Nicholas Samuel Savory

Nicholas Samuel Savory was born on 27 November 1947 in Germany, the first child of David and Sheila Savory. The family were in Germany as David was posted there as a Commissioned Officer in the Royal Fusiliers.

In 1949, David was posted to Enugu in Nigeria and the family followed. The family returned to London in 1950 for the birth of his sister Susan.

At the age of about four Nicholas caught meningitis and was treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital. It was at time when a drug called streptomycin was developed and they gave him, but unfortunately it killed the nerve from brain to the ear, causing his total deafness.

His summers were spent in Seaview on the Isle of Wight where he became an accomplished sailor. The family were members of Sea View Yacht Club and owned a Sea View One Design dinghy, a boat unique to the village of Seaview. One year in the ‘hard weather race’, having lost the dinghy’s rudder and recovered it, he went on to win the race.

He went to Hamilton Lodge School for the Deaf, a boarding school, in Brighton, Sussex. The school encouraged pupils to lipread and not use sign language, he always had pen and paper at hand. He was an accomplished swimmer, excelled at woodwork and art.

After school he attended The London College of Furniture where he learnt the art of designing and making furniture. He ended up doing furniture design drawings by hand (long before computers) which he excelled at, before becoming proficient in AutoCAD designing. Unfortunately because he couldn’t use the phone regularly employment was inconsistent.

He would attend the Deaf Club in Green Lane, North London.

In April 1976 he married Veronica Armstrong in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, Mayfair.

Nicholas died on 4th May 2010, having been diagnosed with lung cancer, leaving behind Veronica, and sons Jeremy and Simon.