Dadabhai Naoroji 1889 See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsUnlike the majority of London clubs, the National Liberal Club (NLC) from its beginning welcomed Asian members and it was somewhat of an anomaly that hitherto all its portraits were of white British politicians. This has now been rectified with the acquisition of a commissioned portrait of Dadabhai Naoroji. He has a special place in British political history being the first Asian Member of Parliament when he was elected as the Liberal MP for the Central Finsbury constituency at the 1892 election, having fought Holborn unsuccessfully in 1886. Prior to coming to England he had been a distinguished academic and statesman in India, and was an advisor to Ghandi in his early years.

His agent at his successful election was the Club's first secretary, William Digby, who was a consistent agitator for Indian rights. Ironically Digby despite getting Naoroji elected, was himself twice an unsuccessful Liberal candidate in London. Naoroji narrowly lost his seat in the Conservative landslide of 1895.

When he joined the NLC in 1886 he was one of twelve Indian members. His Proposer and Seconder, W Martin Wood and Major Evans Bell respectively, were both prolific writers on Indian issues. Naoroji was a very active member of the Club and served on its General Committee for fifteen years, from 1890 to 1905.

The jazz world is full of extremes of ages, from those who die criminally young such as Bix and, in the UK, Johnny Haim, to those who live - and play - into remarkable old age. Ed O'Donnell, who has died at the age of eighty-seven, was certainly one of the latter. At his death he had a programme of gigs extending well into the future.

He seemed indestructible and it is difficult to imagine the Yorkshire jazz scene without Ed O'Donnell. For almost seventy years, from 1946 to just a few weeks ago, Ed's trombone playing was an "ever present" in and around Leeds. His commitment to New Orleans jazz and to playing tailgate trombone from the early days of the revival of this great music right up to today's more depleted enthusiasts was legendary. There was hardly a venue in the Leeds area that Ed didn't play at, or a band he hadn't played with. What is more, listening again to his early recordings, one realises that his style and enthusiasm stayed pretty much the same over the decades. As he once remarked he was "trying to play like Jim Robinson."

Ed's first band in 1946 was the Vernon Street Ramblers, the name coming from the address of the Leeds College of Art where Ed was studying and, in fact, where he later worked for many years. He became a member of Bob Barclay's Yorkshire Jazz Band in early 1949 along with Dick Hawdon and fellow art college students Diz Disley and Alan Cooper, and recorded with them for Tempo. He left after two years and formed the Paramount Jazz Band and then led the Black Eagles Band.

Ed's brief claim to national fame came when Ken Colyer parted company with Chris Barber and the rest of the band that had been formed by Barber to welcome Colyer back from his illicit trip to New Orleans. Ed, and the pre-Acker, Bernard Bilk, were recruited by Colyer in June 1954. Ken's brother, Bill, knew of Ed and had written to him with information on the Guvnor's return. Fellow Leeds trombonist, Mac Duncan, aimed to be Ken's new bandsman but Ed landed the job. Ironically Duncan replaced Ed some months later at Ed's suggestion.

Ed has written that it was thought that he had taught Duncan whereas, "He taught me. He was far better." He was paid £6 a week with the Colyer band and they rehearsed every day in a studio near to Kings Cross. To survive financially most of the band shared a flat in Fulham, with Ken, Acker Bilk and Ed even sharing a bed!

Ed toured with Colyer for six months and then returned to Leeds. The disc "Back to the Delta" was produced whilst Ed was with Ken Colyer, (the session has been reissued by Paul Adams as part of Lake LACD 209). He didn't like London, "it was a drag," and, crucially important, "you can't get a decent pint of Tetley's further south than Wakefield."

Back in Leeds, Ed briefly led the White Eagles Marching Band before forming his own New Orleans Jazzmen which has continued up to the present day. Not one to suffer musical fools gladly, Ed was regarded with immense affection by the jazz public in the North of England who willingly forgave his peccadillos for the sake of his loyalty to the music and his willingness to turn out and help colleagues on every occasion. In September 2009, for instance, he turned out in the band at his old Yorkshire Jazz Band colleague's Dick Hawdon's funeral, saying, "I had to be here for Dick." Ed's regular signing off comment at the end of a gig was, "Remember the Ed O'Donnell band - it's the only game in town." For many jazz fans it was just that for very many years.

