Francis Prout the last of the Prout Brothers died on the 23rd February 2011 at a nursing home in Woodbridge Suffolk.
Roland Prout died 1997.
They will both be remembered for the development of Catamarans built at the Point, Canvey and in early days the building of folding canoes and boats with their father Geoffrey at the Small Gains factory. I worked with them in both factories for many years,
Francis’s wife Erica, my sister died September 2010
Comments about this page
Sad to hear of the passing of Francis Prout. Thank you Ian for the great photo of the Prout brothers, their company, founded by their father and expanded by them played a significant role in Canvey’s industrial history.
So sad to hear this news, Francis was a great inspiration to me in my younger boat building days… fond memories indeed. My thoughts are with his family at this time.
Francis’s death sees the passing of a fruitful era in the development of folding boats, and later catarmarans, and deserves its rightful place in small boat history in Britain
So sorry to learn of this sad news – I had aspirations to be a boat designer as a Canvey youngster thanks to the Prout reputation – I was also a good pal of Steve Prout at this time (c. 1968/69)
Add a comment about this page