Paul Lanfear

Born in Marlborough on January 26, 1949, he was the only child of Gwen and Les Lanfear.

He went to school in Marlborough and was a keen horse rider and member of the Marlborough Swimming Club which practised in the old outdoor pool in the town.

In 1964 he left school and spent a short period as a postman, following in his father’s footsteps, before deciding to train as a hairdresser at a salon in Cavendish Square, Park South, Swindon.

At the age of 17 he opened his first salon in the Parade in Marlborough which was shortly followed by a second in Ramsbury.

A few years later he became a hairdresser on a cruise ship travelling to Norway, the Caribbean and other places in the world.

In 1969 he returned to England and joined the Rene Albery salon in King’s Road, London before styling pop stars, royalty and movie stars at MichaelJohn in Albemarle Street.

In 1975 he was approached by prestigious hair salon The Cut Above, based in Sydney, to bring the London look to Australia.

He stayed there for a few years before opening his own salon, The Cutting Room, with his business partner, Vicky Richards, in the Australian capital.

During the seventies he was also a personal stylist for EyeWitness news in Australia.

In 1993 he opened a salon in Tuncurry in New South Wales before returning to the UK, after more than 20 years working abroad, to look after his mother who had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

He worked at MichaelJohn during the week, returning to Marlborough at the weekend, until getting a part-time job at Snippetts and Blushes in Hughenden yard, which is now Goldsworthy’s.

In 1997 he met Alf Game, a biologist working in science funding in Swindon, at The Waggon and Horses in Beckhampton.

In 1999 Mrs Lanfear died and Mr Game and Mr Lanfear moved into a house in Poulton Crescent, Marlborough where they lived together until his death.

The couple set up Paul Hairdressing in Marlborough on the site of the old air raid lookout station in Hughenden Yard in June 2006.

The salon opened in the same week as their civil partnership in Devizes, which was attended by a small group of family and friends, while they were on honeymoon in the South of France.

In 2010 the couple got a black-coated Lakeland terrier called Ruby who would accompany Mr Lanfear to work everyday.

Mr Game said: “He was the most relentlessly positive person I have ever met. He just simply lived in the now and took genuine pleasure in what he saw and what he heard.

“He had a very kind and considerate nature.”

Mr Lanfear died on June 3 and funeral service was held at Kingsdown Crematorium, Swindon on Monday, June 16 at 3pm followed by a gathering at Marlborough Town Hall which was attended by hundreds of people.