Charlton Kings hope to keep Beatrix Potter tale alive

A history society wants a plaque dedicated to the man who inspired a famous children's story.

The Charlton Kings Local History Society needs to raise £850 for a plaque in the village cemetery.

John Samuel Prichard was a prestigious tailor in Gloucester who is said to be the inspiration for Beatrix Potter's Tailor of Gloucester.

If successful the unveiling ceremony will be held on 2 March to mark 90 years since the tailor's death.

Mr Prichard moved to Charlton Kings later in life and died there in 1934.

Geoff Bridgman, chair of the Charlton Kings Local History Society said that he wanted to keep the "story of this gentleman alive".

Mr Bridgman added: "This is an important part of Charlton Kings history, and probably the most famous story of Gloucester."

"John Prichard was quite well known around Charlton Kings. In fact, his wife Ida babysat two of my schoolfriends.

"They say he was very opinionated and left-wing, but that he would always help anyone out."

The history society would like to unveil a plaque at the front gates to the cemetery and install a trail which leads to the tailor's grave.

John Samuel Prichard was born in Cheltenham in 1877. In the late 19th Century, he was commissioned to make a suit for the mayor.

He supposedly returned to his shop on a Monday morning to find the suit mysteriously completed - probably by his assistants - except for one buttonhole, with a note saying: "No more twist!"

'Twist' referred to the silk thread with which to stitch the last button.

Mr Prichard then encouraged the fiction that the suit had been finished by fairies in the night, and the myth became a local legend.

In Potter's version, the tailor is tasked with making a suit for the mayor's wedding, and the 10 mice finish the coat to thank him for saving them from his preying cat.

The Beatrix Potter Museum at College Court, Gloucester, recently celebrated 120 years since the publishing of Potter's tale.

A ceremony was held at Gloucester Cathedral on 11 October, attended by the grandson of the real tailor of Gloucester and the current mayor of Gloucester.

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