Maurice was born in Gosport on 30th May 1923. He joined Lloyds Bank in Petersfield in 1939 as a clerk. In 1941 he was called up and joined the Army during World War II.

His later career was in the Probation Service in London and from 1955 he commuted by train from Havant every day. He retired from his role as a Senior Probation Officer at the age 76 (by then working part time). Maurice was very popular and well known by Judges, Magistrates, Criminals and Prison wardens. He was heard to remark, over a pint or two, that he had been in every prison in London. I wonder what the other customers in the pub thought!

He never married and lived in the Havant area from 1930 until his death on 26th October 2011 at the age of 88.

As well as caring for the welfare of others, he was passionate about his beer. He joined the Portsmouth & East Hants Branch (as it was then known) of CAMRA in 1976, a founder member of the Branch and campaigned at many different events. For many years he was well-known for the postcards he sent to the branch during his travels abroad – so much so that we could have had a separate agenda item for them. No matter what was going on back in the UK, Maurice would always let us know how good the beer was in some foreign country. His love of a good pint was such that he named his home ‘Woodsetton’ – the home of Holden’s Brewery; his favourite.

He was a life member of CAMRA and worked at many Beer Festivals including Portsmouth, Gosport, Hereford and CAMRA’s major event, the Great British Beer Festival.

Not only was he well-travelled around the world, but he also knew a number of places in this country. One of my favourite stories is conversation he had on first meeting another branch member Karen Mitchell (now a stalwart of the branch). The conversation went something like this:

Maurice: You must be new to the branch. Where are you from?
Karen: Bedfordshire.
Maurice; Oh – do you know a village called Aspley Guise?
Karen: Yes – that’s where I’m from. My parents live there.
Maurice: Do you know San Remo Road?
Karen: Yes. That’s where they live.
Maurice: I have some friends who live in the same road.
Karen: A-ha (on hearing which house) I used to baby-sit in that house. Do you remember seeing an RAC van parked outside a house there?
Maurice: Yes.
Karen: That was my dad’s van.

So, no matter where you go in the world, Maurice has probably been there – and if you know someone there, he most likely did as well!
Even this year Maurice joined us on a number of occasions – our celebration of CAMRA’s 40th birthday at the Fifth Hants Volunteer Arms in March and one of our regular meetings at the Old House At Home in Havant. Both significant pubs as the Fifth Hants was where he, amongst others, founded the branch and the Old House was his local in his latter years. Despite his age he was as bright as ever with a handshake like iron.

We all have many stories about Maurice but we will all remember a true British gentleman and his giggling, infectious laugh which brightened up many a branch event.

So farewell Maurice – and don’t forget the postcard telling us how good the beer is!!