NORTHAMPTON INDEPENDENT, FRIDAY, JUNE 29th 1951, page 7

Obituary

MR JOHN BALL

   The patriarchal figure of Mr. John Ball with his flowing white beard will no longer be seen in Northampton.

   He passed away, in his 88th year, at his home, 121, Colwyn Road, Northampton, after a long period of failing health.

   When he came to Northampton from his native Leicester at the age of 24 to establish an insurance broker's business in Abington Street, he soon made his presence felt in public life.

   Being a voluble speaker, with the courage of his convictions, and possessing a resonant voice, there were few meetings he attended at which he did not join in discussion.

   He became secretary of the Trades Council and, as an aggressive Radical, he took an active part in local elections both as speaker and organiser.

   For several years he was a member of the Kingsthorpe Urban Council and when that body was dissolved through the extension of the borough boundaries in 1900 he was deeply disappointed that he was not offered an aldermanic seal on the enlarged Town Council nor a seat on the magisterial bench.

Benefactor of Blind

   He received great appreciation, however, in his work for the blind. He was responsible for their first outing when he took a party of 46 to Althorp Park at the invitation of the "Red" Earl Spencer.

   He was one of the founders and sat on the committee from the outset up to the golden jubilee celebrations three years ago.

   For no fewer than 28 years he was also the principal organiser of the Pearson's Fresh Air Fund which provided outings for children of the poor.

   He calculated that the number of children given outings from Northampton into the county during that period numbered 38,000.

   Other good work by Mr. Ball was in connection with the Poor Children's Christmas Dinner Fund; the Victoria Jubilee Trust merged into the Queen's Institute of District Nursing; as trustee of the Municipal Charities; as

and as a member of the Unitarian Church where the funeral service was held.

   Mr. and Mrs. Ball celebrated their golden wedding on Christmas Day in 1944. She died three years ago.

   The surviving family consists of three sons and two daughters. The sons are Mr. Eric Ball and Mr. Noel Ball, of Northampton, and Mr Frank Ball, of Reading, and the daughters are Mrs. D. L. Steel, of Guisley, Yorkshire, and Miss K. E. Ball, of Northampton.