Army officer and charity founder.
Richard Culling Carr-Gomm was born on 2 February 1922 at Mancetter Lodge, Mancetter, near Atherstone, Warwickshire. He was the son of Mark Culling Carr-Gomm (1883-1963) and Amicia Dorothy Heming (1880-1963). His father was the brother of Hubert William Culling Carr-Gomm (1877-1939) and a son of Emily Blanche Carr-Gomm née Kerr (1818-1893).
He served in the army from 1939 to 1955, and was amongst the first troops to enter the Belsen concentration camp in April 1945. In 1954, he was deeply affected by evangelist Billy Graham's crusade in London and moved to a bedsit in the deprived area of Bermondsey.
On 21 October 1957 he married Susan Gibbs (1927-2007), the marriage being registered in Bermondsey. They were to have four children, Anna M. Carr-Gomm b.1958, Elizabeth D. Carr-Gomm b.1959, Harriet J. Carr-Gomm b.1964 and David Culling Carr-Gomm b.1964.
Electoral registers for 1959 show them living at 31 Lamont Road, SW10, and for 1961 at 28 Orchard House, 97 Lower Road, SE16. The 1963 register shows them at 19 Ulundi Road, Greenwich.
He founded the Abbeyfield and Carr-Gomm Societies, providing care and housing for disadvantaged and lonely people.
Electoral registers from 2003 to 2006 show him and his wife at 9 The Batch, Batheaston, Bath, BA1 7DR.
He died, aged 86 years, on 27 October 2008 at Batheaston.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
