it in 1991.

Ever since then the Merchant’s House has benefited from Michael’s commitment, expertise and knowledge of Marlborough and of the 17th century. As Historic Adviser he guided the Trustees on matters such as presentation of the house and its contents, advised on acquisition of appropriate furniture and other items, and saw to the establishment of its comprehensive library and local historical archives. He trained many guides and was involved in setting up the recently opened museum in the house. He gave talks about the house. He edited all 63 issues (to date) of the Trust’s banner publication, the Marlborough Journal, to a very high standard both of presentation and of content, a mine of information for generations to come. Today the Merchant’s House is Marlborough’s gem.

John Sykes