John Assur and Jessie Graham Keyser nee Pollok
John Assur Keyser was born on 29 January 1907, the son of Charles Ralph and Rebecca Augusta Keyser nee Tobias, in Cuckfield Sussex. His unusual middle name was inherited from his banker grandfather, Assur Keyser. Sadly his father, who had been a military surgeon, died at sea when John was just three years old.
John married Jessie Graham Pollok in 1929 at Ticehurst in Sussex, and they went on to have three children. Fluent in many languages, he travelled widely as a UN official after the war. Having read Agriculture at Reading University, he worked for 13 years with Massey Ferguson, as a general public relations manager. He and his family were living at Wentworth House in Stoneleigh in 1960, and then later built their house Craigton, nearby.
When he retired John took on the role of promoting British agriculture worldwide, working for the RASE when it began to hold the Royal Show at Stoneleigh in 1967. He held many other unpaid positions in the local area, not least of which was as churchwarden, but also as editor of the village magazine. He had a particular interest in the young and was governor of various educational establishments as well as working on behalf of young offenders.
He died on 13 September 1999, aged 92.
Jessie Graham Pollok was born in Toxteth Liverpool on 7 July 1907, the younger daughter of William Gilmour Pollok, a rope manufacturer, and Frances Anne nee Sparrow . (Her mother is memorialised at
F.1.1.) After her marriage she travelled widely, accompanying her husband on business, and was, like him, much involved in Stoneleigh life: she worked tirelessly for the youth club for more than twenty years and regularly raised money for good causes both local and international.
She died on 16 February 1995, aged 87.