Trevor John was born on 30 October 1942 at Victor House, Partlands Avenue, Ryde, Isle of Wight on to Basil TOMASIN and Dorothy
BULL-WILLIAMS - He was raised a 'Corkhead'.
His earliest memories were from about the age of 3 when he covered his face with used postage stamps and exclaimed to his father, on his return home from work, that he was a ghost. Other childhood memories included entering Ryde Carnival as a Cowboy, and taking part in torchlight parades on November 5th when all the kids made torches from a tin can stuffed with rags, soaked with
petrol and nailed to a broomstick. After parading through the town to the beach, the torches were hurled onto a gigantic bonfire topped with a Guy Faulks that had been built by Ryde Borough Council.
He had in interest in aircraft from an early age, watching the early jet fighters flying over the solent. In the 1950's the went with his father on the GPO outings to RAE Farnbourgh to see the annual Air Show. He was particularly enthralled seeing prototype Hawker Hunters, Gloster Javilins, English Electric Lightnings and the Avro Vulcan bomber being put through there paces - some breaking
the 'sound barrier' at very low level!
He was present in 1952 when John Derry was killed piloting a prototype De Haviland DH 110 Sea Vixen. It happened immediately in front of him and he saw and heard one of the engines crashing in to the spectators on the hill behind him. He remembers the dead and dying and his father trying to shield his eyes from the devastation. He remembers the relief in his mothers eyes when he eventually
arrived home.
He was a member of the 1st Ryde Wolf Cub's, the Ryde Air Training Corps, the Ryde Parish Church Choir and the Ryde Methodist Church Youth Club. He took part in Ryde Operatic Society's annual performances at the Commodore Cinema three years running as part of the chorus, supplied by Ryde Parish Church Choir.
He appeared in a school production of Geroge Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion' in his last year at achool and took an early interest in cooking. He won the second prize in a McDougalls cake making competition at that years school fete for his Queen Cakes - much to the consternation of many mothers!
After leaving Ryde Secondary Modern School - 'The Mudslingers' - in 1959 with a six 'O' levels, he saw the summer out before going to work, temporarily, for George Perkis the Gent's outfitters in Newport. By 1960 he had had enough of retail and found employment with the Air Ministry - later Ministry
of Defence (Air) - in Whitehall, London as an established Clerical Officer, purchasing radio and radar spares for the RAF, and had to emigrate from the 'Garden Isle'.
At the hostel he first stayed in at Swiss Cottage, he met Mary Kathleen PRICE, and after a protracted 'engagement', on 30 January 1965 they were married at St Simon
& St Jude, Streatham, London. They had two children between 1967 and 1969.
In 1966 he transferred from the Ministry of Defence(Air) to HM Customs & Excise as an Assistant Preventive Officer where he worked in London Port (Harpy - 1966), at London's Heathrow Airport (1966), Exeter Airport (1972) and Avonmouth 1978) rummaging
both ships and aircraft, and searching passengers baggage and examining cargo. Settled in Clevedon, Somerset, and promoted to Senior Officer (1983), he managed Bristol & South West England Collection's Accounts.
His marriage ended in divorce on 1 October 1985 at Bristol County Court, Greyfriars, Lewins Mead, Bristol.
He married Valerie Joan MARTIN on 14 December 1985 at the Register Office, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
Still at Avonmouth, he managed the EPU - responsible for the import and export of cargo - as well as introducing computerised Accounting and Entry processing to the Avonmouth cargo community.
On further promotion to Surveyor - SEO (1992) - Trevor was transferred to HMC&E's London HQ at New King's Beam House as a Senior Consultant with the departments 'in house' management consultancy service RAMCS (MCS) - specialising in the design and implementation of management information systems (MIS). He then transferred back to Bristol (1994) and managed the VAT Debt Management
and LVOIT units at Bristol LVO whilst undertaking various Consultancy tasks for the Collector South West England.
Trevor took 'early retirement' from HMC&E in 1995 having had enough of the constant change - mainly due to Prime Minister Thatcher's policies which decimated the UK Civil Service, and the effects of the UK's entry into the European Union and the associated, gradual transfer of sovereignty and administrative power to Brussels which effectively decimated HMC&E!
After a year's 'rest' he began to supplement his meager Civil Service pension by working as a freelance courier. Then, driving a black van full time, delivering paint for Trimite around the South of England . . . . until suffering a stroke in 2005!
He began playing 'league' skittles for the Exeter Airport team in the 1970's. He joined the Stragglers skittles team when he moved to Clevedon in 1978 and continued playing for them until his balance became a problem in 2009.
He organised and ran Clevedon Jazz Club and Clevedon's Annual Jazz Festival - The Long Weekend - as a hobby, first with Bob Murley & Jim White, then with Bill Griffiths and the help of both wives, until 2006.
His time is now spent designing and maintaining this and two other web sites - www.hm-waterguard.org.uk and www.tomasin.org.uk/piers
- all three have been accepted for the British Library's web archive programe. He also continues researching his Family History, reading, entertaining his four grandchildren, and very occasionally (!) testing the local beers for alcoholic content . . . . .
tjt - 14/03/2012
