Alan John Blanc's birth was registered in the 2nd quarter of 1929 in the Edmonton registration district. He was the son of Albert Francis Blanc (1888-1973) and Winifred Evelyn Blanc née Kirtland (1891-1991). His father was a journeyman joiner and electoral registers from 1929 show his parents living at 45 Warwick Road, Southgate, London, N11. Upon turning 21 years he too was registered to vote at this address.
In 1953 he married Sylvia Sara Cole (1927-2017) in Marylebone and electoral registers until 1957 show them living at Flat 1, 75 Parliament Hill, Hampstead.
Telephone directories from 1958 list him as A. J. Blanc, ARIBA, Uphill House, Henley Drive, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, but from 1959 his address was shown as 19 Henley Drive, Kingston upon Thames and from 1964 the entry changed to Alan & Sylvia Blanc, Chartered Architects, 19 Henley Drive.
He and his wife were founder members of the Kingston upon Thames Society, established in 1961 in opposition to a ring-road that would have severed the town from the River Thames.
He had a lifetime's obsession with stairs and steps and provided a definitive reference source that bridges the aesthetic and practical aspects of staircase design. It was called Stairs, Steps and Ramps and his wife worked with him on this. The first edition was published by Butterworths in 1996, a year after he had died.
His death was on 23 May 1995 at Kingston upon Thames and when probate was granted on 2 August 1995 his effects did not exceed £145,000.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan
