Ralph Gilbert: Farewell to former mayor, a devoted family man and a loyal servant of Bishop’s Stortford

Former mayor Ralph Gilbert, a stalwart servant of Bishop’s Stortford, has passed away.

The devoted husband and father of two, who also had two grandsons, died on Saturday April 12, aged 96.

During seven decades in the town, the former town and East Herts district councillor embraced dozens of roles, from founder chairman of Hockerill Residents’ Association to president of Bishop’s Stortford Natural History Society.

Mr Gilbert was born in 1928 in Wilcot, a small village in Wiltshire, and after he left Devizes Grammar School, he joined Barclays Bank Dominion and Colonial Overseas in London.

When called up for National Service, he joined the Royal Navy and spent time on minesweepers and at HMS Osprey, an anti-submarine training establishment, while it was relocated in Scotland.

Back on Civvy Street, just before he was sent to work in the West Indies, he met Audrey, his future wife, who worked for Barclays Bank Ltd. After two years in Trinidad and the same in St Vincent, he returned on leave, and he and Audrey met again.

After Mr Gilbert began working for the British Petroleum Company, the couple married in 1957. After two years living in West Hampstead, they moved to Bishop’s Stortford. Daughter Karen was born in 1964, followed by Erica in 1966.

He took early retirement from BP and joined the financial services industry before making his first foray into local politics as a Conservative in 1987, winning seats as a town and East Herts district councillor.

He became the figurehead of both authorities, serving as mayor in 1990-91 and again in 2002-03 and as chairman of East Herts Council in 2000-01. He also chaired both councils’ planning committees and represented them on organisations including the Stansted Airport Consultative Committee and the former East Herts Community Health Council.

Mr Gilbert was also a charity champion. He volunteered as a driver for the East Herts and West Essex branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society for 30 years – until he was 70. During his 12-year tenure as chair of the branch, more than £100,000 was raised for research into the disease.

From 1988 to 2022, he was a trustee of the Bishop’s Stortford Minibus Trust, now Bishop’s Stortford Community Transport CIO. In 1991, he began a long association with the former Bishop’s Stortford Old People’s Welfare Committee and helped raise £4,000 for two electric wheelchairs. He was also an inaugural trustee of the New Apton Centre.

Mr Gilbert was also a former chair of the parent-teacher associations at All Saints C of E Primary and St Mary’s Catholic schools and chair of the Friends of the Herts and Essex High School.

An allotment enthusiast, he instigated the Bishop’s Stortford in Bloom competition and was heavily involved with the Birchanger Wood Trust until he retired as chair in 2018.

His devotion to public service was recognised in 2004 when he was made a Freeman of the City of London and again in 2011 when East Herts Council made him an honorary alderman for “eminent services to the authority”.

Cllr John Wyllie, the leader of Bishop’s Stortford Town Council Conservatives, said Mr Gilbert was serious about civic duty but had a surprising sense of fun. “He was a very good councillor and was involved in a lot of different organisations. He will be missed,” he said.

Daughter Karen said Mr Gilbert passed away at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow. He had been suffering from sepsis and pneumonia.

She said: “His interests included natural history, having been born in the countryside, and he was a keen birdwatcher and a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

“He enjoyed gardening and was an allotment holder.

“He took a keen interest in what was happening in Bishop’s Stortford and enjoyed attending functions in the town.

“But most of all, he loved to be with his family and grandchildren, James and Henry.”

Audrey, Mr Gilbert’s wife of 68 years, is now 94 and has dementia. Karen lives in Bishop’s Stortford. Her elder son, James, lives in Santa Barbara, USA, with his wife, Lauren, and their daughter, Magdalena. Her younger son, Henry, is a doctor and lives in Plymouth. Erica lives in Australia with her husband, Graeme.

Mr Gilbert’s funeral is expected to take place on Thursday May 8, but the details are still being finalised.

Karen said that her father left instructions that any donations in his memory should be made to Bishop’s Stortford Natural History Society and Birchanger Wood Trust.