IT was a sorry story but one that led to a pleasant outcome. One early morning in October 2016 the clergy arrived at St Peter’s Church in Wrecclesham to find that there had been a burglary.

The intruders had smashed their way through a stained glass window to gain entry. The window was dedicated to a celebrated man of Farnham, George Frederick Roumieu, who had lived in Willey Park, now Farnham House Hotel.

George Roumieu was a man of many talents. As a young barrister he was appointed as county coroner to the Surrey County Council in 1882, a position he held with distinction for 30 years.

Locally he was an influential member of St Peter’s Church, a churchwarden for 25 years, a trustee of the Knight’s Almshouses for 19 years and an active trustee and governor of St Peter’s School. However, George had a significant and active life beyond Wrecclesham.

In Farnham itself he was a Justice of the Peace, a member of the Farnham Board of Guardians, chairman of the Farnham Joint Isolation Hospital and of the Wey Valley Water Company.

At a national level he was president of both the Coroners’ Society for England and Wales, and of the British Dairy Farmers’ Association.

He was a well-known judge of cattle and officiated in that capacity at the principal shows in England and at the Royal Irish Show. He was also a Freeman of the City of London and a director of several London companies. rededication

A committed Mason, George was a member of the St Andrew’s Lodge in Farnham. In the early part of the 20th century he had moved to live at Bethune House in West Street where he died on November 14, 1912. at the relatively young age of 60. He is buried in Farnham’s West Street cemetery.

The dedication of the original window at St Peter’s took place on April 24, 1915, and was fully reported in the Farnham Herald at the time.

Happily this window has now been restored and at a morning service it was rededicated in the presence of 16 members of George’s family who had gathered from across the South-East.

The service, led by Rev Sandy Cavalier, was able to take into account the themes of the original service as reported in The Herald more than 100 years ago.