AGM and a Local Hero

The  well attended November meeting of the Local History Society at St Andrews Church began with the society’s AGM. The formal meeting went swiftly and smoothly, chaired by the Society’s Chairman, Trevor. This was  followed by a talk from one of our members, John Dewis, entitled  ‘A Local Hero’

John gave an interesting and comprehensive biography of Peter James Boizot MBE aka Mr Peterborough, the Founder of Pizza Express,  

Peter James Boizot was the son of Gaston and Susannah Boizot, Gaston’s family originated in France, but his father (Peter’s Grandfather) emigrated to England where he married and settled. Peter was  born in Peterborough on the 16 November 1929. His education began at St Marks primary school followed by the Kings School in Peterborough where he was head boy. During his time at the Kings School  he sang in the choir of Peterborough Cathedral. Peter then went on to study at St. Catherine’s Collage Cambridge and in 1953 earned an Honours Degree in History. After university Peter travel extensively and worked in Europe and especially Italy for 10 years. In Italy he developed a taste for pizza and on coming back to England found he couldn’t find an authentic tasting pizza. So began the Pizza Express Empire 

Peter was a man of many talents. A entrepreneur, a restauranteur, politician, art collector, a philanthropist. He made a fortune during his lifetime and donated many thousands of it to local causes.

Peter  died at his home in the Cathedral Precinct  on 5 December 2018 at the age of 89. His autobiography ‘Mr Pizza and All That Jazz’ is still in print.

Peter’s Obituary from the Guardian Newspaper  https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/dec/06/peter-boizot-obituary