Robert Greenwood Tarran

Robert Greenwood Tarran (25 April 1892 20 September 1955) He was an elected member of Hull City Council and served as Sheriff of Hull and as its chief Air Raid Warden during the Second World War. He also organised the evacuation of civilians from Hull. In 1911, he was working as a joiner, the same occupation as his father. In September 1914, he enlisted with the Northumbrian Field Ambulance Service, and served with the Royal Army Medical Corps through 1919. He served with the Home Expeditionary Forces and in France, was awarded the 1914–15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Tarran began his company, Tarran Industries, Ltd., in 1919 in a small loft for which he paid half a crown a week in rent. By 1937, he was employed more than 3,000 men. He worked extensively during the Second World War under contract to the War Department, building hospitals, airfields, hospitals and barges. In 1941, he had a government contract worth £3 million for fortifying parts of Britain's east coast against German invasion. In August of that year, he officially welcomed the King and Queen to Hull. Before the success of his appeal he founded another business in Scotland but he still spent time in Hull, and died at home on 20 September 1955.

Legal issues

In December 1947, he was convicted of making and publishing a false statement in the company's 1943 balance sheet, and sentenced to nine months hard labour.

Tarran's conviction followed first a 44-day hearing before Hull's stipendiary magistrate, after which Tarran, who pleaded not guilty, was granted bail at £100, then a 32-day special Assizes hearing at Hull Guildhall, in front of Mr Justice Pritchard. ) to publish it; and the same for the 1943 balance sheet. It succeeded on 23 April 1948.