Hugh Walford Obituary in New Beacon Magazine January 1932

We deeply regret to report the death of Hugh Walford, of Reading, at the age of 85. For nearly 40 years he had devoted himself to the service of the blind and lived to see the fruition of work that in its earliest days must have been full of difficulty. In 1914 Mr Walford was able to write “As a result of the work of the Reading Society there is not one blind beggar in a population of 90,000 and every blind person is comfortably housed and decently clothed and has a small assured income.” That such a statement could be made six years before the passing of the Blind Persons Act is evidence of what reading owes to the unselfish work that Hugh Walford did.

Article in New Beacon Magazine January 1932

Mr Hugh E Walford Of Reading died on December 23rd at the age of 85. Himself blind, Mr Walford  founded in 1893 the Reading Blind Aid Society, predecessor of the current Reading Association for the Welfare of the Blind, and was its honorary secretary and Treasurer for many years. Mr Walford and his devoted helper, the late Miss Mary Gordon Burnett, did pioneer work for the blind of Reading.