Tributes after death of Winchester businessman Maurice Beale

6 June 1928 – 24 February 2022

Maurice Beale, a prominent figure in Winchester’s business community in the 1970s and 1980s, has died at the age of 93. For many years, Maurice Beale & Partners was one of the area’s leading estate agencies, its “For Sale” boards a common sight on Winchester streets. Maurice, a chartered surveyor by profession, established the firm in 1964 and ran it until its absorption by General Accident in 1988.

Maurice’s childhood was spent in Fareham and in Malta, where his father was stationed for several years in the Navy medical service. Upon leaving school, he spent five years in the Royal Engineers, where he was commissioned and spent a time in Germany disposing of unexploded allied bombs. He later met and married Cherry Upshall, setting the seal on a marriage that lasted for almost 68 years up until his death.

After qualifying as a Chartered Surveyor, Maurice took up an overseas posting with the Colonial Service as a District Surveyor in Uganda. He was joined six months later by Cherry and their then very young daughter Karen-Ann. After four years in Uganda, they were transferred to Ghana where Maurice was responsible for the design of what was to become Independence Square in Accra – an enduring legacy and the centrepiece of the formal hand-over by the Queen in 1960.

He established Maurice Beale & Partners on return from Africa, with Cherry joining as the firm’s bookkeeper. The couple put down roots in Winchester, had a son, Charles, and becoming involved in fundraising for local charities. The practice grew to encompass some twelve local branches across Hampshire, before being sold to GA at the height of the late-1980s property boom. Beyond business, Maurice became involved in voluntary work, serving for many years as a Visitor at Winchester Prison, and on panels for the Parole Board and for assessment of asylum claims.

An enthusiastic sailor, Maurice was a Master Mariner and long-time member of the Royal Southern Yacht Club at Hamble. He, Cherry and their children sailed regularly on the Solent and along the South Coast, as well as to France and the Channel Islands. Throughout his 70s and 80s, he and a group of friends would take his boat out every Thursday through the summer but after his 90th birthday he handed it and the captaincy to his son in law.

Retirement gave Maurice and Cherry a chance to travel more widely. They took up cruising with gusto, including annual Atlantic crossings on the Queen Mary to visit their son, by then living in New York. The couple were among the first settlers in the then newly converted Peninsula Barracks, and Maurice was central to the establishment of the Peninsula Barracks Management Company.

The premature death of Karen-Ann twelve years ago was a great blow, but family continued to play a large part in their lives and vice versa. Help has been at hand since Charles gave up his senior position at the United Nations and returned to Winchester. When Charles ran successfully for a seat on the City Council as a Liberal Democrat last year, Maurice set aside a lifetime of political allegiances to support his campaign. It would be his last vote.

Maurice was dogged by cardiovascular problems for the last ten years of his life but remained active and relatively mobile right up until his final year when sepsis, gout and, eventually, cancer intruded. He is survived by his wife Cherry, son Charles, four grandchildren Hannah, Harriet, George and Oliver, and two great-grandchildren Seamus and Sadie.