A MODEST philanthropist who helped provide homes for those devastated by the second world war has been honoured with a new play park in his name.
The state-of-the-art play park at Lower Kingsdown was dedicated to Frank Potter Milford on Friday. The £30,500 development has been provided as part of the Teignbridge Council's play programme, which has already seen new facilities at Decoy, Newton Abbot, and Teignmouth Den.
The dedication was marked with a commemorative plaque. Mr Milford gave £4,000 for children's play provision on the Lower Bitton site in Bitton Park Road, in 1949. The park was renamed Milford Park in his honour, although the play park was later moved to Third Avenue in 1961, eight years after Mr Milford's death.
Frank Milford gifted more than £75,000 to help poor families after the war. Born in Kennford in 1877, Mr Milford made his fortune with Hall, Anderson & Co of Calcutta, India, rising through the ranks to become managing director of the company.
He returned to Devon in the 1930s and settled in Teignmouth. Mr Milford was something of a property developer. He built Inverteign Drive and intended to build on the rest of the estate, but with a dire shortage of housing for bombed-out Teignmouth families and returning servicemen and women, he sold the remainder of the estate to Teignmouth Urban District Council for the nominal sum of £1,500.
Mr Milford gave almost £4,000 for play equipment at the former tennis club at Lower Bitton in 1949.
The children's playground was named Milford Park and the council had a commemorative tablet placed in the shelter. The playground was moved in 1961 to Third Avenue for safety reasons. Mr Milford also funded the purchase of the parish hall in Kennford. There is a Milford House and Milford Cottages in Kennford to this day. He died on November 6, 1953, and his ashes are interred in the family tomb in Kenn churchyard with his father, mother and brothers.