Ed had recently been ill and was awaiting further surgery. He had seemed ageless and will be much missed. His funeral was held in Leeds on 4th March. The band that led the procession to the crematorium was included members of Ed's current band, including Arthur Stead (trumpet), Tony Denton (clarinet), Jim Wright (banjo) and Annie Hawkins (bass) and was followed by a celebration at the Leeds Jazz Club. Everyone's sympathies are with his wife, Anne, whom he married in 1959, and his daughters, Frances and Kate.

Dominic Edward (Ed) O'Donnell, born 13 February 1927, died 14 February 2014.

My long-standing political colleague Mike Oborski has died at the age of 60. Michael Maciek George Oborski held dual Polish and British nationality. He maintained his contact with his Polish family and, with his wife Fran, was in Poland when its final Communist government fell. In 1996 Mike became the Honorary Polish Consul for the West Midlands. His affinity and passion for Poland and its culture was always evident in the many duties and projects he took up. A passionate European, Mike was the organiser of the "Poland Comes Home" committee which campaigned for Polish membership of the European Union and of NATO.

Mike Oborski was an instinctive political animal. He fought his first election, unsuccessfully, in Worcester, at the age of 21. He was elected to the Hereford and Worcester County Council in 1973 and to the Wyre Forest District Council a few years later.

At the time of the Liberal/SDP merger in 1988 he joined the new party saying that he "thought he could live with it as the only practical vehicle to deliver some form of Liberalism." By the autumn of 1995 he had become disillusioned with what he saw as the illiberalism of the local Liberal Democrats and he rejoined the Liberal Party. In 2005 he took over from me as President of the ongoing Liberal Party.

When the Labour party lost overall control of the district council Mike was the leader of the three strong Liberal Group. Despite this being the smallest party group he was called upon by the parties to a "Rainbow Coalition" to take on the leadership of the Wyre Forest council, a position he held for two years. He was also Chairman of the Council on three separate occasions.

A teacher by profession he took early retirement in 1996 after 26 years service on an offer he said "only a fool would reject."

Mike was a very shrewd political operator who didn't miss a trick but was recognised as having great integrity. When, typically, Mike announced publicly at a council meeting in 2005 that he was about to undergo surgery for cancer of the colon, his political opponents were open with their sympathy. One Conservative Councillor commented that, "Mike is a giant in Wyre Forest politics and a gentleman to boot."

Together with Fran, also a local Councillor, he was prominent in the local hospital campaign that led to the election in 2001 of Dr Richard Taylor, parliament's only independent MP.

Down to earth and very approachable, Mike Oborski was always prepared to work with those of goodwill, whatever their politics, if it would bring improvements to his community and to his town.

He appeared to have recovered from his initial cancer only to find himself with cancer of the lung and liver. He is survived by his wife Fran, whom he married in 1968.

Mike Oborski, born 18 August 1946, died 11 February 2007

See also The Guardian.

Jack Prichard, Labour Party activist and councillor, was the epitome of the solid, unassuming but determined Labour activist on which the party depended until the advent of new Labour and its emphasis on presentational skills attuned to the television age. Born in the Cross Gates district of east Leeds he won one of the rare scholarships to Leeds Grammar School. He went on to Leeds University where he achieved a Master of Commerce degree. He developed an early interest in politics and joined the Labour League of Youth where he met his future wife Doris.

His first job after leaving university was as Organising Tutor for the Workers' Educational Association in the Cleveland district, based on Redcar - a position to which he was seconded by Leeds University's Extra Mural Department. Some four years later Prichard returned full-time to the university department, as lecturer in Economic and Social History. As its name indicates, this department had and has a strong emphasis on working within the community, and, from his home in Wrenthorpe, near Wakefield, Prichard travelled across the West Riding to lead evening classes for miners and to teach at summer schools.

Jack Prichard was a pacifist and, at the outbreak of the Second World War, he became a conscientious objector and was despatched to work in lime quarries in Horton-in-Ribblesdale. As with many of his generation, the end of the war was the catalyst for Prichard to become immersed in politics and he acted as Denis Healey's agent in the Pudsey and Otley constituency. Between them they cut the majority to 1400 votes in what was regarded as a safe Conservative seat. He and Healey maintained a close friendship thereafter.

