1919 - 20/08/1994It is with sadness that I write on behalf of my mother, Audrie, and my brothers, Christopher, Jeremy, David and Tim, in memory of a loving father and husband who encouraged all his family to pursue his main interest and delight of bell ringing.
It was in May 1937 that Edward, or Ted as he was known to friends then, taught himself to handle a bell at Barkeston in Leicestershire. His father was vicar of the joint benefices of Barkeston and Plungar, and as there were no bells at Plungar where he lived, the opportunity was taken to teach himself on the light four, which, he proudly recalled, was achieved by simply ringing a bell up and then lowering it. On July 8th 1939, at All Saints church, Marple in Cheshire he rang his first peal at the first attempt of Grandsire Doubles, conducted by C. Kenneth Lewis.
With the onset of war he left his training with Ferranti to join the 1st Leicestershire Regiment. During the war he served in India and then Burma. On his return to England at the end of hostilities, he transferred to the 17th/21st Lancers. The period after the war saw him take up ringing again in earnest at St. Peter’s, Bournemouth, when he rang his greatest number of peals. Although never a prolific peal ringer he always felt privileged to have rung with such ringers as Arthur V. Davis, Harold J. Poole and A. Patrick Cannon.
It was after the war that he bought his own set of handbells, and in October 1947 rang on them his first peal in hand of Doubles. Of the peals he rang, five were on handbells including one of Bob Royal conducted by Harold Poole in the belfry of St. Martin’s Cathedral Church, Leicester, in March 1951.
On June 15th 1952 at St. Michael, Betchworth, Surrey, when ringing for a Confirmation service, Capt. Edward Samson was introduced by Pat Cannon to another member of the band, Audrie Read. On August 1st 1953 they were married at Coulsdon, Audrie’s own tower. Together they rang regularly at St. Peter’s Bournemouth and Lady St. Mary, Wareham.
Army life kept them on the move, and from Wareham to Dumfries, Scotland, where Veronica was born, the family moved to Germany in 1955, where Christopher was born. Ringing was resumed again in Dorset when stationed at Bovington Camp, where Jeremy was born. In 1959 Edward retired from the army after 21 years service, and confirmed his second vocation to work for the church. In 1960 he successfully applied for the job of Christian Stewardship Advisor for the Diocese of Peterborough and moved to Wellingborough. It had always been his wish to serve God in a full-time capacity. He was also licensed as a Lay Reader, and many of the new towers he recorded were from opportunities to ring before services taken, or during the stewardship campaigns that he ran. In the 1960’s he was elected to the General Assembly of the Church of England, and was re-elected for a further three terms as a member of the House of Laity on the General Synod.
Caravanning holidays and weekends also provided family opportunities for ringing, and for many summers, jaunts to Pembrokeshire meant we could all enjoy ringing at St. David's Cathedral.
Edward rang his last peal on December 29th 1962 at All Hallows, Wellingborough, with Pat Cannon turning the tenor in to, and conducting Cambridge Surprise. He rang many quarters at All Hallows including one to celebrate the birth of his third son David in 1961, and in April 1971, he conducted my first quarter peal, (although he said of himself, “I am a bob-caller, for I’m no conductor”).
The year before Tim, his fourth son, was born in 1968, an opportunity to travel to the States to see how the Episcopal Church in Maryland ran Christian Stewardship gave Edward the chance to visit Washington Cathedral. Disappointingly for him, he could only visit the belfry and sign the visitors’ book in the ringing chamber as there was no chance to go to the practice. However, in November 1990, when I stayed in Washington D.C., I did have the chance to ring there, and found his distinctive signature in turquoise ink, in the book.
Edward was stewardship advisor for 22 years and was part of All Hallows’ parish life for 20 including a long stint as churchwarden. In 1980 he and Audrie with David and Tim moved a few miles to Little Harrowden. After retiring he took up another love in his life, restoring and repairing ‘grandfather’ or long case clocks. We have never been far from the sound of bells at home with three, hourly striking, grandfather clocks and another clock striking every quarter - a fascination for his six grandchildren too.
With Tim, who has become a fervent and dedicated ringer, Edward took on the tower captaincy of Orlingbury church in the next village. Readers may recall the Christmas 1993 issue of The Ringing World which featured Orlingbury on the cover, and as the lead article on the augmentation to six bells for Orlingbury’s 150th Anniversary. It was no coincidence that the hallowing of the new bell fell at the time of Edward and Audrie’s Ruby Wedding. However, by this time Edward had suffered two strokes and although unable to ring now, took great pleasure in watching the casting of the new bell at the Loughborough Foundry, albeit from his wheelchair.
On August 20th 1994, Edward passed away after a long illness. The funeral was as he wanted with his favourite piece, Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G Major (The Great) played as part of the service. The tenor bell of All Hallows was perfectly tolled half-muffled by Ivor Dickin, and the many people present sang, as he requested, the Easter hymn, “Jesus lives! our hearts know well, death can now no more appall us”. He rests in peace.
