Persons The Borough Could Make Free (9 December 1977)

A friend inspired this piece, when the other day, apropos of nothing, he said:  “You know, I think  it’s about time the Borough of Milton Keynes had some honorary freemen.”

“Freemen, but not freewomen?” I asked.

“All right.   Freepersons, if you like,” says he.

Actually, I do not like.  Originally a person was a parson, like a clerk is a clark, except in the USA.  So when we read the “the following persons are wanted for highway robbery” we should be right in thinking that things had come to an unusually unholy pass.

The trouble is, I know of no suitable alternative to cover both faces of homo sapiens.  Nevertheless, while I can just about take a chairperson, I have a strong objection to anyone being an alderperson.

But to come to our muttons, the question is:  what sort of individual should qualify for honorary freepersonship?

The question is fraught with difficulties.  Ideally, a freeperson might be one so outstanding that he or she has not yet been honoured by anybody in any other way.  But this would rule out Reginald Lauty Sherwood, the former town clerk, after whom Sherwood Drive is named;  Brigadier JP Whitely, our MP who was killed in a flying accident during the war and who is commemorated by Whitely Crescent; and Dr Browne Willis, after whom Browne Willis Close is named.  It would also rule out Warren Dawson, OBE of Dawson Road, to say nothing of Queen Victoria of Victoria Road, General Napier of Napier Street, and all the Duncombes of Duncombe Street.

Ruled out on the same general grounds would be Harold J Price OBE, of Bletchley expansion fame; James F Smithie OBE, the former town manager, of ditto; and William Spencer Johnson OBE, likewise of ditto.

Similarly exonerated would be Ernest J Fryer and William Caldwell, each of whom has been elevated to the honorary non-existent alderpersonic bench.

Possibly ruled out too would be all who can or could put JP after their names – if that is still considered an honour and not a penalty.

The trouble with this plan, of course, is not that it is too sweeping, but that it is impracticable, for hardly anybody would be left unexpunged except the ordinary, quiet, unsung and inoffensive man in the street, whose only comment would probably be “Aw, heck.”

What I propose to do is eliminate all those who are still extant.  Comparisons among the living are not only odious and invidious.  They also invite a not necessarily metaphorical clip on the ear.  But there is nothing wrong in drawing up a list of candidates for honorary posthumous freepersonships.  So I will draw one up for the Bletchley part of the borough, and invite people elsewhere to draw up similar list(s) for their parts.

The question now is:  how posthumous shall we go?  The Anglo Saxon Blaecca (the double-C was pronounced “tch”) is supposed to have given his name to the place.   Without him there would have been no Bletchley, but maybe if he saw it today he wouldn’t want to know it, anyway.

Next there were the De Greys.  They and their birds ruled the local roost for a mere 350 years or so and one of those birds had a share in founding the Tudor dynasty.  But that was not the same as doing anything for Bletchley.

After a while came Browne Willis.  Now it is right and proper that Fenny parishioners should honour the founder of their church, but Sir Frank Markham told me he so disliked him in other respects that he persuaded Edward Legg to write the Browne Willis chapter for him in his “History of Milton Keynes.”

That brings us to modern times, and to the only really serious part of this piece.  In my opinion there are just four outstanding posthumous figures, all of equal merit, so I will nominate them alphabetically.

Henry P Dimmock served on Bletchley Urban Council for 39 years from 1914 onwards without a break.  In his younger days he was known as a Socialist agitator – “one of those who ought to be shot” – but although he always wore the Labour colours, he was sometimes smilingly referred to in private conversation in his later years by Conservatives as the best Conservative on the council.  After he retired, many thought he would surely receive some national acknowledgement of his tremendous period of service, but he never did.  The borough could now make up for that deficiency while his memory is still green.

My next will probably come as a surprise.  Fanny Lady Leon.  She was the wife of Sir Herbert Leon, who made Bletchley Park and lived there from 1884 to his death in 1926.  He was a man of many parts and a benefactor of the town, but I choose his wife because, reading between the lines and from what I have heard from other people, hers was the influence behind much of his liberality.  She continued to be a lady bountiful up to her own death 10 years later.  She was also the first woman member of the urban council.

Then there was Herbert Ackroyd Stuart, the Fenny engineering genius who made the diesel engine possible.  His is the only local name appearing in any of my several encyclopedias.  He should be a popular choice in this borough of engineers and technologists.

Last, but not least, comes Oliver Wells.  He left school at the age of 10 and lost both legs at the age of 26 in an accident while working on the railway.  But he had an intrepid spirit and an unfailing sense of humour.  A dedicated trade unionist and Socialist, he served many years on the urban council, became a magistrate, and a chairman of North Bucks Education Executive, and continued to serve in the education field long after he had left the council.  He lived for over 60 fruitful years without legs, even driving a motor-cycle combination during the latter part of that time.  An honour-worthy character, if only for his sheer guts.

Those are my four candidates.  Now you have a go.