As with so many political figures, family life took somewhat of a backseat - a tendency which was not always appreciated by Prichard's wife Doris and his two sons, John and David. He toyed with the idea of standing for parliament but ultimately felt that it would entail too much of a sacrifice of family life. For similar reasons it was some time before he stood for election to Leeds City Council, initially in the Headingley ward, following his move there. In 1964 he was elected for the Osmondthorpe ward but lost his seat in the Labour debacle of 1968 when the party returned only twelve councillors out of the 99 seats on the city council. Prichard achieved the distinction of being the only Labour gain in the municipal elections the following year.

He remained as councillor for the same area of Leeds following local government reorganisation, retiring in 1982. Two years later the City Council recognised his service by making him an Honorary Alderman. He had been Leeds' Deputy Lord Mayor in 1978-79 and had also served as chairman of the Planning Committee.

Jack Prichard was no rabble rouser but invariably prepared his speeches carefully and always endeavoured to develop a logical case. One sometimes felt that he regarded the City Council meeting as another WEA class but his earnestness and sincerity were appreciated. Jack Prichard had few political enemies. Prichard was actively involved in the co-operative movement and for a time was chairman of the Leeds Co-operative Society's Education Committee.

Labour party politics in the late 1970s and the1980s were increasingly uncomfortable for Prichard, who found himself out of sympathy with the vociferous Left. Sent as a delegate from the Leeds North West party to the party conference with a mandate to vote for Michael Foot for leader he voted instead for his friend Denis Healey. The local Left caucus was not amused and responded by circulating a rumour that Prichard was threatening to join the Liberal party if he was not elected Lord Mayor.

Jack Prichard had a wide range of other interests including sport, music, walking and travel. Whenever possible Doris - known as Dot - accompanied him to political and social events and they were seen very much as a couple who seemed very comfortable with each other. His skill as a raconteur belied his somewhat serious demeanor, and he never ducked a political challenge. Jack Prichard was appreciated in Leeds civic life as an honest and dedicated politician. He struggled with Parkinson's disease for a number of years and died in a Headingley nursing home.

William John (Jack) Prichard, died 4 August 2004, aged 89.

for the Journal of Liberal History

Bill Pitt, Photo: Isle of Thanet NewsMore personal obituaries of Bill Pitt are appearing in The Guardian and in Liberator. I am concerned here with the historical significance of the Croydon North West by-election on 22 October 1981 and of Bill's role in it. Bill was a long-serving, popular and convivial Liberal party member who was a member of a number of party committees. For a time he edited the party's internal briefing paper, Radical Bulletin. He was the prospective Liberal candidate for his home constituency of Croydon North-West which was, technically, a marginal Conservative seat with the Labour party almost but never quite succeeding in gaining it. By no stretch of the imagination could the Liberals have envisaged winning it in any "normal" circumstances, indeed Bill had lost his deposit at the previous, 1979, general election, though he polled 23% at the May 1981 Greater London Council election in the same constituency - a fact rarely acknowledged.

The Alliance between the SDP and the Liberal party was envisaged from the launch of the SDP in late March 1981 though not formally launched until the two parties' conferences that Autumn. Late in May 1981 Sir Tom Williams resigned his Warrington seat in order to become a High Court judge. The Liberals had always struggled to save their deposit in Warrington so it was perceived a good seat in which the SDP could test the water. Shirley Williams hesitated and eventually said "no", whereupon Roy Jenkins bravely stepped in and fought an excellent campaign, just failing to win by under 2,000 votes.

