Founded 1980
Chair:
Secretary:
Treasurer:
Graham Smith
Jan Thompson
Graham Mumby-Croft
JOHN DOVELL R.I.P.
We have recently received the sad news that John Dovell,one of the founding members of The Prison
Governors Association died on the 23rd September.He was 84 years old.
John joined the Merchant Navy at Training Ship Conway when he was 14,leaving the navy in his mid twenties to join the Prison Service as an officer at HMP Lewes in February 1966. He became an Assistant Governor in September 1968,
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Tom Rielly
Colleagues will be sad to hear of the death of Tom Rielly in December 2018 in Hospice Isle of Man. I was able to speak to him in Nobles Hospital a week or two before his death and he retained his sense of humour and interest in life to the end. Tom’s funeral took place in January on Island and his ashes have been scattered both on Island and in his native Scotland. His wife predeceased him- he leaves a son and daughter.
I first met Tom when he worked for me as part of the Central (P6) Manpower Team from 1974. Tom had also been a Royal Marine and worked for British Rail before joining the Prison Service as a mature entrant in the sixties. He applied to join the Manpower teams in 1972- the incentive was temporary promotion to Principal Officer.
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Roland Adams, Prison Governor
03.03.1923 - 04.07.2019
At the end of the Second World War, the Prison Service was in serious difficulties having lost accommodation to bomb damage and being simultaneously faced with an unexpected and sharp rise in the numbers of prisoners. This was compounded by staff shortages as older Governors and Officers - who should have retired but stayed on for the duration of the war – took their pensions. To face these challenges, the Prison Service embarked on a special recruitment process for Governors for a “Reconstruction Period” taking advantage of the availability of ex-service candidates, most with considerable wartime experience. Those recruited – over several years - were given a common seniority date of 1st January 1946 –
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Patricia Grace Steel
(nee Scriven) OBE
14th February 1948
6th February 2018
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BRIAN COURTNEY HAYDAY 1929-2019 R.I.P.
Brian was born in Portsmouth on 8 August 1929 and passed away on 6 March 2019. He joined the prison service in 1958 and was first posted to Rochester as a prison officer. He was then posted to various establishments: Kingston, Portland, OTS Wakefield, Winchester, Bristol, Reading then finally the Regional office for the South East as Assistant Regional Director. He retired in 1988 but was brought back into service in 1989/90 to deal with issues at HMP Holloway and instigated the introduction of male Senior Officers into a female establishment, which in turn opened the gates for cross-gender deployment throughout the country. He was part of the team who compiled the report for Lord Justice Wolfe after the Strangeways riot. Between 1990 and 1999 he worked for Crown Agents taking overseas senior prison officials courses, finally finishing in 1999 to spend a happy retirement with his wife Wendy.
BRIAN WALSHAW
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PETER JOHN LEONARD
1945 –2019
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Geoffrey Lister who died recently in Lichfield was one-time Director of the Midland Region of the Prison Service and a member of the Prison Board of England and Wales. As a governor of long-standing, he believed that even-handedness, consistency and the professional integrity of staff at all levels was the key to good prison administration. He greatly valued staff participation but was.........
Grenvil Barnard
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1925 - 2019
BERNARD WILSON B.E.M.
31.12.1926 - 16.12.2019
It is with sadness that I inform colleagues and friends of the passing of my father, Bernard Wilson. Bernard was born in Leeds and after leaving school took several jobs knowing that he would eventually be called up for active service. In January 1945 he was called up for service in the Army, firstly with the Royal Armoured Corps then to the 3rd The Kings Own Hussars who were part of the 6th Airborne Brigade .....
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Geoffrey Lister
Governor and Director of Prisons
20.02.1925 - 18.11.2019
Working in the Prison Service from the end of the Second World War meant facing relentless and growing problems of overcrowding, poor accommodation and deteriorating regimes. Over the following decades, further shocks rocked the Service: security lapses, prisoner disorder and staff industrial action. It became a Service in crisis. ...
Brendon O'Friel
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Eulogy – Olwen Spiers
“It’s a great life if you don’t weaken” was a familiar refrain from Olwen and a maxim to guide her life. A life well lived. A life of service, a life of adventure. A life of compassion, a life of fun.
We are here today to join in sadness at Olwen’s passing but also to celebrate her life and remember some of the great things about her and the long life she lived.
I have a fair bit to say but Olwen herself was loquacious, so hopefully she would have approved.
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Paul Dixon
Paul Dixon 4/2/1950 - 9/5/2020
I am sad to report that Paul passed away in May 2020 following a protracted MS illness that he endured for many years following his early retirement in 2000. He leaves his wife Maggie and son Phillip at their home near Wakefield. His wife noted that Paul never complained about his illness and the impact it had on his life. He coped with it.
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John Dring
1945 - 2021
Obituary by Tim Newell
John’s prison interest came from a series of accidents. Having had a difficult time at school and university he joined the RAF in 1967 but realised it was not a long-term prospect for him. He finished his degree in....
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JOHN MELVYN (MEL) DICKINSON
1941 - 2022
Husband of Lynda Dickinson, Proud Father of Helen and Kathryn and Grandfather to Wilf, the apple of his eye and of course younger brother of David and the late Ivan Dickinson. Mel was my friend, my mentor and I also considered him my big brother and judging by the number of people who attended his funeral and the messages of condolences received from all over the world, he clearly was a friend to so many others. I could talk for hours about Mel and not scratch the surface so I hope my words do him justice.
Gerry Hendry
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John Prince MBE 1940 – 2022
It is with great sadness we announce the death of John Prince on Monday 26th July 2022. John served in the Prison Service from 1967 until 1997, his sudden and unexpected death has been deeply felt amongst his family, friends, and ex-colleagues.
John joined British Rail in 1956 as a Steam Locomotive cleaner, progressing to fireman.
In 1967 he joined the Prison Service, his first establishment being HMP Hindley, then a Borstal, before transferring to HMRC Risley in 1971.
Eulogy: Presented by Dominic Emes
31st January 1933 -9th August 2022
Funerals are by nature sad affairs but in the case of Brian it is as much a celebration of a long and fulfilled life. Brian was nearly ninety on his passing, and by anybodys measure he succeeded in filling these years with an exciting childhood, highly decorated career and active retirement.
Brian was born in North London in 1933 and as so many of his generation, spent his formative years under the blitz of the second world war. He would regularly regale us and his grandchildren with stories of life in London at the time. Collecting spent ordnance from the streets, watching the squadrons of ......
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James (Jim) Blakey, Prison Governor and Area Manager
1938 - 2024
From the end of the Second World War, the Prison Service in England and Wales faced exceptional challenges and pressures. The prison population rose from some 15,000 in 1945 to around 50,000 in thirty years causing serious overcrowding of cells and deplorable conditions for both prisoners and staff.
During the 1960s, high profile escapes, especially that of the spy George Blake from Wormwood Scrubs Prison, forced the Government to set up an inquiry – the resulting highly critical Mountbatten Report recommended fundamental changes to the Service.
From 1969, destructive riots by prisoners and industrial action by the Prison Officers Association added to the misery within prisons.
