The history of KY Green Funeral Directors

K Y Green Funeral Directors has an unbroken line of history of helping people, having carried out funerals in and around Aylesbury and Princes Risborough for over 200 years.

The company moved to 29 Cambridge Street in February 1939, to the premises built by Harry Green a few years prior, with the building's distinctive green front and signage which has always been recognised in the community.

Mr Ray Cochrane is the present owner and the great grandson of Mr William York Green, who lived on Walton Street between 1844 and 1912. They had a builder's yard which older locals will remember as Gannon & Green Ltd, Builders and Undertakers.

Five generations before Mr Cochrane, Williams Green's grandfather, also called William Green, lived on Temple Street in Aylesbury between 1795 and 1870. As recorded in Pigot's County Guide of 1921, we know he had many occupations, including a Builder, Architect, Upholsterer, Undertaker and Toymaker. His advertisement appeared on the front page of the first edition of the Bucks Herald in 1832.

In the late fifties, K Y Green Funeral Directors replaced their lavish Rolls Royce Hearse with an immaculate, brand new Austin Princess Hearse. The Rolls Royce had bearer doors, a feature which was required in the new hearse. Therefore, a new four door Austin Princess Hearse was ordered to be built on a Princess chassis by J.R.Motors Ltd of Willoughby, Rugby.

The original drawing shows that it was designed in 1955, with the model described as a 'Deluxe Hearse Body on either a Princess/Sheerline chassis, with two or four doors', which was called a Charlesworth body. An order was placed and the hearse was built by Reall Ltd (Coachbuilders) at their workshop on

There was a considerable wait for the chassis to be delivered. When it arrived, it had a glass screen behind the front seats with bearer seats, and a full width deck in the rear. Looking immaculate with gleaming chrome and paintwork, '916 HPP' became a part of K Y Green on 1st July 1959 and is still going strong over 60 years later.

The last major overhaul was done during 1993 and 1994; the front wings were replaced, the front cross member was repaired, reconditioned shock-absorbers were fitted, and a rebuilt engine and gearbox were installed. The paint was stripped off and the whole hearse was resprayed from the metal. The trim was taken off, re-chromed and re-fixed.