Well known and popular Doncaster press photographer Roy Ingram dies at 89

Roy Ingram was a familiar face across the city from the 1960s up to his retirement, covering Royal visits, weddings, tragedies, celebrities and hundreds of other news events during a lengthy career in the press.

It was a hobby turned job for Roy who spent more than four decades taking pictures of life in Doncaster.

A Jack of many trades, he previously worked as a railway signalman and served in the RAF before beginning a career as a freelance photographer for the Doncaster Free Press in the 1960s.

In an interview in 2012, he said that photography was “something that always appealed to him” - and something he took enjoyment from every day of his 43-year long career.

He said: "I always found it interesting. Despite having taken thousands of photographs, there wasn’t one day I didn’t feel like going out on a job."

Roy, of Lauder Road, Bentley, always enjoyed taking pictures of the Royal Family in particular “because it was always interesting.”

"I took pictures of Princess Diana when she came on a visit to Doncaster Royal Infirmary, " said Roy.

"She was brilliant because she would stop and smile for the photographers. I also loved taking photos of The Queen on her visit to the Mansion House."

“I’ve photographed pretty much all the Royals at one time or another, ” he said.

“The Queen Mother was my favourite. She stopped and looked at the photographers so we could get nice pictures.”

Roy was often sent on jobs to RAF Finningley, which was decommissioned in 2006, and included flying in the historic Vulcan bomber as one of the highlights of his long and varied career.

In the time he was a jobbing photographer, Roy saw many changes to the profession, mainly in terms of technology and the move from film to digital prints and the introduction of computers to the job - but says he was never phased.

At one stage, he had his own studio and office, the Danum Press Agency which was based in Livingstone Avenue in Clay Lane and which is now a gents’ barber shop.

He celebrated his diamond wedding anniversary to wife, Shirley in 2012 – and said it was nice to have someone photograph his landmark anniversary after decades of capturing those moments for other Doncaster couples.

The couple met on a blind date after Roy, originally from Sheffield, had visited his grandparents in Bentley.

They married at St Peter’s Church, Bentley, on April 14, 1952.

At the time, Shirley was working at Whitakers Furniture and pawn shop in Bentley, while Roy was doing his national service in the RAF as a signaller, which saw him based in Nottinghamshire and the Wirral.

They went on to have eight children – seven daughters and one son – and 21 grandchildren and 31 great grandchilden.

In April last year, the couple celebrated their Platinum Wedding Anniversary, in the same year as The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Roy’s other jobs throuhgout his long marriage also included working as a DJ at the ballroom over the Co-op Emporium on St Sepulchre Gate.

He said: “I used to wear a gold lamé jacket, and I was known as Roy the Golden Boy on the promotional leaflets!”

Following his retirement, Roy kept his hand in, taking photographs of his “large and lovely” family and nature scenes in his back garden.