Karl - magistrate, clergyman, psychiatric expert, bar owner and bon vivant - dies at 67

TRIBUTES have been paid following the death of a Nottingham man described as scintillating company, a true English gentleman and a bon vivant.

- By LYNETTE PINCHESS

Karl Routledge-Wilson died on October 22 after suffering from cancer. The 67-year-old, who lived in Sherwood and owned The Pillar Box bar, had been a clergyman, a magistrate and a highly respected clinician in psychiatry.

He was born in Pune, India, into a family that served in the Royal Navy and spent his early years there before moving to Nottingham. His last living relative, Patricia Routledge, his great aunt and the actress who played Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, died just a few weeks before him.

A shy, bookish child at school, he went on to study law at Oxford University, which he attributed to giving him great confidence. He became a fascinating raconteur, admired by many. Always smartly dressed in a shirt and tie, or bow tie, with a handlebar moustache, he cut a distinctive figure. He enjoyed socialising and was often pictured with a glass in hand.