THE Reverend Martin Inman, whose early years in the priesthood were spent in Poole, died on Christmas Eve last year.

He was born in Selly Oak, Birmingham, in March 1950, and was first ordained more than 40 years ago. He studied at King's College, London, and at St Augustine's College, Canterbury.

Mr Inman was appointed as a Deacon in 1973, a priest in 1974, and undertook his first curacy at Bridgnorth St Mary in Hereford.

His second was at the church of St Peter and St Osmund in Parkstone, and he worked there for several years in the late 1970s. At that time he was already married to Pamela, a talented artist, and they would go on to have a daughter, Charlotte, and a son, Richard.

In 2014, six years after he was diagnosed with cancer, he wrote to former Rector Peter Huxham to say the years he spent the church were among the most rewarding of his ministry and the happiest of his life.

Mr Inman went on to serve as the parish priest at St Anne's Church in Willenhall from 1979 to 1985, and as team vicar in Barwick, Yeovil, from 1985 until 1991.

During this latter time, he also served as chaplain to Yeovil District General Hospital, and he developed a strong dedication to ministering to the sick.

He went on to serve as chaplain to Jersey General Hospital from 1991 to 1999, and from the latter date until 2003 he held the same post at Whittington Hospital NHS Trust in North London.

Finally, he served as a team vicar in the Smestow Vale team ministry in the Lichfield diocese, and as a rural dean in Trysull, South Staffordshire. At the age of 59 he retired for health reasons, announcing his hopes of pursuing a history degree at the Open University.

He dedicated his life to the church and his family, and is remembered by colleagues from Parkstone as a quiet, hard working man.

Mr Inman, a loving grandfather to Tom, died after a long battle with cancer.

A funeral service was held in St Benedict Biscop Church, Wombourne (SIC), with a combined choir put together from nearby churches. In his welcome the Bishop of Wolverhampton spoke of Mr Inman's courage living with his illness.

He was buried in Trysull churchyard.