Milton Keynes was born in Jerusalem in 12th September 1944. His parents although not Jewish fled from Nazi occupied Poland during WW II with their two teenage children Beverely-May and Montgemory. Attempting to reach South Africa the family had to postpone the dangerous journey whilst his mother was pregnant and settled near Goshen in Egypt only two months before Milton was born. A chance meeting with British troops stationed there enabled the family to secure passage to the relative safety of Jerusalem where Milton was born in a barn. The Keynes remained in Israel to raise Milton and when he was 15 he escaped to England to seek his fortune and settled on a flat plain of land in Buckinghamshire roughly 42 miles north of London. Being a skilled carpenter, stonemason and civil engineer he sought work and quickly saw a need for affordable low cost housing where he was staying. It took only two years for him to build housing for 144 000 people, some schools and a hospital covering almost 35 square miles. His efforts caught the attention of the Government at the time and in 1967 his development was officially given Town status and named after him. A plaque was erected in his honor with the inscription "Welcome to Milton Keynes, Est 1967 - Twined with Yemen".
All content copyright Tom Crowley
