Retired Guild member Roscoe Howells of Narberth, Pembrokeshire died on the evening of Monday, January 13, aged 94.
A prolific writer and local character, Roscoe was very proud of being the first Member of the Guild in Wales and produced his membership card to prove it whenever the opportunity presented itself.
He is pictured right in 2010 (photo: Alan Evans Photography).
Roscoe was born in Saundersfoot near Tenby in 1919 and brought up there. He was a keen historian and the numerous books he wrote, both novels and factual accounts of people and places, drew on life in his home area. His work always had as its hallmark a love of the countryside and a genuine sympathy with its people.
Roscoe is pictured in 2006 below (right) with the late Edward Hart, a fellow author and Member of the Guild, during a book signing at the Royal Welsh Show. One of his books A Pembrokeshire Pioneer investigates local claims that a Saundersfoot man beat the Wright brothers to the world’s first flight; it is entertainingly reviewed for the Spectator here.
In a profile written for the RABI magazine, Nick Bond, a fellow Member of the Guild, recorded that Roscoe was a dairy farmer (before he contracted brucellosis), a campaigner for many causes, a journalist and author, and a keen supporter of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution.
He organised a series of celebrity concerts in the mid-1950s in aid of the farmers’ charity and donated proceeds from a couple of his books.
As a journalist, Roscoe wrote for Welsh Farm News, including a weekly comment column under the pen-name Ben Brock.
Notice: The Requiem Mass is at St Bride’s Catholic Church, Saundersfoot at 10.45am on Thursday, January 23, followed by internment at Narberth crematorium 12.15pm. There will be refreshments at the Amroth Arms in Amroth at 1.15pm to which all are welcome. Flowers may be sent to: Rossiters, funeral directors, The Old Rectory, The Norton, Tenby. There are to be no donations, requests Roscoe’s wife Margaret.
Any Member or Friend of the Guild who would like to remember Roscoe here can send a few words to Guild website editor, Peter Hill.