Robert Taylor, the Conservative MP for Croydon NW, died on 19 June 1981, just one month before the polling day in Warrington. The informal understanding between the Alliance parties was that they should take turns in fighting by-elections, hence Croydon was assumed to fall to the Liberals to fight. Immediately doubts were cast on this. First, Bill Pitt was thought to be a pedestrian candidate with a poor track record and incapable of winning. Second, Shirley Williams indicated her willingness to fight. Third, David Steel, as Liberal leader, indicated that he was in favour of Shirley being the candidate. Typically he failed to consult his party but tried to bounce it into accepting Shirley Williams. Steel always neglected the party which he did not rate as at all important¹ and he paid the price on this occasion. The quarterly Liberal Party Council meeting in Abingdon passed a resolution overwhelmingly affirming the party's support for Bill Pitt as the by-election candidate. I met with David Steel the Tuesday after Abingdon and asked him what he intended to do. He replied, "I suppose I'll have to bow to democracy"! Had he chatted up the party immediately the seat became vacant and had he had a better relationship with it, he would have probably convinced it - and Bill Pitt - to give way. This incident rankled with Steel ever after.²

Bill duly continued as the candidate. Shirley Williams and the SDP loyally campaigned for him and he won a remarkable victory on 22nd October. The point was well made that if the Alliance could win a by-election in a Conservative-Labour marginal seat with a non-celebrity candidate it augured well for its electoral future. His tenure was shortlived and he lost the seat in May 1983. He moved to Kent and fought, unsuccessfully, Thanet South in 1987 and 1992. He then, somewhat perversely, joined the Labour party.

There was a sub-text to this whole episode. Some of us in the Liberal party were determined to protect the party against the SDP. In 1981 and early 1982 there was a real danger that the SDP would dominate the Alliance and, through by-election successes, run away with it to the detriment of the whole status and future of the Liberal party. Hard on the heels of the Roy Jenkins near-miss in Warrington, an SDP victory in Croydon would have provided a real springboard for other victories and the possible eclipse of the Liberal party. I was always immensely relieved that sitting Labour MPs who defected to the SDP did not resign and fight by-elections, starting with David Owen and Bill Rodgers, to be followed by each of the twenty-six further defectors. In my view Own and Rodgers would have won and created a real momentum for most of the rest. This was not simply a narrow loyalty to the Liberal party for the sake of it; my philosophical and policy reasons were set out in a booklet published at the time.³

There is also a postscript to Bill Pitts and Croydon by-election. On 1st October 1981 the MP for Crosby, Graham Page, died. In his chapter in the 2010 book ⁴ David Steel states that the Liberal candidate, Anthony Hill, "graciously stood down" for Shirley to fight and win the by-election. That is not the case. When the news of Page's death became public, the rolling SDP conference had reached Southport. I was talking to Anthony Hill, the prospective candidate for Crosby, in the bar adjacent to the conference hall when we heard Shirley Williams announce from the platform that she intended to fight the by-election. Anthony, a loyal Liberal of twenty years standing was simply pushed aside, but felt that it would be futile to try to "do a Croydon".

¹ See Steel's autobiography, Against Goliath, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1989, p135.

²See his chapter in Making the Difference - Essays in honour of Shirley Williams, ed Andrew Duff, Biteback, 2010, page 69.

³ Social Democracy - Barrier or Bridge? Liberator Publications, 1981. (Available as a pdf via www.bramley.demon.co.uk/liberal.html).

⁴Ibid p 69.

Liberator obituary

Bill Pitt, Photo: Isle of Thanet NewsBill Pitt was a popular and convivial Liberal party colleague. For a decade and more he was very much one of "the club" of Liberals of like mind who campaigned together and socialised together. For a time he edited Radical Bulletin, then a separate internal party briefing journal. On occasions when it did not appear he always had an excuse, sometimes blaming problems with his local post office, but it was suspected that he had simply not prepared it! He had joined the party in the 1960s after, rather curiously, a few years in the Norwood Young Conservatives. He became a member of a number of party committees and was well known and liked around the party - a fact that stood him in good stead when it came to the Croydon North West by-election of October 1981.

Bill had fought the three previous general elections in Croydon North West, losing his deposit in the most recent, 1979, contest. He had, however, polled more respectably - 23.7% - in the May 1981 Greater London Council election in the identical seat. Croydon North West was technically a marginal seat with the Labour party almost but never quite gaining it from the Conservatives. In normal circumstances the Liberals could not have envisaged winning it but the circumstances when the MP died in June 1981 the situation was entirely different. The SDP had been launched three months earlier with great fanfares and an immediate public response. An alliance with the Liberal party was negotiated and when an unprepossessing by-election vacancy occurred in Warrington. Roy Jenkins bravely took it on for the SDP-Alliance and failed to win by under 2,000 votes.

