Who’s who in the tragedy of Maids Moreton
Mrs Moore-Martin was a retired headmistress of a Catholic primary school who lived three doors down from her friend Mr Farquhar.
Born near Herne Bay in Kent in 1933, she spent the first years of her career working at schools across the country. It appears she did not marry and had no children.
She moved to Maids Moreton about 35 years ago to assume her most senior role in education – 14 miles away in Bicester, Oxfordshire. Neighbours described her as a devout Catholic of impeccable character who ‘lived for the Church’ and would help anyone in need. She cared for her mother Isabel for 15 years until her death in 2003.
In the years before Mrs MooreMartin’s death last May, at the age of 83, relatives feared she had become depressed and lonely.
Neighbour Anne Greenhough said Mrs Moore-Martin – who was photographed with Nigel Farage as he canvassed doors in the run-up to the 2010 General Election – was a common sight in the village, often walking her dog, and had at one stage battled cancer.
‘Ann used to live with her mother at the house and when she died I believe she continued to live there on her own,’ she said. ‘She was very religious. She often invited people into her house to talk, probably people new to her church or from one of their groups.’
PETER FARQUHAR
Mr Farquhar is remembered by family, friends and former pupils as an eccentric but inspirational figure.
Born in edinburgh in 1946 and educated at Churchill College, Cambridge, he spent three decades teaching at £12,000-a-year Manchester Grammar school.
It was there that he inspired pupil David scheinmann to write a character based on him for the 2014 movie Believe, set in 1980s Manchester Manchester. Mr Farquhar moved to leading public school stowe in Buckinghamshire, and settled in the village of Maids Moreton.
One former pupil, Channel 4 political correspondent Michael Crick, described him as ‘bird-like in appearance’, but what he lacked in physical stature, he made up for with his lightning mind and quick wit. he never married and had no children.