Background
Lancaster was born and grew up in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, where Standard Fireworks and Lion Fireworks were based.
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Ronald Lancaster
Edit ProfileEducation
He attended King James"s School in Almondbury from 1942 to 1950, and then studied psychology at Street John"s College, Durham University from 1950. After national service, he studied theology at Cuddesdon in Oxfordshire, and became a curate in Morley, near Leeds.
Career
He became interested in fireworks after the coronation of George VI in 1937. He took up the post of chaplain and chemistry teacher at Kimbolton School in 1963. The public displays put on by Kimbolton Fireworks include the 25th anniversary of the Queen"s coronation in 1978, the 50th anniversary of VJ Day in 1995, the Hong Kong handover in 1997, and at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
With Takeo Shimizu, he published Fireworks: Principles and Practice in 1972.
The fourth edition, described as the "bible of fireworks", was published in 2005. Lancaster retired from teaching in 1988.
He was given a plaque at the Pyrotechnics Guild International conference in 1984, dedicated to the "Master Blaster Pastor".
Achievements
Membership
Later that year, he began producing fireworks at a workshop on the school grounds. The following year, with several other members of staff, he set up Kimbolton Fireworks to make pyrotechnics for public displays. He became a Member of the Order of the British Empire (Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1993 New Year"s honours list, for his services to the fireworks industry, and he was presented with a plaque by the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2013.
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Born
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Political Party
Conservative