Eric Morecambe’s lifetime of treasures to go under the hammer

A never-before-seen postulation of treasures belonging to drama fable Eric Morecambe, including telegrams from the precocious Prince Philip and letters from Margaret Thatcher and chap comics Ronnie Barker and Tommy Cooper, are acceptable for auction.

A beingness of showbiz memorabilia and idiosyncratic items from Eric’s erstwhile home, Brachefield successful Harpenden, Hertfordshire, volition spell up for merchantability aft the decease of his widow Joan, aged 97, successful March.

More than 40 years aft Morecambe died of a bosom onslaught aged 58 successful 1984, Hansons Auctioneers successful Derbyshire volition beryllium offering his belongings, successful 700 lots, connected January 10 and 11 2025.

Items see his glasses, the soft helium practised connected to present a Morecambe and Wise Christmas peculiar sketch with conductor Andre Previn, and a coating of the prima by royal representation creator Richard Stone, arsenic good arsenic annotated gag books and piles of sketch ideas, immoderate of which helium wrote connected an acquisition manual for a stereo.

Away from comedy, helium enjoyed birdwatching, sportfishing and collecting everything from clocks and fob watches to brew mats and antiques.

Fans of the drama prima are being fixed the accidental to ain immoderate of his belongings by Morecambe’s 3 children, Gail, Gary and Steven.

Gary, 58, an writer from London, said the household were “genuinely excited” astir the forthcoming auction of their parents’ lifelong possessions.

He said: “While these fantastic items are undoubtedly invaluable memorabilia, for america they person been the items we person lived with, and through, for overmuch of our ain existence.

“Seeing them astir to spell to caller homes, successful galore varied directions, marks the definitive extremity of a fantastic epoch – an epoch that certainly, for Gail and I astatine least, began successful the 1950s.

“I deliberation what makes it specified a unsocial occasion, and specified a momentous clip successful our lives, is that our parent hardly touched thing successful the location aft our father’s death. Hence we person had everything rather virtually nether the aforesaid extortion for 56 years.

“When reasoning astir my father, it’s ever casual to contemplate the large comedian helium unquestionably was to the detriment of the different broadside of his beingness – the home-loving man, who had a superior passionateness for the earthy world.”

Gail Stuart, 71, from Northamptonshire, said: “It has been an absorbing year. One of those years wherever you person a existent consciousness of it being the extremity of an era.

“Growing up you person nary thought your puerility is blessed not conscionable with the worldly surroundings but blessed to person 2 specified peculiar individuals arsenic our parents.

“Both had large gifts, some made their lives astir family, some were ever kind, humble, honest. Both received an OBE. All my memories are successful glorious Technicolor.

“We grew up sharing dada with the British people, the astonishing fans. It wasn’t until dada died that I realised the affection for dada and for Morecambe and Wise ran truthful deep.

“Knowing it made sharing him done my puerility consciousness OK. It has helped to pass this determination to stock what was near successful our location with the satellite astatine large.

“Dad would emotion that. That is the legacy.”

Hansons merchantability manager Victoria Sheppard said entering Brachefield aft Joan died was similar entering a “shrine” to Eric.

She said: “I was successful implicit awe. What we recovered was genuinely magical.

“Fascinating finds see loving letters from Eric’s parents and a poignant connection from Ernie Wise revealing however adjacent the brace came to splitting up.

“Ernie explained that, with a precise dense heart, helium wanted to interruption up the duo earlier they continued and became massive. He signed it ‘your champion pal’. Thankfully that ne'er happened.

“Everyone loved Morecambe and Wise. Consequently, determination are telegrams from Prince Philip and letters from King Charles, erstwhile British premier curate Margaret Thatcher and drama legends Ronnie Barker and Tommy Cooper.

“Nostalgia abounds acknowledgment to playbills and posters, close from the beginning, arsenic good arsenic photographs and scrapbooks of cuttings, documenting his precise archetypal performances and reviews erstwhile helium was lone a child.

“There are thousands of photographs of Eric with celebrities of the day, immoderate signed and inscribed, including histrion Cary Grant.

“We’ve recovered costumes from memorable sketches and galore props including Eric’s celebrated ventriloquist dummy, Charlie.

“Eric and Ernie took Charlie to America to look connected The Ed Sullivan Show. The dummy was adjacent successful an occurrence of TV transgression bid The Sweeney.

“Every find, each small portion of insubstantial is important. It’s genuinely remarkable.”

The Eric Morecambe Collection volition beryllium offered by Hansons Auctioneers connected January 10 and 11 2025, with the catalogue owed to spell unrecorded connected December 1.