Edmund Crawley was born in Ilford on June 15 1937. He worked for Paxman in Colchester, initially apprenticed, later working the night-shift as a mechanical engineer. Whilst working there, circumstances led to him meeting his future wife.

Daughter Brigitte recalls “At Paxman my dad’s boss was my mum's dad. One evening my dad needed to take something to Jack's house, related to work. My mum said it was a dark night. There was a knock at the door and when she opened it, there stood the most gorgeous person she had ever seen. She said her mouth just dropped open. She was 16 and he was 19 years old. Jackie’s dad didn’t want his daughter going out with Edmund as he was a bit of a lad.” Despite that, they married on September 3 1960, making their first home in Rowhedge.

Brigitte adds “Neither of my parents had dated anyone else and were best friends until the day my dad died in 2004.”

In 1978, after selling the family home in West Mersea, Edmund, Jackie and Brigitte moved to Denver, Colorado for 3 months to test the waters returning briefly to Clacton-On-Sea. Whilst in Clacton, Edmund returned to Denver to meet Stuart Jackson who owned "The Denver Burglar Alarm Company”. He created another company called “British Double Decker” solely for Edmund to run, initially funded from the alarm company. The family finally emigrated to Denver in 1979.

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