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06 Sept 2025

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All the updated news related to torbay civic society

All the news related to torbay civic society updated in real time

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Ian Handford: Peter became first 'human cyborg' and his legacy lives on

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Peter became first 'human cyborg' and his legacy lives on

Peter Scott became the first person to achieve a Doctorate in Robotic Computing from Imperial College London and even more incredible did not know late in life Peter would choose to become the world's first 'human cyborg'. Born in London on April 19,...

29 Aug 2023 at 15:00

Naturalist and aquarium inventor Philip Henry Gosse lived in Torquay

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Naturalist and aquarium inventor Philip Henry Gosse lived in Torquay

Significant people who lived with in Torbay in the 20th century, not always famous, by Ian Handford, president of Torbay Civic Society. This week, 16 - Philip Henry Gosse Zoologist and renowned writer on natural history, Philip Henry Gosse was the ...

26 Jun 2023 at 10:00

A forgotten woman who could not know in death that her husband had always loved her

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A forgotten woman who could not know in death that her husband had always loved her

Constance Mary Lloyd, the second child of Horace Lloyd and his cousin Adelaide, married on August 28, 1855, at St Peter's Church, Dublin by special licence in Ireland mirroring exactly what their friends, the Wilde family, had had to do two years ...

19 Sept 2023 at 08:04

Robert Rooke (never Bob) who dedicated his life to Torquay

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Robert Rooke (never Bob) who dedicated his life to Torquay

SERIES OF SIGNIFICANT PEOPLE who lived in Torbay in the 20th century - not regularly recalled - as researched by Ian L Handford (President - Torbay Civic Society) This month a man I knew well who spent his working career at Torquay Council. Many ...

13 Sept 2023 at 06:11

From a garden store in Preston to a West Country pioneering success story

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From a garden store in Preston to a West Country pioneering success story

John Robert Gibbs (Jack) started his career in 1930 as a pharmaceutical agent before starting his own family business in the garden store at home on Kings Road, Preston Torbay. Eventually, this business would become the major supplier of ...

23 Aug 2023 at 15:00

Stainless steel inventor Harry lived in Torquay for 20 years

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Stainless steel inventor Harry lived in Torquay for 20 years

Christened Harry Brearley and born in the city of Sheffield in 1871, Harry would eventually retire to Torquay and lived here for 20 years before his death in 1948. Yet few locals even knew of this man on their doorstep, being the ...

09 Oct 2023 at 11:03

An astonishing life in more ways than one

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An astonishing life in more ways than one

Born September 9, 1898 by age seven Beverley Nichols was attending Wellswood Preparatory School. It was an era when merry Torquay was a place to winter and this saw racy and sexual swaps occurring at villas and on yachts. It was ...

27 Sept 2023 at 11:02

A hero of metals who also played a leading role at football club

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A hero of metals who also played a leading role at football club

Arthur Edward Milner is the latest in our series of significant people from Ian Handford, President of the Torbay Civic Society. Arthur Edward Milner was the only child born on July 15, 1898 to Edward, who owned a brass casting ...

03 Dec 2023 at 10:54

Thora, national treasure on both stage and screen

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Thora, national treasure on both stage and screen

Continuing a series on significant people who lived in Torbay during the 20th century - not always famous: Thora Hird was the last child of James (manager of The Royalty Theatre, Morecambe) and Mary - daughter of a local ...

08 Dec 2023 at 08:00

Controversial dramatist who made Devon his family home

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Controversial dramatist who made Devon his family home

Significant people, resident of Torbay in the 20th century - not always famous - number 43: Sean O’Casey Born in Dublin on March 30, 1880, Sean O’Casey seemed destined to be a playwright and author although his work was ...

10 Jan 2024 at 15:00

Poetry-loving country boy became a star

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Poetry-loving country boy became a star

In his series on significant people who lived in Torbay during the 20th century - not always famous - Ian L Handford researches the life if Cyril Trevellian Fletcher. Cyril Fletcher was born at Watford Hertfordshire on ...

28 Nov 2023 at 07:00

How we paid tribute to one of greatest writers

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How we paid tribute to one of greatest writers

Significant people who lived in Torbay during the 20th century - not always famous - as researched by Ian L Handford, President of Torbay Civic Society: Agatha Christie - part two Agatha's timeless detective stories ...

19 Nov 2023 at 17:00

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2025