A Journey Down the Nile
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A Journey Down the Nile |
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The Music Room
KENNETH J ALFORD
I like to thank George Pollen for the photograph.
21stFebruary 1881 --- 15th1945
Kenneth Alford (pseudonym of Major Fredrick Joseph Ricketts, Royal Marines) was born in London on Februrary 21, 1881, By the time he was fourteen he had lost both of his parents and, lying about his age, he decided to seek a career in Army music joining the Royal Irish Regiment in 1895. He remained in the Army until 1927, when he was comissioned into the Royal Marines as a Director of Music. After a total of almost fifty years' service to the Crown he retired in 1944 in rather poor health and died in the following year on May the 15th. F.J.Ricketts' pseudonym "Kenneth J. Alford", is derived from Ricketts' eldest son, Kenneth; Ricketts' middle name, Joseph; and Ricketts' Mother's maiden name, Alford.