John Hall, a well-known former businessman, chairman of Peel Town Commissioners and talented amateur photographer has died at the age of 90.

Originally from the north-east of England, he was born in Blyth on January 16, 1930 and brought up in Whitley Bay.

A skilled electrical engineer, he was called up at the age of 19 at the outbreak of the Second World War and posted to the Isle of Man where he worked on the large radar installations at Dalby.

It was in the village that he met his wife-to-be, Diane Rushforth, whose family lived in the Ballacallin, which later became a popular hotel and public house.

They married at Patrick Parish Church in 1952, by which time John was working as a radio and television engineer for Arnold Partington in Peel.

In the early 1960s, John branched away and set up his own business at the bottom of Michael Street in the shop now occupied by Celtic Gold.

He initially bought-in with Les Peake to form Peake & Hall, but later opened another branch in Church Road, Port Erin.

During this time, John had the agency for Decca Navigator systems used universally by ships and aircraft to determine their position by receiving radio signals from fixed navigational beacons. One of his regular contracts was checking the system on Radio Caroline North when it was anchored a couple of miles off the island’s north coast near Ramsey in the mid-1960s.

After selling up his business, John Hall was elected onto the board of Peel Town Commissioners and twice held the position of chairman.

He was a keen supporter of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and a founder member of the original Peel Boat Club with good friend Brian Partington, Eddie Allen and one or two more.

With his three sons, John loved his outdoor pursuits - among them swimming, off-road motorcycling, powerboating and diving.

Well travelled, he combined his love and skill as a photographer with holidays to exotic and colourful places.

He was president of Western Photographic Club, whilst also a member of Isle of Man Photographic Society based in Douglas. In addition he was a keen Rotarian.

John had a real zest for life and seemingly had boundless energy, despite his share of ailments over the years.

He maintained his interest in photography to the very end and always had a good strong family bond, albeit tinged with sadness when his eldest son Christopher died at the age of 36 in a private plane tragedy in 1994.

John is survived by his wife Di, sons David (based in Farnham) and Andrew, daughter-in-law Sylvia, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.