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Lowestoft

Lowestoft is a fishing port in Suffolk and the most easterly town in the United Kingdom. Its boats fished for herring from the Middle Ages until the industry declined after the mid-1960s.

Besfords skippered trawlers out of the port.

Peter Besford (1936–2014)

Skipper of the Lowestoft trawler Suffolk Kinsman, Peter Besford went overboard in the nets during a rescue in 1961 and swam back to the ship.

William James Besford (1889–1947)

William James Besford, a Lowestoft trawler skipper who helped clear mines off the Belgian coast in the First World War, was lost with the Bucentaur and all her crew in 1947.

Arnott Herbert Smith Besford (1901–1964)

Arnott Herbert Smith Besford was born in Lowestoft in 1901 and married Alida Maria Erebout, whose surname is Flemish. Two of their sons became Lowestoft trawler skippers.

Henry John Besford (1850-)

Henry John Besford trained as a blacksmith at Great Yarmouth, married Georgiana Page in 1873 and moved to Lowestoft, where Georgiana died in 1885.

Julia Maria Besford (1875-)

Julia Maria Besford was born at Great Yarmouth in 1875 and grew up in Lowestoft. She is recorded as the mother of Arnott Herbert Smith Besford, father of the skippers Peter and David.

Percy Robert Smith Besford (1914–1978)

Percy Robert Smith Besford, born in the Lowestoft area in 1914, was a skipper in the Royal Naval Reserve and was Mentioned in Despatches in the 1944 King’s Birthday Honours.