Laughton , Leonard G Carr , d 1956 , historian

Leonard G Carr Laughton, son of Professor Sir John Knox Laughton by his first wife, shared his father's passion for maritime history. Little is known of his early life including his date of birth or details of his education. He seems to have worked alongside his father, collecting many notes and references on a vast variety of naval subjects from documents kept at the Public Record Office, British Museum, Pepysian Library and many other repositories. He also studied archaeology and etymology. He made a study of ship decoration and published Old Ship Figureheads and Sterns in 1925. He was involved in the restoration of HMS VICTORY and wrote a 'Report to the Victory Technical Committee', 1927-32, giving information that would help in restoring her to her condition at the time of Trafalgar. He was the prime mover, alongside others such a Harold H Brindley, Cdr C N Robinson, Sir Alan Moore, William Wyllie and Harold Wyllie, in the formation of The Society of Nautical Research in 1928. He had always wanted to produce a 'Nautical Encyclopaedia or Dictionary', and was one of the Society's main objectives, but L G Carr Laughton was never satisfied he had found out enough to justify publication. He died in 1956.