Tributes for Melton woman who was county’s first driving instructor

Rosemary Nall, who spent her last hours at Leicester Royal Infirmary following a short, sudden illness, was a loving great-grandmother who enjoyed a ‘life well lived’, her family say.

She is survived by husband of 61 years, Barry (84), and her funeral was held at the town’s St Mary’s Church, where they married back in 1959.

Rosemary taught many Melton people how to drive through her driving school, which she set up in the 1950s with help from police driving trainers because there were no official courses or qualifications to take at the time.

Her daughter, Pip, told the Melton Times: “Mum was the first female driving instructor in Leicestershire.

“It was a very successful business and many people will remember being taught by her.

“She even taught the nuns from St Francis Convent to drive.”

Born in Melton in 1935, Rosemary grew up in Kirkby-in–Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, after the family moved there because of her father, Bill’s, work on the railways.

She passed her 11-plus and went to the local grammar school but hated school and left as soon as she could.

Rosemary loved driving and got a job making van deliveries for a florists.

After moving back to Melton in her early 20s with her widowed mother, Rose, she took the plunge to set up her driving school.

She married Barry, who ran H Nall plumbing services with a shop in Leicester Street, when she was 24.

Within five years, the couple had three children, Kathryn, Graham and Phylippa (Pip), as well as having three cars on the road with her business.

Rosemary found it hard to balance the demand for giving evening and weekend driving lessons with family life and so decided on a career change.

She spotted a gap in the market in Melton in what was then the 1970s and opened a ladies’ dress shop in King Street which bore her name, ‘Rosemary’, selling quality brands like Jaeger, as well as gloves, hats and accessories.

The unit was where the Icon Music shop is now and Rosemary worked there until her retirement.

Pip said: “Mum and dad were a real team who shared everything yet respected one another’s individuality, in an age when it wasn’t as usual as it’s now become for your mum to work full-time, do the negotiating when buying a new car or know how to really ride a motorbike, or for your dad to shop, cook, change nappies and plait his daughters’ hair every day before school.

“She knew exactly who she was and that kindness, fairness, putting in the effort and having a sense of fun and adventure all add up to a life well lived - with her very best friend, and beloved, Barry.”

Rosemary, who lived on Cambridge Avenue with Barry, also leaves seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.