24th January 2016

After digging around online, I found an article in a local Leicestershire magazine called Thrussington Life, about Murphy’s second registered owner, Mr Alan Jinks.  Unfortunately, Mr Jinks had sadly passed away in 2013, so incase the magazine disappears from the Internet, here is the PDF file, and text from the May 2013 article, below:

Welcome to the May edition of Thrussington Life. Over Easter we lost one of our volunteers and contributors to the magazine. My memories of Alan Jinks are fond ones, he was so energetic and I remember being amazed when I saw him celebrating his birthday this year that he was 80! Our thoughts are with Paula and their family.

Alan Michael Jinks was born 1st Feb 1933 at Strood in Kent and was the only child of parents Wilfred and Constance. They moved to the area of Humberstone Leicester in 1940, when he was 7. Alan went to Humberstone Junior School and then Wyggeston Boys Grammar School. He played Rugby and after he left played for the Oadby Wyggs. Alan had a strong connection with these all of his life. A few years ago he was president of the Wyggeston Old Boys Association and at the time of his death was vice president and life member of the Oadby Wyggs Rugby Club. His grandson Harry now plays for the club.

After school he took articles at the local firm of Bolton Bullivant and qualified as a chartered account in 1958 and eventually became a partner in the firm. Subsequently the practice merged with the international firm Price Waterhouse. Four years after that in 1973, Alan together with two colleagues set up the practice of Jinks & Co initially on the New Walk before moving to London Road. He met Paula at a Cricket match at Grace Road in 1954 and they were married in 1958. They set up home in Davenport Road, Evington before moving to Thurnby in 1977. They had two sons David in 1961 & Martin in 1963 both sons followed Alan to the Wyggeston School and also became Accountants despite vowing they never would. Martin eventually joined Alan at Jinks & Co. It is interesting to note that although Alan has been retired for some time, Martin has received numerous letters from his old clients expressing condolences. These letters show what high regard they all had for Alan. Alan along with his sons was active members of the Scouts and this was where he met many lifelong friends.

Once Alan finished his sporting activities he was drawn to Freemasonry and he threw himself at fully. They moved to Thrussington in 2001 and both Alan and Paula quickly became involved in the community and village life and were warmly accepted. It did not take long for Alan to chat with the Landlord Bob, and find out he was a Rugby fan and that he arranged trips to matches (usually for men) but Paula went along as an “honorary bloke” and enjoyed many weekends following the Leicester Tigers around Europe.

Recently at his 80th Birthday celebrations, Alan honestly stated that for both of them the past 12 years in Thrussington had been amongst the happiest of their lives. Alan knew some ten years ago that he had a weak heart but was not prepared to be wrapped up in cotton wool. He loved life and never grumbled or complained, he was always optimistic – the only down side was that he liked traditional Jazz and some of his jokes were pretty awful. All in all, Alan was the just the type of person everyone wanted to be with.

He will be sadly missed.

Since this article mentioned Alan’s son’s David & Martin, through the power the Internet and social media, I was able to find them online and took a chance in writing to to them on the 10th November 2015. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I received the following response from David Jinks:

After applying to the DVLA using a V888 form, (Request by an individual for information about a vehicle), they were kind enough to send me an extensive pack of documents tracing Murphy’s history from it’s first owners in the 1970’s to today.

This information was a real treat, as it allowed me to compile details of every single owner from new, where in the country the car resided, and some other interesting facts – starting with the colour!

In December 2014, I contacted the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust who provided me with a Heritage Certificate (below). This certificate showed the car as being originally Glacier White in colour. I knew it was previously red, as there’s odd signs of red paint in some areas, e.g. under bolts, and the V888 document trail also proved this, with the car being resprayed green in 2003. After a conversation with the Heritage Trust, it was assumed the certificate details were incorrect – something that is possible on such old data.

After trying to find out more about Murphy’s first owner, and in particular the showroom from which he was first purchased, here’s what I’ve found so far…

Click here to read more…

18th November 2014

All I know right now of Murphy’s beginnings is from the only 1970’s document I hold, which is the MG “Passport to Service” document that accompanied the car at the time of initial sale. I guess in many ways, I’m lucky to even have that.

What this document tells me is that Murphy was initially purchased by a Mr R.G. Sharpe of Sutton Bassett, Northants on the 10th June 1972, from Latham’s (Leicester) Limited, Belgrave Gate, Leicester.

There are a few service stamps in the booklet, giving an indication of early life, as follows:

Entry 1: 9th June 1972, was a pre-delivery inspection by Latham’s on the day before the sale date written at the front of the book. Interestingly, it shows 1660 miles on this date, which might seem strange for a new car, but I notice this is written in a different pen, similar to the second service entry. I think this was written here in error, and the actual mileage must have been close to zero.

Entry 2: 30th June 1972, 1,000 miles service, also with the Latham’s stamp, but no mileage written here. Give, as mentioned above, the same pen was used, I assume the actual mileage was 1,660 miles.

Entry 3: 6th September 1972, 3,000 miles service, this time serviced by The Regent Autocar Co. Leicester Road, Market Harborough. The mileage written here is 7,118 miles.

Entry 4: 9th November 1972, 12,000 miles service, again by The Regent Autocar Co., and the same engineer, (Andy?). The mileage here was 11,456 miles.

Below are the pages from the “Passport to Service” booklet, as detailed above:

Today I’ve received a successful reply from Mr Bob Blackstock, Murphy’s 10th owner.

Click here to read more…

17th November 2014

As part of my challenge to unravel the history of Murphy, I attempted to track down previous owners, and this was my first successful attempt.

I managed to find Mr Bob Blackstock, Murphy’s 10th owner, through the power of the web, and he was kind enough to reply to my no doubt unconventional request for help…

My son, Robert, bought the MG from a small car dealer in Nottingham.
At the time he was stationed there when he was a Lt Colonel in the Royal Engineers.
We know nothing of its previous history.
I’m attaching a photo of the car taken soon after purchase.
He subsequently retired from the army and moved to Monmouth to begin a new career in civil engineering.
However, he had done very little mileage in the MG, had no garage at his new home, so sent it to me in Dorset to look after and sell.
David Sothcott bought it, I believe, as a temporary run-about whilst he completed re-comissioning of his own MG.
I have my own 1967 rally MGB GT which I have owned for ten years and which did a Monte Carlo Rally Historique in 2000.
Sorry, of little help to you.
Kind regards
Bob

Despite Bob’s message suggesting this was little help, on the contrary I’m chuffed to bits, so thank-you Bob, if you read this 🙂

So I now know that Murphy’s been through a dealer in Nottingham, owned by a former military man and engineer, (both honourable professions, in my opinion), and made his way to the South of England, in the care of a family who clearly knows MGB’s, then on to the owner from whom I purchased the car.  How cool is that!!! 🙂

Here’s Bob’s photo of Murphy, looking good  in Nottingham in 2009…

Bob Blackstock’s photo of Murphy in Nottingham, 2009.

…and here’s Bob’s 1967 Rally MGB GT 🙂

Bob’s 1967 Rally MGB GT

Sorting through a folder of papers which accompanied Murphy at the time of purchase, I’ve been reconstructing his journey from owner to owner.

Mainly consisting of MOT records and invoices for parts purchased over the years, here’s what I’ve come up with so far…