| Home Surname List Name Index Sources Email Us | Eleventh Generation373. Philip Alfred BLABER165 was born in 1887 in Hove, East Sussex, England.2576,2577,2578,2579,2580 He lived at 147 Sackville Road in Hove, East Sussex, England between 1891 and 1901.1375,1376 In 1901 he was a Porter at Dressmakers.1375 In 1911 Philip was a Fruiterer and Greengrocer at his shop in Shirley Street in Hove, East Sussex, England.1377,2581,2582 He sold produce he grew himself on local allotments. He served in the Army from 24 June 1916 to 16 December 1919.2582 He was a Private in the Royal Fusaliers. His service number was G/47931. He was shot in his left leg (bullet went right through above the ankle) in action in France on 14 June 1917 and was repatriated to England on 23 June 1917, then transferred to lighter duties in the Royal Army Service Corps and the 301st Reserve Labour Company before being discharged in 1919. His service number was T/454358 at discharge. He was awarded the Victory and Britain Medals. From The Argus archive, first published Saturday 26th Feb 2005. Gardening champion is targeted by thieves A gardening champion's family heirlooms were stolen while their owner was in hospital. They include three silver trophies and 13 medals awarded as horticultural prizes to former greengrocer Philip Blaber. His granddaughter Susan has pleaded for their return so that she can hand them on to her sons. They were stolen during a raid on the home of her 91-year-old father, who is also called Philip Blaber. He inherited them from his father, who was a horticultural champion from the 1920s to 1950s. Mr Blaber snr ran a popular shop in Shirley Street, Hove, selling produce he had grown himself on local allotments. His vegetables won hundreds of prizes at shows in Brighton and Hove. They included the Championship of Sussex trophy awarded by Brighton, Hove and Sussex Horticultural Society. Hove Horticultural and Allotment Holders Association's Ezra silver bowl and the Hopkins Cup were among other trophies he had earned the right to keep. He joined Hove Horticultural Association in the early Twenties and helped to found the Hove Smallholders Society. Granddaughter Susan, 60, said: "He gave the trophies to my father as family heirlooms. "My sister and I were going to inherit them from him and we intended to hand them on to our children in turn." She said the heirlooms were stolen after Mr Blaber's home in Deacon Drive, Portslade, was broken into last month. He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital after falling over and has been found a place at a care home. Susan added: "We were clearing his house when the break-in happened. "We think they had been watching the house to see when we left. "I am absolutely gutted because they ignored everything else and took some of his trophies and medals. "We have told my father that they have gone but I am not really sure that he fully realises what has happened." Anyone with information about the missing heirlooms should phone Hove CID.
Woman finds family's medals in her garden Medals stolen from a gardening champion's family will be returned thanks to a reader of The Argus. Margaret Kensett found one of the medals dumped under a bush in her front garden. She had no idea what it was and cleaned it up to see if she could find out more about it. A few days later she read a story in The Argus telling how three trophies and 13 medals had been stolen from the home of 91-year-old Philip Blaber while he was in hospital. The treasured family heirlooms had been given to him by his father, also called Philip, a horticultural champion in Brighton and Hove from the Twenties to Fifties. They were to be passed on to his granddaughter Susan, 60, who in turn intended handing them down to her children. Mrs Kensett, 49, of Foredown Road, Portslade, said: "I found the medal when I was cutting down a bush in the front garden. "I cleaned it up and saw it had been awarded by Hove Horticultural Society. "I was going to get in touch with them when I saw the story in The Argus. "We rang the police and they took it away for forensic tests." She decided to do some detective work and has unearthed a second missing medal. She said: "I spoke to my neighbour, Nicola Lawrence, and she told me she had also found one in her front garden. "She had no idea what it was until I mentioned it to her but it is fantastic that Mr Blaber's family will get them back." Sadly, the discovery came too late for Mr Blaber, who died on Tuesday. Granddaughter Susan, 60, said: "I am thrilled we will be getting the medals back. "It is a shame that my father did not get to see them again. "The Argus did a great deal to help us get them back and I don't think we would have seen the medals again if it had not been for their help." Detective Constable Gary Tattersall said: "Without the story appearing in The Argus we would not have recovered even one of the medals. "We have told Mr Blaber's family and they are delighted. "The medals will be sent off for forensic testing to see if we can get any DNA matches to link to known suspects." Mr Blaber, a greengrocer who won the medals, ran a popular shop in Shirley Street, Hove, selling produce he had grown himself on local allotments. His vegetables won prizes at shows in Brighton and Hove. The trophies and medals were stolen when his son's home in Deacon Drive, Portslade, was broken into while he was in hospital in January. Anyone with information should phone Hove police station. He died on 2 December 1957 at the age of 70 at The General Hospital in Brighton, East Sussex, England.2580,2584 Philip had his estate probated on 5 February 1958 in London, England.2584 Probate was granted to his widow Charlotte Mary BLABER. Effects £1841 1s 5d. Philip Alfred BLABER and Charlotte Mary NEVE were married in 1906 in Steyning, West Sussex, England.2585,2586 They2585,2586 lived at 75 Shirley Street in Hove, East Sussex, England between 1911 and 1958.2581,2582,2584,2587 Charlotte Mary NEVE2588 was born on 1 October 1889 in Brighton, East Sussex, England.2589,2590,2591 She died in 1972 at the age of 83 in Brighton, East Sussex, England.2591 Philip Alfred BLABER-302 and Charlotte Mary NEVE-354 had the following children:
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