World War he and Margaret braved the U-Boats and returned to the UK
where he became an Army Chaplain on 27 March 1941,
9 subsequently
serving at El Alemain, volunteering for service in Malta at the time of the
siege, then in Sicily where he tended the wounded in a field hospital in 1943,
and finally taking part in the Normandy landings. Muspratt knew Malta well
and he was in Sicily immediately prior to the invasion of Italy and at the time
Robert’s eldest son John Augustin was killed there. There is little doubt too
that he would have been familiar with Catania military cemetery. His active
war service ended in late 1944 when he became Chaplain for
Buckinghamshire. Soon after, on Xmas Eve 1944, Muspratt, became vicar for
Penn retiring on 31 December 1989 as the second longest serving vicar at
Holy Trinity. This ‘potted history’ of Muspratt shows him to be a dynamic,
adventurous man, a ‘mover and shaper’, and he certainly made his mark
during his tenancy of Holy Trinity. But he courted controversy, for Muspratt
was a ‘Marmite’ man, generating fierce loyalty from some but utter exasperation from others. Two examples illustrate how his decisions could exercise parishioners.
Shortly after Robert and Emily moved to St Helier, Muspratt became
caught up in the story of the last woman to be executed in Britain. Ruth Ellis,
a nightclub hostess born in north Wales, was hung in Holloway prison after
an affair with racing driver and Penn-man David Blakely went horribly
wrong. Their tempestuous relationship was spent in Penn, and in Bucks pubs
and hotel rooms before eventually leading to a cold-blooded killing on Easter
Sunday 1955, when Ellis walked into the Magdala pub in Hampstead, north
London, and shot Blakely dead. Blakely was buried at Holy Trinity, but the
rebuilding of Holloway Prison some years later meant a new site had to be
found for Ellis’ body. Her son wanted his mother reunited with Blakely in
Penn churchyard, but controversially, Muspratt refused permission for her
burial. Ellis was eventually laid to rest at St Mary’s Church in Old Amersham,
the closest she was to get to her former lover.
10 At the other end of Muspratt’s
‘reign’—but well after Robert and Emily’s time—he allowed the interment of
the ashes of the notorious traitor Donald Maclean
11 at Holy Trinity. Maclean
had spent much of his childhood at Elm Cottage on Beacon Hill and his
ashes were buried by torchlight near the grave of his parents in a secret
ceremony in March 1983. Muspratt defended himself by claiming an act of
Christian charity, but there was fury in Penn. News of the ceremony reached
Fleet street, some said the ashes desecrated the Churchyard and there were
moves to get a Commons question tabled to find out who allowed the ashes
to be brought from Russia to the UK. Love him or loathe him, life alongside
Muspratt was often a ‘white knuckle’ ride!
458
D. Sheppard
where he became an Army Chaplain on 27 March 1941,
9 subsequently
serving at El Alemain, volunteering for service in Malta at the time of the
siege, then in Sicily where he tended the wounded in a field hospital in 1943,
and finally taking part in the Normandy landings. Muspratt knew Malta well
and he was in Sicily immediately prior to the invasion of Italy and at the time
Robert’s eldest son John Augustin was killed there. There is little doubt too
that he would have been familiar with Catania military cemetery. His active
war service ended in late 1944 when he became Chaplain for
Buckinghamshire. Soon after, on Xmas Eve 1944, Muspratt, became vicar for
Penn retiring on 31 December 1989 as the second longest serving vicar at
Holy Trinity. This ‘potted history’ of Muspratt shows him to be a dynamic,
adventurous man, a ‘mover and shaper’, and he certainly made his mark
during his tenancy of Holy Trinity. But he courted controversy, for Muspratt
was a ‘Marmite’ man, generating fierce loyalty from some but utter exasperation from others. Two examples illustrate how his decisions could exercise parishioners.
Shortly after Robert and Emily moved to St Helier, Muspratt became
caught up in the story of the last woman to be executed in Britain. Ruth Ellis,
a nightclub hostess born in north Wales, was hung in Holloway prison after
an affair with racing driver and Penn-man David Blakely went horribly
wrong. Their tempestuous relationship was spent in Penn, and in Bucks pubs
and hotel rooms before eventually leading to a cold-blooded killing on Easter
Sunday 1955, when Ellis walked into the Magdala pub in Hampstead, north
London, and shot Blakely dead. Blakely was buried at Holy Trinity, but the
rebuilding of Holloway Prison some years later meant a new site had to be
found for Ellis’ body. Her son wanted his mother reunited with Blakely in
Penn churchyard, but controversially, Muspratt refused permission for her
burial. Ellis was eventually laid to rest at St Mary’s Church in Old Amersham,
the closest she was to get to her former lover.
10 At the other end of Muspratt’s
‘reign’—but well after Robert and Emily’s time—he allowed the interment of
the ashes of the notorious traitor Donald Maclean
11 at Holy Trinity. Maclean
had spent much of his childhood at Elm Cottage on Beacon Hill and his
ashes were buried by torchlight near the grave of his parents in a secret
ceremony in March 1983. Muspratt defended himself by claiming an act of
Christian charity, but there was fury in Penn. News of the ceremony reached
Fleet street, some said the ashes desecrated the Churchyard and there were
moves to get a Commons question tabled to find out who allowed the ashes
to be brought from Russia to the UK. Love him or loathe him, life alongside
Muspratt was often a ‘white knuckle’ ride!
458
D. Sheppard