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George Rich, 26 Springfield Road

26 Springfield Road

History of 26 Springfield Road

This entry is mainly sourced from the research of Sue Griffin to whom we are very grateful. Her original monograph can be found here.

George Rich

In this entry we have taken the liberty of changing the order of some of her content.

1926

John Spalding Rich and Florence Mary Currington married 2nd April 1927 and moved into 26 Springfield Road soon afterwards where they lived for the rest of their lives.

John Spalding Rich was born in 1897 at the Crown Inn, Jesus Lane. In 1911 he was living at Beatrix House, Arbury Road, Chesterton.

In 1921 he was in the army (Private 5829443 Suffolk Regiment). At various times, he was a window cleaner, a news seller, and a general labourer.

In 1911 Florence had been living at 20 St Barnabas Road

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1930

George Bramwell Rich born 19th March. Apart from the time he spent on national service in the RAF in the early 1950s, he lived in the house all his life until shortly before his death at the age of 90.

The railings show this was taken before World War 2 when metal like this was collected to make armaments.

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1939

John Spalding Rich, b 1896, news seller

Florence Mary, b 1893, morning charwoman

George Bramwell Rich

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1946

George served a five-year apprenticeship as an electrician with The Electric Wiring and Repair Company, Corn Exchange Street, Cambridge from the age of 16 in 1946 until he qualified in 1951, with certification that he had received ‘practical instruction in the craft of an electrician in… all classes of installation work for light, power, heating, telephone, etc and general repairs’.  He attended Cambridgeshire Technical College and School of Art (one of the educational bodies which later evolved into Anglia Ruskin University).

During this time, he flew model aircraft with Cambridge Model Aeronautical Society at Marshall’s Aerodrome (now Cambridge airport).

In the late 1940s and the 1950s, all young men were required to serve in one of the armed services for at least 18 months, but George’s national service was deferred while be completed his apprenticeship.  He was posted to the RAF; he seems to have completed his service in the UK, being fortunate not to have been caught up in the Korean War (1950-53).

He worked for The Electric Wiring and Repair Company (which later became part of the national chain Lowe and Oliver) for nearly 30 years until 1975 when he became an electrician at Churchill College.  He worked at the College for 20 years until his retirement in 1995. In 1967-8 George earned £933.2s.2d; his starting salary at Churchill was £2,124 pa.

John Spalding Rich died on 9 November 1967 aged 71 in Chesterton Hospital, leaving George over £4,000.  (He had inherited £3,000 from Florence’s aunt Alice Beatrice Gawthorp in 1965.)

George lived at 26 Springfield Road with his parents until his mother died in 1959 and his father in 1967, continuing to live there alone for 53 years until he moved into the Cambridge Manor Care Home on Milton Road. He bought the house in October 1959 from the Ancient Order of Foresters Friendly Society for £350 (when average earnings were about £650 a year – compared with about £30,000 in 2022).   He told his neighbours that he had never had either a car or a wife – both would have been very expensive.

John S Rich died on 9 November 1967 aged 71 in Chesterton Hospital, leaving George over £4,000. (George had inherited £3,000 from Florence’s aunt Alice Beatrice Gawthorp in 1965.)

He was presented with a Certificate of Achievement ‘for outstanding accomplishments and service to Churchill College, Cambridge from June 1975 to March 1995’.  This was presented by the Master, a mark of the regard in which he was held, and his farewell card was signed by dozens of colleagues, including those in the archives, porter’s lodge, kitchen, and grounds – showing that ‘everyone knew George’.

He lived 25 years in retirement.  In his later years, his neighbours helped and supported him in practical ways.

George died on 11 November 2020, and was buried at the Barton Glebe Woodland Burial Ground.

George was a keen cyclist, a long-time member of the Cambridge District Association of the Cyclists’ Touring Club which he joined in 1954 at the age of 24. He acted as runs secretary for 30 years, planning and organising rides, and he also became Hon. President in 2007, an indication of the value placed on his contribution to the club over many years.  The website of the club records his service and fond memories of him:

https://ctccambridge.org.uk/georgerich

He made albums of his many photographs of cycling runs/trips locally throughout Cambridgeshire and to neighbouring counties, as well as tours further afield (London airport, Somerset / Devon / Dorset / Hampshire, Wales, France) in the 1950s and 60s.

An article in the Cambridge Evening News on 18 January 1992 about the club mentioned George and included a photograph of him.

George continued cycling into his 80s, encouraging new members and offering them advice; he always carried maintenance tools so he could fix other people’s bikes.  He was one of the first people in the club to buy an electric bike.

In the will he made in 1991, he left his ‘collection of maps, colour photographs, pedal cycles and accessories’ to the Cambridge association.  He made several wills, naming the Cyclists’ Touring Club as a major beneficiary (along with other charities).

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2022

Toby Sibley

Rosalind Griffin

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