As chief quantity surveyor at Manchester city council, my father, John Judge, who has died aged 91, was part of a team that led the city’s housebuilding programmes from the 1960s to the 90s. One of his roles was to create bills of quantities with specifications for all the work to be conducted, which were then priced up, after which tenders were invited for each scheme. He then helped to manage the work through to completion.
John was born in Regina in Canada to English parents, Rosannah (nee Cahill) and her husband, Thomas Judge, a telephone linesman. John’s father died when he was three and afterwards his mother and her five children moved to Swinton in Lancashire, where she worked as a cleaner. There was little money within the household, and at one point, when the family were evicted unjustly from their home, he was separated from his mother for a time. That experience of housing insecurity never left him, and informed his later work.
After doing his secondary schooling at Worsley Technical College in Manchester John began as a probationer at a small quantity surveying practice while studying part-time at the College of Estate Management via a correspondence course.
A fine sprinter, he joined Swinton Athletic Club in 1950 and competed in a number of high profile races, including one against Charlie Pratt, the US intercollegiate champion, in a televised meet at the White City stadium in London. When he began his national service in 1958 with the Royal Engineers they latched on to his athletic talent and he was able to improve even further by training daily. He represented the Army in the Inter-Services Championships and became the Army record holder over 100 and 220 yards.
Once John’s national service had finished he began his career with Manchester city council in 1960, rising to be chief quantity surveyor and later senior assistant director of the council’s consulting services. Throughout his working life he was known for his empathetic approach and an ability to remain on good terms with all. He was always supportive of fellow staff members and became a respected mentor.
After retirement in 1997 John studied law at the Open University as a hobby, adding a second degree, at the age of 70, to the one he had gained in the 70s in the history of architecture, also with the OU.
John’s wife, Audrey (nee Lloyd), a teacher whom he married in 1961, died in 2020. He is survived by their four children, Sarah, Lisa, Edward and me, and nine grandchildren.
