Large crowds expected at St Michael & All Angels to pay tribute to local character

The wave of local sympathy following the death of Anne Naysmith has continued and a large attendance is expected at her funeral which will take place on Saturday March 7th at St Michael & All Angels, Church at 11am.

Arrangements about readings and music for the service are in hand. More details will follow. All are welcome to attend.

An inquest into her death was held last week.

The BBC Radio Four obituary programme The Last Word heard a tribute from her friends and neighbours, Sally Mates and Charlotte Kasner. It can also be heard on the IPlayer after broadcast.

Anne Naysmith was born in 1937 and died 9 February aged 78 after being hit by a lorry on Chiswick High Road.

Local people have continued to leave flowers and children's drawings at the patch of ground near Welstead Way where Anne Naysmith tended a patch of ground.

The leader of Hounslow Council, Cllr Steve Curran also paid tribute to the former concert pianist, who was known as the Chiswick 'car lady'.

He commented: "Whether you knew her as a regular singer in the congregation at St Nicholas Church, a fixture at one of the town’s other churches, an avid fan of Chiswick cricket club, or simply by her affectionate moniker ‘the car lady of Chiswick’, former concert pianist Anne Naysmith was apparently as famous in the town as other artistic luminaries such as Hogarth, Pope or even Bruce Dickinson! I want to send deepest condolences from all of us at the council to everyone who knew Anne. She was well loved and liked. I understand an inquest is due and an announcement about the funeral is also anticipated soon so that we might all pay our respects to Anne’s memory."

Anne Naysmith was a well-known local character and lived for many years in a car in Prebend Gardens. She was sometimes referred to as 'Chiswick's Lady In A Van' and had been a concert pianist in her earlier life before falling on hard times.

The Royal Academy of Music said: "We would of course be deeply grateful to receive donations in memory of Anne Naysmith, which would go towards providing scholarships for talented and deserving piano students at the Academy."

You can make a donation in the following ways:

• Using the academy's My Donate page

• Using their web site’s Donate Now facility

• Sending a cheque made out to ‘Royal Academy of Music’ with a note referencing the Anne Naysmith scholarship fund to: Development Department, Royal Academy of Music, Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5HT.
  

February 20, 2015