Obit: Tony Wales (March 2007)

Subject: Obit: Tony Wales
From: Mick Tems
Date: 23 Mar 07 - 06:16 AM

Just picked up this fRoots post from Vic Smith:

Tony Wales of Horsham died on Saturday. He had been unwell for some time, and died of heart failure after surgery to remove a blocked bowel. He was in his eighties.

At one time an employee of the EFDSS, this quiet unassuming man was totally immersed in the tradition and had many achivements in the fields of folklore, folk song and dance. These included
* editor of English Dance and Song
* a collector of song and stories (mainly from Sussex and Surrey)
* the author of numerous books relating to the customs and traditions of Sussex.
* the organiser and musician for thousands of folk dances over decades, mainly playing with his band, The Merrymakers
* One of the first singers to have an album of English folk songs released as long ago as 1957 - Sussex Folk Songs and Ballads Tony Wales Folkways Records - FW03515
* The founder of one of England's first folk clubs - and the first in Sussex - in 1958. The Horsham Songswappers. The club was heavily biased towards featuring the county's traditional performers and the likes of Bill Agate, Scan Tester, Terry Potter, George Belton, Bob Blake and Cyril Phillips were all regulars.
* The organiser of one of the first folk festivals in south-east England in Horsham in 1961.

Tony's funeral has just taken place (10am Friday) in St. John's Roman Catholic Church in Horsham in Sussex.