Although the understanding was that the two parties should fight by-elections alternately but when Croydon came up, Liberal Leader David Steel, made public his wish that Shirley Williams should be the joint candidate. With Bill's electoral record he regarded him as a loser. As he records in his memoirs, David Steel never had much time for the party, and rather than preparing the ground by persuading party officers of the good sense of the proposal, he simply tried to bounce the party. Inevitably, the party responded by backing Bill. A party council meeting in Abingdon overwhelmingly affirmed its support for him as the candidate and he was duly nominated. This internal defeat rankled permanently with David Steel, but Shirley Williams and other SDP leaders loyally backed Bill and he won a remarkable victory on 22 October 1981, becoming the first Alliance MP to be elected as such. The point was well made at the time that if the Alliance could win a by-election in a Conservative-Labour marginal seat with a non-celebrity candidate it augured well for the future. It turned out to be Bill's fifteen minutes of fame and he lost the seat in May 1983. He was somewhat complacent about holding the seat and he spent more time on parliamentary business than was conducive to local success.

There was an important sub-text to Bill Pitt and Croydon North West. Myself and a number of party colleagues were concerned to safeguard the future of the Liberal party against an over-weening dominance of the SDP within the Alliance, which was a real possibility at the time. I wrote a booklet at the time on the philosophical challenge to Liberalism of a resurgent social democracy but the possibility of electoral eclipse was more immediate. An SDP victory in Croydon, following on the heels of Roy Jenkins' near miss in Warrington, would have created an SDP momentum of great danger to the party. Bill Pitt's victory was therefore of wider significance.

Subsequently he and his wife Janet moved to Kent and he fought Thanet South unsuccessfully at the 1987 and 1992 general elections. Thereafter he, rather perversely, joined the Labour party for whom he unsuccessfully fought local elections.

The postscript to the inauspicious attempt to replace Bill Pitt by Shirley Williams in Croydon occurred when the next vacancy occurred, in Crosby, Merseside. David Steel records that Anthony Hill, the Liberal candidate in situ there, "graciously stood down." That is not the case! The news of the sitting MP's death became known when the SDP's rolling conference had arrived in Southport. I was standing in the conference bar talking to Anthony Hill while Shirley's voice addressing the conference came over the PA system announcing from the platform that she intended to fight the by-election! Anthony, a loyal Liberal of twenty years' standing, was simply pushed aside, but felt that it was futile to try to "do a Croydon."

Bill was raised by his mother in Brixton Hill, south London, and attended Heath Clark grammar school, Croydon, and the London Nautical school before studying for a philosophy degree at North London Polytechnic (now the University of North London). In 1961 he married Janet Wearn, an artist and teacher. They had a daughter, Janet.

He worked first as a lighting engineer, then as a housing officer for Lambeth council, and finally as group training manager at the Canary Wharf group in east London. On his retirement from full-time employment in 2003 Bill got involved with a number of local voluntary organisations, particularly to do with music and photography. He also became a newsreader for the Academy FM Thanet local radio station and became a mentor to newer recruits to the station's team.

William Pitt, born 17 July 1937, died 17 November 2017.

Guardian obituary

Bill Pitt, Photo: Isle of Thanet NewsMy former colleague, Bill Pitt, who has died aged 80. Had his fifteen minutes of fame in October 1981 when he became the first Member of Parliament elected under for the SDP-Liberal Alliance, following the Liberal and Social Democrat parties joining in an electoral alliance. Bill had fought the Croydon North West constituency unsuccessfully at the three previous elections and the Liberal leader, David Steel, wanted him to stand aside for Shirley Williams. David did not enlist the key Liberal party committee in this quest and Bill - and the party - took the huff, dug their heels in and insisted on standing, scoring a remarkable success. Bill was rather complacent about holding the seat and did not give it the attention it needed and partly as a result he lost at the general election less than two years later.

