Peter Ford

[mattemery3]

I'm looking for any information about Peter Ford, grew up in Poplar, passed away in his fifties in the early 70s.

Peter was a powerful stocky man of Maori appearance. He sang in amateur opera, played the guitar, was a talented cartoonist and comic strip artist, a paratroop instructor, a judo third Dan and ran a judo club in Poplar in the late 50s early 60s, and was a school teacher.

Was married to Lily with two daughters,

would be grateful for any information.

thanks,

matt

[dawnsh]

Hi Matt

What specifically are you looking for so we don't duplicate what you already know?

There's a marriage of Peter N Ford to Lily Smith in 1954 and a death of Peter Nicholas Ford in 1974. Is this the right man?

Please note that we have a 'no living people' policy on Rootschat, is Lily still alive?

If you're looking to make contact with the family, you should try Genes Reunited of Friends Reunited.

Dawn

[dawnsh]

Hi Matt

Sorry, I forgot to say 'Welcome to Rootschat'   

Dawn

[mattemery3]

Hello Dawn,

thanks for your reply, I hope I am not misusing the forums in anyway, feel free to remove my thread or advise me to delete it if i am.

I don't know much beyond what was in my first post other than the specifics of some of the comics he worked on.

I found a record for a Peter Ford receiving a 1st Dan on 5th of 11 1972 in the Area, Northern Home Counties, which is very likely him but enquiries with the British Judo Association have so far been fruitless.

I do not know whether Lily or his daughter are alive, the information I have about Peter's wife and daughters was passed onto me by a man that shared a studio with him in the fifties. I have no other knowledge of them other than the studio partner suggesting if they were alive they would be very elderly now. I've read the 'no living policy' and hope I have not violated this and I understand if they are living why information is not shared with strangers.

I am not related to Peter Ford, my interest in him is purely from a historical point of view he has been described in a few instances as being of Maori ethnicity and I am trying to trace his ancestors to see if this is the case. There are very few Maori cartoonist's in the world (I am one) and one employed in England would be very rare. Peter's studio partner suggested he had grown up in Poplar and had a vague memory of a photograph of Peter's mother which he described as being of Maori appearance. If I could find her name and if it was of Maori origin that would help me a great deal.

I am based in Australia and not particularly well-versed in how to find records in England I appreciate any assistance you can offer.

Kind Regards,

Matt Emery

[stevetheo]

Hi Matt,i saw your inquiry by accident concerning peter Ford, i knew him very well, he was my physical ed teacher in a high school called Daneford sec modern in gosset st east London.
He was also my judo instructor,and helped me attain a 2ND Dan belt, he was my mentor and an inspiration to all his students.
He was of MAORI heritage but he grew up in England.
any other questions i can answer for you just let me know and i would be glad to.

[mattemery3]

Hi Stevetheo,

I just wanted to check did you get my direct message?

regards,

matt

[DTW]

Hi Mat,

Just came across your enquiries about Peter Ford and spent 20 minutes getting back to you after getting lost on RootsChat.

I notice a few dates that didn't jell but can offer the following extract for something I'm writing that might help resolve them
"The bunch of blokes in the dojo were friendly and the teacher, Peter Ford, was a smiling half oriental 2nd Dan.  He’d been in the paras, I  suppose in WW2 because he talked about guarding this German 4th Dan, but Peter didn’t look old enough.  He told me they would use blackout material to make Judo suits and a mat canvas."
This would have been around 1964, Peter was already a 2nd dan so that couldn't have been him in 1972, unless he was regrading!  As far as I know Peter was never in the BJA, he was definitely in the BJC but I suspect this might have been a later move, sometime around 1966?
I'm not going to wade through all the postings to pursue this; if you want to contact please do so directly: (*)

(*) Moderator Comment: e-mail removed in accordance with RootsChat policy,
to avoid spamming and other abuses.
Please use the Personal Message (PM) system for exchanging personal data.

[Roy Burgess]

Hi mattemery3,

Just seen your post re Peter Ford. Don't know how much you found out already, but I knew Peter and his family very well.

Peter was a member of the British Judo Council (BJC), not the BJA.  I was a fellow judoka and coach around the Poplar and Stepney area when Peter was teaching judo at the St. Paul's Way School, in Stepney.  We went to several judo tournaments abroad together and it was a great shock when he died suddenly, on 8th October 1974. I am not positive, but I believe that he was 42 at the time.
On 15th February 1975, I was instrumental in organising a Martial Arts Tournament in his memory, the proceeds of which were donated to Lily and her family (three daughters by then). I can't remember all of the daughters' names, but the eldest (about 16 at the time), was called Kim.

Peter and his family lived in Southend on Sea, Essex, but I'm afraid I don't still have their address.

I have a nice photo of Peter in his judo gear (in which he was also buried) and a copy of the obituary I wrote for the programme for the Martial Arts Tournament. I can send both to you, but I need to do this on my computer, not my I pad, as at present. 

I hope this helps

Roy

[Bodnar23]

Hi all,

Lily, Kim, Jane and Jo are all very much alive and would love to know more about Peter. If anyone has any information about him it would be amazing to hear.

Many thanks,