Peter Besford was born in the Lowestoft area in 1936, the son of Arnott Herbert Smith Besford and Alida Maria Besford (née Erebout). His brothers and sisters born in Lowestoft were Albert (born 1924), Marcella Besford (later Bird, 1932–2024) and his younger brother David William Besford (1939–2011), who was also a Lowestoft trawler skipper.
Peter Besford, of 8 Clifford Drive, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft, was the skipper of the Suffolk Kinsman trawler.
Suffolk Archives hold a record of Rescues and Rescue Awards from the archive of the Lowestoft Journal. It includes the following entry dated 3rd November 1961:
Rescue of Ernest Locke (age 51) of 34 Britten Road, Lowestoft by Barry Measures (age 19) of 26 Myloden Road, Lowestoft after diving off the trawler Suffolk Kinsman to rescue his crewmate who had been pulled into the sea by the net.
Skipper Peter Besford (age 25) of 8 Clifford Drive, Oulton Broad also went overboard in the net but was able to swim back to the ship and climb onboard.
Peter Besford died on 9th May 2014.
Suffolk Kinsman
The fishing trawler LT 397 Suffolk Kinsman (IMO 5343172) was constructed in 1960 by Richards Shipbuilders, Lowestoft. Its gross tonnage was 190 tons.
It carried the name Boston Kinsman from 1974 to 1978, and was later named the Nuovo Diadoro.