Bill was a convivial and popular Liberal party colleague, having joined the party in the 1960s after a few years in the Norwood Young Conservatives. He served on many party committees both regionally and nationally, including at one point editing the internal scandal sheet Radical Bulletin. He polled creditably in Croydon North West in the two general elections of 1974 but lost his deposit at the 1979 contest. He did, however, more than double that Liberal vote at the May 1981 Greater London Council election covering the same area. The Croydon by-election followed close on the heels of Roy Jenkins' contest in Warrington in which, though he did not win, Jenkins polled unexpectedly well. Party managers believed that, though, under the alliance terms, it was the Liberals' "turn" it needed a big name, hence the Shirley Williams idea. The parties' made the best of Bill's subsequent victory pointing out that, if the Alliance could win such an unprepossessing seat without a celebrity candidate such as Williams, it could win anywhere.

After losing his Croydon North West seat Bill fought the Thanet South constituency in 1987 and 1992 but then joined the Labour party stating that he was disillusioned with the Liberal Democrats, as the merged Liberal party and SDP had become, and that he wanted to stop Jonathan Aitken winning the seat again. He unsuccessfully fought local elections for Labour in the Isle of Thanet. Following his retirement from full time employment in 2003, Bill got involved with a number of local voluntary organisations, particularly to do with music and photography. He also became a newsreader for Academy FM Thanet and became a mentor to newer recruits to the radio station's team. He leaves a wife, Janet, and a daughter, Jane.

William Pitt, born 17 July 1937, died 17 November 2017.

Geoff arrived on the local community scene some twenty-five years ago, just before I left Bradford CVS. He was an ideal voluntary organisation officer: intelligent, progressive, determined, comradely, patient - at least on the surface - and he wore a dog collar!

Since that time I got to know Geoff in a wide variety of guises. With Sylvia and Liz we dined together from time to time, swapping information on restaurants to visit, or enjoying leisurely meals in our homes. With Geoff in charge of the cooking there was always at least one, if not many, exotic dishes, usually with some ingredient known only to Geoff.

When we were looking for new partners in the house in the Languedoc, Geoff and Sylvia were obvious recruits and until Geoff became too ill to make the journey he was an enthusiastic user of the house and a knowledgeable taster and - much more - a consumer of the wine of the local Faugères appellation. The conviviality of the meetings of the house co-operative was always enhanced by Geoff's presence.

From time to time Geoff would produce some apparently recondite solution to a problem at the Faugères house. With his technical experience and scientific knowledge it was difficult to argue against some invention that to us innocents seemed completely weird and impractical. One such was a sort of self-condensing air conditioner which didn't need an outlet! We posed every possible question and objection but Geoff was as stubborn as ever. Eventually we suggested that he get on with its manufacture. Nothing ever happened! This was an example of one of Geoff's idiosyncrasies: during the time that he was keen on an idea no obstacle was insuperable, but once he had lost interest no amount of pressure could catalyse him into action. Sometimes it was just when one had got used to some Geoff idea that one discovered that he had abandoned it!

Geoff's computer skills were remarkable. He was very rarely defeated by any problem and on the odd occasion when he couldn't immediately rescue the situation, and after having spent an inordinate amount of time at Waterloo Lodge or wherever, there would be a later flash of inspiration and an immediate 'phone call or visit with an insistent demand to "try clicking this and scrolling to that ...." and it would usually work. He enjoyed equipping me for my missions to exotic places with innovative portable items and often some brand new dial up network that would work "everywhere."

Of course, even though solidly ensconced in front of the screen, lubricated probably too regularly with glasses of a good Faugères red, he would be conducting other rescue missions via his portable. I would only hear his end of the conversation and I would be fascinated by his apparent patience with a colleague whose technical naivety was only too obvious. After some minutes of "try this, try that .... what can you see? .... no, no, no - you've got the wrong screen .... you can't possibly have that visible etc," he would discover that he, or more often she, hadn't even got it connected to the 'phone line! The same conversations would even go on as we drove down the French motorways to the Languedoc.

One thing Geoff wasn't was a businessman. If he had been he would surely have been able to sell his technical skills. At heart the problem was that didn't really want to charge anyone anything! Consequently he fixed his servicing fee far too low and even then rarely got around to sending invoices. Attention to any sort of paper bureaucracy was far less of a priority than all the practical demands on his time. We had to remember when our "sub" was up and then force a cheque on him.

