Nigel Edward Campbell (Ted) Molyneux
29th June 1929 – 24th January 2021
| The Dorking Museum and Dorking Local History Group heard with sadness in January of the death from Covid-19 of Ted Molyneux, aged 91 in East Surrey Hospital. He had been taken ill just before Christmas, although he hadn’t been well for some time. He had lived all his life in his parents’ house in Myrtle Road, Dorking and never married. Ted had been a supporter of both organisations for many years and willingly gave up his time to check all the Museum’s WW1 military panels before they were printed, as he was a stickler for correctness and extremely knowledgeable. He also gave Kathy Atherton ‘chapter and verse’ in longhand comments on her WW1 book! Ted went on one of the group trips that Lorraine Spindler and Kathy ran to Normandy when he was well into his 80s! He regaled the group with a wealth of stories and took out with him on the minibus a bag full of old bullets. They only found about these when they got to the Juno Beach museum, as the bullets were Canadian and he thought they’d like them back! They were a bit taken aback but charmed by him. Ted was very much involved with rifle shooting all his adult life at both local and national level. He followed his father to become a member of Dorking Rifle Club, one of the oldest in the country, and became a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, based at Bisley. He had a long and very distinguished shooting career – spanning local teams, Surrey county teams and Great Britain teams. He made 11 appearances in the top 50 of the Grand Aggregate, 12 in the final of the Queen’s Prize and won a total of 37 caps for England as reserve, shooter, and coach or Main Coach in the National and Mackinnon Matches, including as Adjutant and Captain of both teams. Ted was one of Bisley’s characters and instrumental in the development and equipping of the Museum of the NRA. He had been Honorary Curator of the Museum for well over 50 years. Curator Tony de Launay writes, “I and my Museum volunteers and NRA colleagues sorely miss our “chin-wags” and his care for the work he had done over many years.” |
| Ted was a real gentleman of the old school and he will be much missed. |
