In 2023 a client asked me to research the history of her much-loved family home. The previous occupants turned out be an eclectic mix, all interesting in their own right, but one name stood out – Henry George Follenfant.

Known by his middle name, George Follenfant turned out to be quite a guy. A railway engineer by training, George is one a highly select group of people to have been awarded the ‘golden triumvirate’ of the MBE, OBE and CBE. The MBE was remarkable enough on its own – awarded for rebuilding railway lines during the North Africa Campaign in World War II to allow supplies of men, goods and armaments to reach the front; the OBE deepens his achievements, awarded to George for performing the same feats in Northern France, Holland and Belgium in the months after D-Day; but the CBE lifts George Follenfant’s achievements into the breathtaking, for as the Chief Engineer for London Underground, George was responsible for the building of the Victoria Line.

George Follenfant’s inspirational life story reminds us that incredible people aren't always famous and I was thrilled when the Canterbury Society recognised this through their award of a blue plaque for the house, providing official acknowledgement of his astonishing achievements. Could the story of someone equally amazing be hidden away in your home?