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THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Captain Thomas Frederick Salmon, humanitarian, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the annual Daily Mirror Honours Awards dinner at London's Mayfair Hotel, from where the programme was then recorded.

Thomas, known as Fred, was born in St John's, Antigua and spent his youth working in a bookshop and teaching in Sunday schools. He became determined to join the Church Army in the UK after seeing an advertisement for volunteers. Having moved to London in 1954, he became the first man of colour to be accepted for training into the Church Army the following year.

In July 1957, Fred received his first commission at St Saviours Church in London's Maida Vale, a parish of 28,000 people. He became an active and popular community member - devoting his life to the service of others - and was honoured at the 1959 Daily Mirror Awards with a gold medal for 'services to humanity'.

programme details...

• Edition No: 121
• Subject No: 121
• Broadcast date: Mon 1 Feb 1960
• Broadcast time: 7.30-8.05pm
• Recorded: Fri 29 Jan 1960
• Venue: Mayfair Hotel, London
• Series: 5
• Edition: 23

on the guest list...

• Capt John Benson
• Maud Rafferty
• Arthur Richards
• Emil Voinquel
• Capt Vic Call
• Gerald Kirkham
• Donald Sutcliffe
• Pte Terry McCarthy
• Nell Heaton
• Joan - wife
• Mary Ann Power
• John Frazer
• Joan Watson
• John Marks
• The Very Reverend G S Baker, Dean of Antigua
• The Merrymakers Steel Band

production team...

• Researchers: Ken Smith, Shirley Macnab
• Writers: Ken Smith, Shirley Macnab
• Director: Bill Wright
• Producer: T Leslie Jackson

• with thanks to Martin Salmon for his contribution to this page

A Charitable Life

the unsung heroes

Timeline

the show's fifty year history

Photographs of Thomas Salmon This Is Your Life

Martin Salmon, son of Thomas Salmon, recalls his father and shares his knowledge of this edition of This Is Your Life in this exclusive contribution to the BigRedBook website...

My father's This Is Your Life happened many years before I was born. My father passed away in 1991. He had become a non-stipendiary Church of England minister. His last job before he passed away was to act as valet to the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie. Tailoring had been a family trade, so my father learnt to sew at an early age. During my teen years it was not unusual coming home from school to find the Archbishop's robe hanging waiting to be repaired. As far as I am aware, he was the first black person to be a This Is Your Life subject.

I remember my mother recalling the night. Her story of the night was that father had returned from work tired and did not want to attend the Daily Mirror awards event. My mother was, of course, aware that the 'this is your life' was going to be sprung. So, to get my father to attend, my mother turned on the waterworks, citing that she had bought a new dress and had her hair done. I know that money was tight, so this was a big deal.

I have vague memories of a few of the guests. I recall eating dates from a tree in Dean Baker's garden in Antigua. My mother took me to visit Maud Rafferty in East Ham many times as a small child. My lasting memory of her was that she kept milk in a bucket of cold water, as she did not own a fridge. I also remember John Marks, who was a godfather to me. I was very fond of John, who lived in Rustington near Littlehampton. John was a keen gardener, growing his own vegetables. I recall cycling from Brighton to Portsmouth with my then girlfriend and stopping for lunch at John's house. If he was serving you lunch, he would pop in to his garden to pick vegetables, which he would be cooking in a matter of minutes.