GUEST speaker at this month’s meeting was Graham Sutherland. A local author and former Warwick Town Crier, Graham had no problem making himself heard when he took Pershore U3A members on a tour of “English Eccentrics”. Graham has researched some of the strange and colourful characters from history and presented their amazing stories in his entertaining presentation.

Starting with William Beckford, born in 1760 who inherited £79 million at the age of 12. He decided to become an architect but his lack of knowledge and experience resulted in three failed attempts to build a home bigger than Salisbury Cathedral, at Fonthill Abbey. Two fell down through inadequate foundations and the third was destroyed by fire.

Next he introduced Jeremy Bentham, a child prodigy who could read at the age of three, went to Oxford at age 12 and got his first degree aged 15. He trained as a lawyer and became a radical law reformer. Concerned about the amount of land used for human burial, he promoted the idea of embalming bodies and using them as statues in public places and parks. He was a great benefactor of University College London (UCL) and when he died, his body was embalmed and placed in a glass case at the entrance to UCL. According to his will, his embalmed body is carried into certain meetings of the university where he is recorder in the minutes as “Jeremy Bentham, present but not voting”.

Graham humorous tour of “English Eccentrics” concluded with several other characters including Beau Brummel, the Regency Dandy, John Elwis, the millionaire miser, Francis Gaulton, the doctor who was knighted for developing the science of fingerprinting and Jack Mitten, the Shropshire Squire and practical joker.

The speaker at our next meeting at Pershore Civic Centre on 21 June from 2.15pm will be Roger Butler relating his travels and experience in “Penguins and Patagonia”.

JOHN AIREY