Christopher Jeremy Sandford (5 December 1930 – 12 May 2003) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

who came to prominence in 1966 with ''

Cathy Come Home ''Cathy Come Home'' is a 1966 BBC television play about homelessness. It was written by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach. A 1998 ''Radio Times'' readers' poll voted it the "best single television drama" an ...

'', his controversial entry in

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

's ''

The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic adaptations of fiction ...

'' anthology strand, which was directed by

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty ('' Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessn ...

. Later, in 1971, he wrote another successful one-off, ''

Edna, the Inebriate Woman "Edna, the Inebriate Woman" is the second episode of second season of the British BBC anthology TV series ''Play for Today''. The episode was a television play that was originally broadcast on 21 October 1971. "Edna, the Inebriate Woman" was wri ...

'', for ''The Wednesday Play'' successor series ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

''.

Early life

Sandford was born in London and brought up at

Eye Manor Eye Manor, Eye, Herefordshire, England is a Carolean manor house dating from the late 17th century, and was built for Ferdinando Gorges. Noted for its interior plasterwork, the house is a Grade I listed building. History Ferdinando Gorges ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouths ...

, home of his father,

Christopher Sandford Christopher Sandford (1902–1983) of Eye Manor, Herefordshire, was a book designer, proprietor of the Golden Cockerel Press, a founding director of the Folio Society, and husband of the wood engraver and pioneer Corn dolly revivalist, Lettice ...

, who was the owner of the Golden Cockerel Press. His mother was

Lettice Sandford Lettice Sandford (born Lettice Mackintosh Rate; 1902–1993) was a draftsman, wood-engraver, pioneer corn dolly revivalist and watercolourist of her beloved Herefordshire. She was a daughter of Lachlan Mackintosh Rate of Milton Court, Surrey, a ...

. His paternal grandmother was the Anglo-Irish writer

Mary Carbery Mary Carbery (1867-1949) was an English author. Biography Mary Vanessa Toulmin was born and raised at Childwickbury Manor, Hertfordshire. She married London-born and Cambridge-educated Algernon William George Evans-Freke, 9th Baron Carbery of ...

; by her first marriage he had relatives in the

Happy Valley set The Happy Valley set was a group of hedonistic, largely British and Anglo-Irish aristocrats and adventurers who settled in the "Happy Valley" region of the Wanjohi Valley, near the Aberdare mountain range, in colonial Kenya and Uganda betwee ...

in Kenya. Sandford was educated at Eton and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

, where he read English. During

national service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

, he was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

bandsman.

Career

After his marriage to heiress Nell Dunn in 1957, they gave up their smart

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

home and went to live in unfashionable

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batt ...

where they joined and observed the lower strata of society. From this experience he published the play ''

'' in 1963, and she wrote '' Up the Junction''. In 1968, Sandford won a

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

for the TV production of ''Cathy Come Home''. He wrote "Smiling David" about the

death of David Oluwale David Oluwale (1930–1969) was a British Nigerian who drowned in the River Aire in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1969. The events leading to his drowning have been described as "the physical and psychological destruction of a homeless, bl ...

. Sandford became interested in gypsy causes (as his paternal grandmother had been) and for a time edited their news sheet, '' Romano Drom'' (''Gypsy Road''). He travelled the country seeking out gypsy stories, published as ''The Gypsies'', and later reissued as
Rokkering to the Gorjios
' (''Talking to the non-Gypsies''). For some time the family lived on a small hill farm called Wern Watkin, outside

Crickhowell Crickhowell (; cy, Crucywel , non-standard spelling ') is a town and community in southeastern Powys, Wales, near Abergavenny, and is in the historic county of Brecknockshire. Location The town lies on the River Usk, on the southern edge ...

in South Wales. Their attempt at sheep farming is described by their neighbour, the young Carlo Gébler, son of novelist

Edna O'Brien Josephine Edna O'Brien (born 15 December 1930) is an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. Elected to Aosdána by her fellow artists, she was honoured with the title Saoi in 2015 and the "UK and Ireland Nobel" ...

Personal life

Jeremy Sandford and his wife Nell Dunn, a granddaughter of the 5th Earl of Rosslyn, had three sons. The couple divorced in 1979. He married Philippa Finnis in 1988. They had performed " The Raggle Taggle Gypsy" song at an early

Mind Body Spirit Festival The Mind Body Spirit Festival is a festival that first took place at the Olympia Exhibition Centre in London in 1977. It was founded by Graham Wilson, together with Terry Ellis, and is now under the stewardship of Melvyn Carlile and Josh Robert ...

, and they co-wrote a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

drama-documentary about the suicide of Jill Hoey. He died at his home, Hatfield Court in

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England, at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of 11,700, Leominster i ...

, at the age of 72. His last words were: "I think I'll have a rest now."Obituary, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', London, 15 May 2003, p. 39.

References

External links

Memorial page to Jeremy Sandford
*
Fanclub with many of his unpublished writingsThe Guardian - Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandford, Jeremy 1930 births 2003 deaths Military personnel from London Royal Air Force airmen Alumni of New College, Oxford English television writers Jacob's Award winners People educated at Eton College People from Herefordshire Prix Italia winners British male television writers 20th-century English screenwriters 20th-century English male writers