Arthur Ford was Chairman, secretary and treasurer of Broughton Parish Meeting from 1922 to 1968. He was also the Rural District Council representative for Broughton and Ryton from 1945-1967, being elected when Ryton failed to find a replacement following the resignation of the previous councillor. In 1937 he told those present at a parish meeting that he could no longer devout the time. But he was persuaded to carry on for “another year” and never lost the position until his death in 1968.
Mr Ford had a daughter Rene and a son Frank. After becoming a widower he employed a live-in housekeeper Miss Hicks. When not running the parish, he was by trade a gents and ladies tailor, his speciality being ladies’ skirts. By day he worked for Haltons Tailors which was next to the Kings Head in Malton, returning home in the evenings to work in his tailors workshop at the bottom of his garden. Local farm lands would congregate there in the evenings to swap stories and local gossip.
A tallish man known for his trilby, he was a devout churchman who won respect and had considerable influence. He helped both Jeff Paulin and John Lund to get their council houses in Beech Crescent. He kept pedigree black spaniels.
AGW 2011
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