In a sense the Church of England was made for individuals like Geoff. It paid him a basic stipend which gave him great freedom to do "good works" that would never bring an income. He did, of course, give attention to his clerical duties, but his typical generosity to the local Methodists in offering them a home when their church was burnt down, paid dividends in that he had another team to share the formal services, particularly after his church at Windhill became a joint Anglican-Methodist centre of worship. He wasn't always fully attuned to the Methodist preaching "plan." On one occasion as we sat on the terrace at Faugères enjoying chilled white wine in the sunshine, his portable rang. It was the local Methodist secretary - wholly unaware that Geoff was not in the "parish" - wanting to check the hymns for a service at Baildon the day after! It took a number of calls, and some fast footwork, for Geoff to find a replacement preacher.

The same list of willing substitutes must also have been available when I needed immediate assistance on some far distant mission, as he seemed to be able to appear over one's shoulder almost as the 'phone call was still proceeding. "Send me a ticket, and I'll be there," was his constant refrain, and we often recalled with relish producing an illicit CD-ROM of the electoral register in Zambia, with Geoff surrounded by local staff and mountains of scanned paper from which the CD eventually emerged.

I only saw aspects of Geoff's parish life at Windhill from a distance, but his patience with individuals with problems, often men with serious mental illness, was remarkable. He never rejected anyone and continued to work with a number of people, both in the church and in the local community association, who frankly sometimes didn't deserve the care he lavished on them. How he put up with the vandalism and burglaries at the vicarage, I'll never know. And which other vicar would be able to construct a rotating iron frame big enough to cope with a whole sheep for a vicarage barbecue?

Once, after Geoff and Sylvia had moved to Oakenshaw, he was late arriving for a meeting and was giggling away as he got out the car. Apparently, as he was coming down his drive to his car, complete with dog collar, an irate man had accosted him. "It's about our Sharon. What are going to do about it? And you a clergyman." Geoff was, of course, totally baffled and said so. "Don't try and pretend you don't know," responded the man, "I want to know what you're going to do about it." Again, Geoff expressed his complete puzzlement. The man continued, "and you a man of the cloth, carrying on with a young girl like this." Eventually it transpired that "Sharon" was pregnant and that the man at Geoff's address was responsible. Geoff calmed the man down enough to enquire about the origin of the address. It turned out that it was the occupant of the same house number in Bradford Road, but in Cleckheaton not Oakenshaw! Geoff was rather chuffed that he might be thought capable of such "carrying on."

Geoff's technological skills were occasionally used in splendidly curious ways. Once, being in receipt of an e-mail telling him that a former Nigerian government offical want to transfer zillions of pounds to his account, Geoff replied from one of his many untraceable e-mail addresses. After a couple of e-mail exchanges, Geoff agreed to pay the required up front cash in order to have the Nigerian welath unspendable released. Geoff insisted on paying in cash and arranged to meet the Nigerian official at the disembarkment point of the Hull to Rotterdam ferry. Geoff had selected this precise spot as he had discovered that it was possible to receive an online feed from a CCTV camera on the quay. Geoff watched with glee from his home as the Nigerian walked up and down for ages, regularly consulting his watch, as he waited in vain for his "client" to arrive.

Geoff was remarkably well read, particularly on obscure subjects, and it was perhaps fitting that his last contribution, when he was already very ill, to the Notes and Queries column in The Guardian was on the fate of the Akong of Swat!

A great friend and colleague; often infuriating but always lovable; a bon viveur and a great human being, Geoff will be very much missed.

Geoffrey Percival, born 4 May 1946, died 14 August 2009

North Yorkshire and former Leeds Councillor, Denis Pedder, has died in Humanby, North Yorkshire, at the age of 76. He had been suffering from cancer for some time. At the time of his death he was an Independent Councillor on the North Yorkshire County Council, representing the Cayton Division, and until his retirement last year had been a Scarborough District Councillor for the Hertford ward.

Born in October 1927, Councillor Pedder had had a chequered career in politics. He first contested Leeds City Council elections in 1960 as an Independent candidate for the Westfield ward. Thereafter he joined the Liberal party for whom he contested the Stanningley ward unsuccessfully on five occasions, from 1961 to 1965. He was also the unsuccessful Liberal parliamentary candidate for Leeds West in 1964 and 1966 and for Leeds South in February 1974.

