George & Margaret Crombie

The following is an extract from an article about Parish Council clerks. Our present clerk, George Crombie, was appointed on 1^st November 1976.

Perhaps it is appropriate here to affirm that no elected member of the Council receives any payment whatsoever, though the Chairman may, in certain circumstances, with prior consent of the Council, incur modest expenditure for entertainment when official duties call for it.   There are no perks!

Hallmark 2007. George Crombie Retires. Report by Tony Molesworth

I have known George for a long time, ever since I joined the Parish Council, when George was our Parish Clerk. It's worth noting that George was also Parish Clerk at Great Hampden for 54 years. He retired from that office for Lacey Green Parish Council in 2007.

In 2003, the Community Planning Group managed to get a sub-post office set up in Lacey Green, for 2 days a week, as a satellite of the Great Hampden post office where George was the sub-postmaster. We didn't expect it to survive for long because of the quite impossible targets that had been set by the Post Office authorities.

However, survive it did.

Hallmark 2013. The Community Stores and Post Office in Lacey Green Village Hall.

The Planning Group started Lacey Green Community Stores in 2009, and the shop and post office worked together since that time. George Crombie was the postmaster. He was very happy to have someone else on the premises, and I know that the volunteers found George to be very pleasant company. The symbiosis was so good that George subsequently opened the post office on Tuesday morning as well as the two official opening days.

But all good things come to an end, and early in 2013 George decided that it was time to retire, and today is George's last official day.

George, we have collected for you a small leaving present that we hope you and Mrs. Crombie will enjoy. Thank you for all your support.

Hallmark 2018.  The following obituary of George Crombie MBE, born 1930, died 2018, was written by Cathryn Davies, Chair of the Parish Council :-

It was with sadness that we learned of the death of George Crombe MBE.

Although George lived in Great Hamden for many years, he was a frequent visitor to Lacey Green as he was the Clerk of Lacey Green Parish Council for over 25 years until he retired in 2007. George, in modern terms, was a workaholic.

He was in the RAF from a young age and latterly worked for the Hampden Estates, and took great interest in the goings on in Great Hampden. He was involved with the Youth Club and the Cricket Club and was the Postmaster for Great Hampden in their Village Hall for many years.

George was also persuaded to be the postmaster in the Lacey Green Community Stores when they opened in the Village Hall under the leadership of Tony Molesworth.

George was awarded his MBE in June 2001 for community service. The true definition of the MBE is an award given by the Queen to an individual for outstanding service to the community or local 'hands on' service. George was this well deserved recipient.

The abbreviation of MBE stands for Member of the most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

George will be missed by many both in Great Hampden and Lacey Green and out thoughts are with his wife Margaret and family.