An obituary to Baroness Thatcher suggests that the ideals of Rotary had a significant influence on the life of the former prime minister. The article refers to the great influence that her father, Rotarian and Alderman, Alfred Roberts, had on the young Margaret as she grew up in Grantham.
The obituary in the Daily Telegraph states: "Alfred Roberts was the dominant influence on Margaret’s early life. A largely self-taught and intensely serious man, he was a locally venerated Methodist lay preacher and highly political. Margaret developed what would become a lifelong appreciation of the sense of duty, good neighbourliness and civic pride which characterised the best of life in Grantham. She particularly admired the solidarity and generosity which marked out organisations such as Rotary, of which her father was a leading member."
Margaret’s Father, Alfred Roberts, was a grocer, lay preacher, alderman, Mayor of Grantham and President of the Rotary Club of Grantham. He retired in 1958 but remained an active Rotarian until his death in 1970.
Photo of Rotarian Alfred Roberts courtesy of Grantham Matters
Photo of Margaret Thatcher (left) as a child courtesy of the Daily Telegraph