His electoral fortunes changed in 1969. Having been the election agent for David Austick's narrow victory for the Liberals at a by-election in the West Hunslet ward in 1968, Denis Pedder then took the same ward in May 1969 with a majority of over 1,000. He held West Hunslet easily in 1972 and then in 1973 he won the combined East and West Hunslet ward for both the City Council and for the short-lived West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council.

On the Leeds City Council he was the Liberal Group's Chief Whip until he suddenly resigned that office on the day of a City Council meeting. Following the council meeting he was expelled from the Liberal Group whereupon he immediately applied to join the Labour party. Labour, being conscious of Pedder's mercurial and sometimes capricious personality, delayed admitting him to membership and so he withdrew his application. He then contested Hunslet twice unsuccessfully as an independent.

Denis Pedder was educated at secondary school in Lancaster and subsequently at Burnley Technical College and Leeds University. By profession he was a manufacturing chemist and, later, a consultant microbiologist. In the recession of the mid 1970s he lost a number of consultancy contracts and to survive financially he bought an off licence in Beeston, in his electoral ward. On retirement he moved to Hunmanby and immediately began contesting elections there.

Denis Pedder was a fearless advocate of a cause and a remarkable orator whose speeches to a packed concert room on Saturday nights at the West Hunslet Liberal Club greatly helped him to win his seat. He was a difficult colleague but a great individualist who on occasion showed considerable foresight - only some five years after its construction he told the Leeds City Council that the deck-access Hunslet Grange development would be demolished in his lifetime. He was right: it lasted only into the 1980s.

He leaves a wife, Kathleen and two daughters.

Jerry Pearlman practised as a solicitor in Leeds for sixty years and was one the best known and most popular lawyers in the city. He was particularly known for his dogged persistence in defending rights of way and in creating better access to the countryside. He played a significant role in the successful lobbying for the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 which was the key legislation in creating access and the "right to roam." He and his wife, Bernice, were themselves great walkers and had a ready base with a cottage in the hamlet of Stalling Busk in Raydale, North Yorkshire. As a consequence of his notoriety as an environmental lawyer he ended up acting for campaigners he described as eccentric zealots with the potential to change the law. Three of these he described in his recent book Tales from an Environmental and Tribal Lawyer. He became deputy-chair of the Yorkshire Dales National Parks Authority, chair of the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Access Forum and an honorary vice-president of the Ramblers' Association.

Clients who mounted the narrow stairs to the garret in Albion Street that was one of his earliest offices were intrigued by the deed boxes prominently displayed on a shelf, clearly marked "Kingdom Native Government of Bunyoro Kitana (Uganda)." One did not like to enquire about a client but the whole story of being instructed just eighteen months after qualifying on an international case which led to an appearance before a Privy Council Commission and the subsequent thirty-five year involvement, is also told in the recent book. Jerry was in demand for lectures on this and other topics, not least comparing the legal profession of yesterday with the legal industry of today and to question whether the public is now better served.

He had a long partnership with Colin Grazin followed by other partnerships, not all of which proved congenial, but he ended his legal career happily as a consultant to Zermanskys. His colleagues demonstrated their respect for his legal reputation by making him president of the Leeds Law Society and a member of the Solicitors' Complaints Bureau.

Jerry made only one foray into politics, as the Liberal candidate for Moortown ward in 1963 but he was generous in his pro bono advice to needy constituents of Liberal Councillor and MP, Michael Meadowcroft. He was also part of the pioneering campaign for the establishment of a parish council for Alwoodley and he served as its chair of planning for many years. He wrote enthusiastically on the role of the parish in a chapter for the Leeds Yellow Book - Essays on a Liberal Future for Leeds published last month.

He and Bernice were regular attenders at a wide range of musical occasions in Leeds and these were always opportunities to exchange news and information, just as were his appearances at the Leeds Luncheon Club. Jerry and Bernice were extremely convivial and they were splendid hosts; they also enjoyed travelling, not least to wine regions. Jerry was very committed to his daughters and to his grandchildren.

Joseph (Jerry) Pearlman, born Redcar 1933, married Bernice Olsburgh in Leeds 1961, died 9 March 2018. Survived by his wife Bernice, his daughters, Kate Pearlman-Shaw and Debbie Hougie and grandchildren Mark, Alexandra and Jacob.