George Posford

George Posford, born Benjamin George Ashwell (23 March 1906 – 24 April 1976), was an English composer and conductor. Early life Benjamin George Ashwell was born in 1906 in Folkestone, Kent. He was educated at Downside School in Somerset and Christ’s College at Cambridge University. He studied law, but would become known for his musical achievements, after a song he co-wrote with Rodney Hobson was successfully interpolated in an early 1930s touring version of the show Lavender, which pointed him towards a new career. After Cambridge, Ashwell studied composition and orchestration at the Royal College of Music in London. Maschwitz, Posford and Grun also composed Paprika (1938), which flopped, but a revised version, Magyar Melody, ran at His Majesty’s Theatre for 105 performances. To the original score was added “Mine Alone”, composed by Manning Sherwin, which outlived the show. Posford and Harry Parr-Davies composed Full Swing (1940), starring Cicely Courtneidge and Jack Hulbert, which had 468 performances during the London blitz. Posford wrote a number of wartime revues for the duo. During World War II, he was in the Royal Corps of Signals and the London Fire Service. He was subseque