Ray Hopper authored this potted biography

Jon Peaty, father of our very own David, was something of a Southwick character, and was always entertaining to be with. He was a multi-talented professional illustrator, artist and portrait painter - you can see several of his works depicting Southwick life and characters dotted about the Community Centre - as well as accomplished amateur actor, director and scene designer. He was an enthusiastic member of both the Southwick Art Club and Southwick Players. We have just read the John van Druten play "I Remember Mama", which made a great impression on me as the first play I ever saw at The Barn in 1956, and have since discovered that Jon had played the part of the larger-than-life character Uncle Kris.

Jon was born in Wales in 1914, and lived there, London and Sussex before spending the last 20 years of his life in North Yorkshire, where he died in 1991.

His son, David, is working on a monograph to accompany a retrospective exhibition of Jon's work.