Obituary: George J N Knox 1931 – 2010

March 13th, 2011 by JCB
Posted in Obituaries | 1 Comment »

George Knox, a Forth Pilot, was born on 15th November 1931, and brought up in Limekilns, Fife.

His charitable nature was demonstrated at an early age. When he had his appendix out at the age of 10 he wanted to thank the hospital in his own way, so he duly took down the panels of the garden fence, made them into toy ships and got his cousins to sell them making a grand total of £400.

George went to sea aged 16 with Currie Line of Leith and moved to United Baltic Corporation in 1954. He passed his Master’s Certificate in 1956, one of the youngest to do so. He was appointed Master of the “Baltic Trader” in 1959 at the age of 27.

George was licensed as a Forth Pilot in 1970 and he took early retirement in 1989 having served nineteen years as a pilot and six years on the board of the Forth Pilotage Authority.

He took the initiative in establishing a liaison with Shell Expro when they were building their Marine Terminal at Braefoot Bay in Fife, which led to a constructive and co­operative relationship between the Pilots and the Terminal management.

George was widowed in 2004 after fifty years of marriage. Thereafter he lived alone in his flat in Leith enjoying visits from his son and daughter and six grandchildren.

He learned in July that he was suffering from a terminal illness, and died on 1st September in St Columba’s Hospice overlooking the Firth of Forth.

Malcolm Rose (Forth Retd.