Biography of Thomas Paul Gallagher (1911-2002)

                                        Thomas Paul Gallagher was born on 14th August 1911 at 6 Tyne Vale Terrace
                                        in Lemington on Tyne, Northumberland, UK to Thomas and Ethel (nee Austen)
                                        Gallagher. He was always known by his second name, Paul, and was the
                                        second of six children, until his older brother, Teddy, died in 1915.

                                        At the age of 5 he attended St George’s Primary School, Bells Close, which
                                        was only a mile from home. Paul had two brothers, Alfred and Brian, and two
                                        sisters, Margaret and Liles.

                                        In 1924 the family moved to Ryton on Tyne on the other side of the river from
                                        Lemington and near to the Spencer’s Steel Works in Newburn on Tyne, where
                                        his father, Thomas, worked. Thomas was a natural sportsman who had won a county cap at Rugby and had been an acrobat before
he married. He had met his future wife, Ethel, who
was from Faversham, Kent, while performing
acrobatics ‘on tour’. However, he had been kicked in
the neck while playing rugby and it was thought this
could have contributed to him developing cancer of
the neck and throat. In 1925 Ethel decided the family
should move to the south as the warmer climate might
improve his chances of recovery, so the family moved
to Ash Farm, Ottery St Mary in Devon, but sadly,
Paul’s father died within months of the move.

Soon after Paul's mother arrived in Devon with her sick
husband, young family, and no source of income, they
met the Lindsay family through the local church. The
Lindsays, were relatively well off and on learning of
Ethel's predicament, they very generously paid for
Paul's youngest brother, Brian, to go to the Convent
School in Bridport, Dorset as a boarder, and for his
                                                                 sisters, Margaret and Liles, to attend boarding school also.
                                                                 Meanwhile, Paul and his brother, Alfred, went out to work to
                                                                 help support the family.

                                                                 Paul had a great interest in motorcycles and cars. He and
                                                                 Alfred shared an Ivory Calthorpe 350cc motorbike. The
                                                                 brothers also bought a Morris Minor and then a 1934 Vauxhall
                                                                 V5 and enjoyed making day trips to Cheddar Gorge,
                                                                 Burrington Combe and to the seaside, on almost empty
                                                                 roads.

                                                                 With the outbreak of war in 1939, Paul joined the Royal Air
                                                                 Force while Alfred joined the Army and Brian joined the Royal
                                                                 Navy. His sister, Margaret, took up teaching while Liles
                                                                 became a nurse. With his engineering background, Paul got
                                                                 involved in aircraft repair and was posted to the Far East for
                                                                 much of the war.

During the war, Pauls mother, Ethel, had moved from
Exeter to Crewkerne for safety, to be further away
from the German bombing raids. When Paul was
demobbed he joined the family in Crewkerne and
soon started courting a local girl, Hilda Simms. On
3rd August 1946, only 4 months after meeting, they
were married at Chard Catholic church.

Hilda and Paul moved into a flat above the Speedwell
Club at 5 Abbey Street, Crewkerne. They raised two
daughters and spent nearly forty happy years in the
flat with their family. Sometimes, Alfred and his
family would visit from Bristol. Alfred's son, David,
would look forward to spending a week or two with
his Uncle Paul and family in Crewkerne during the
summer holidays, particularly accompanying Paul
on his early morning visits to the local farms in the
course of his job as Milk Marketing Board Inspector.

Paul enjoyed playing golf at the Windwhistle club, and always looked forward to the '19th hole'. He was great story-teller and always seemed to have a new joke to relate. He also enjoyed an occasional visit to the local pub for half-a-pint and a chat to his friends.

After retirement, Paul and Hilda moved into a small cottage across the road from the Speedwell club in Abbey Road. Paul was heart-broken when Hilda suffered a stoke in 1997 and died in 1998. So he finally moved up to London to be near his two daughters and their families. Paul remained in good health for most of his 90 years, but died after a short illness on 1st July 2002.

                                                                                                                          D. Gallagher July 2010