My friend George Montague, who has died aged 98, was a gay rights campaigner known affectionately in Brighton as “the oldest gay in the village”. He even wrote a book of that title, published in 2014. He was a regular and popular participant in Brighton’s Pride parade, latterly riding his mobility scooter decked out with rainbow flags and banners.
George was born in Hackney, east London, and brought up in Hitcham, Buckinghamshire, the son of Nellie (nee New) and George Montague. Both his parents worked on the Hitcham House country estate – his father as a gardener and his mother in the laundry. George left the village school in Taplow, near Maidenhead, at the age of 14 and embarked on an apprenticeship in pattern making with the Machine Pattern company in Slough.
