Tower and Town, April 2019 (view the full edition)Family NewsRobert Browning was born in Woolwich. During WW2 he was evacuated to Marlborough, where he stayed with a Miss Neate in South View. He attended St Mary's Infants school in Herd Street and then St Peter's, in the building which is now the library. He then returned to Woolwich but Miss Neate and Marlborough made quite an impression on the young Robert and he often came back to visit both. After studies at Imperial College, he worked in the UK (for ICI) and abroad. He met his current wife, Gloria, in Saudi Arabia in 1995 and they married in 1996; their daughter Stephanie was born in 1997. Together they spent nine years in retirement in Cyprus, returning to Marlborough whenever they could because Robert had such happy memories of his time there. His older children followed his example: Clare, a Norland Nanny, did her nursery nurse placement at St Mary's Junior School and Rowan chose to settle in nearby Baydon. In 2009 Robert & Gloria came back to live in Marlborough and Stephanie went to St John's School, Robert often attending her musical concerts in the school and St Mary's Church. Robert enjoyed playing bridge and was an active member of the Marlborough Bridge club. He is survived by his wife and three children. At the end of January Revd Canon Howard Gilbert was licensed to be the Rector of Minchinhampton with Box and Amberley. The Bishop of Gloucester conducted the service to a congregation of at least 350. A coachload of parishioners from Howard's previous church attended the service and three members spoke on his behalf. After the service generous refreshments were very efficiently served in the packed church. Having lived in a large eight bedroom Victorian Parsonage for nine years it was not easy to downsize to a four bedroom Rectory. Eileen remade all the curtains from the Parsonage to fit in the Rectory. Eric spent several days hacking back the very overgrown bushes and shrubs in the large garden that have run wild for several years. Both Daisy (8) and Lucy (5) have settled well into their new school, which is next to the church. Howard thanks Marlborough folk for all the good wishes they have sent. Margaret Hurd, nee Jones, grew up in Marlborough. Many will remember Hurd's Shoe Shop, run by her husband and her son, Raymond. In her younger days Margaret was a keen member of the Young Wives and the local W.I. with her good friend, Moira Newman. In later life she and her friend, Sylvia Gray, seemed to really enjoy their old age, walking around the town, going to coffee mornings and lunches and proudly telling people that they needed no medication. She lived alone in the family home in Back Lane until two years ago when she went to Highfield. She died suddenly, aged 94. We send our sympathy to Raymond, his wife Ngaothian and Margaret's brother, Eric. Jessy Pomfret |