Barbara Mary Upton
June 1924 – October 2007
Barbara’s family moved to Walberton from Surrey at the beginning of
the last war where she worked in the family shop Humphrey’s Stores.
She played the piano and sang in Baptist Chapel (built by her great
grandfather).
Barbara was an extremely talented lady. She passed several piano
exams at The Royal College of Music and trained as an opera singer.
She had considerable painting skills and the family still have life size
paintings of her Peacock and Cockerel. She published two books of her
poems. She studied Italian and story writing. Her dissertation on Italy,
a country she had never visited, was so good that a fellow student
paid for a fortnight’s tour. She was also an Avon lady for many years.
She collected pumpkin recipes and produced a recipe book that sold
over 30,000 copies.
Barbara married Ralph just after the war and the Upton family moved
to Top Rd in 1953 where they took up market gardening. She helped
Ralph with the bees that supplied naval vessels with honey as well as
keeping goats and peacocks.
She especially enjoyed singsongs round the piano. Their cat would
always rush to join them on hearing her play the Skye Boat Song but if
Ralph started sing it would very pointedly raise its eyes to Heaven.
She was a keen supporter of Mount Noddy and her two Sheltie dogs
came from there. During her stays in Arundel Hospital she was much
in demand for her healing hands and always managed to keep her
fellow patients happy.