One of the  most prominent solicitors to practice in Bourne during the 20th century was Harry Ringrose who had an unbroken association with the legal firm of Andrews, Stanton and Ringrose, of North Street, Bourne, for more than 60 years, from 1903 until he retired in 1969 at the age of 88. He had in fact announced early retirement in 1965 but continued to serve the partnership as a consultant.

Harry Thomas Ringrose was born at Northampton on 19th June 1881 and moved to the town in 1903 as clerk to Mr S R Andrews, expecting to stay for only a month or two but after passing his final examination of the Incorporated Law Society in 1925, he became a partner in Andrews, Son and Stanton, a firm evolving from Mr S W Andrews before it finally assumed the present title.

On the death of Mr Andrews in 1925, he succeeded him as deputy clerk of Bourne Urban District Council and was subsequently appointed clerk, a position from which he retired in 1950. In that year, he became deputy coroner for the Stamford and Bourne district and vice-president of the Lincolnshire Incorporated Law Society, becoming president the following year. For many years he was also the deputy returning officer for the Rutland and Stamford Parliamentary Division, which included Bourne.

A landmark in Mr Ringrose's career came in 1929 when he was selected by the Urban District Councils' Association to give evidence before the Royal Commission in the House of Lords with the task of proving that an urban district with a population of fewer than 10,000 could be well administered, and the success with which he carried out this brief was later reflected in the decision not to de-urbanise Bourne.

When Bourne Urban District Council celebrated its golden jubilee in 1949, he was presented with a silver salver for his outstanding work with the authority. During the time he was clerk, the council acquired the Bourne Water Works Company, bringing cheap water to the town and as a result, it paid no more than 4d. per 1,000 gallons of water. The South Lincolnshire Water Board took over water services in later years.

In his retirement, Mr Ringrose, a keen Methodist, continued to live at No 25 North Road where he was cared for by his daughter Dorothy, having been a widower since 1963. He died in the Pilgrim Hospital at Boston on 21st February, 1979, aged 97. Two of his three sons were solicitors, Harry working in London and Raymond in Boston, and both survived him. A third son, Leslie, a chartered civil engineer working in London, died in 1973 and a second daughter, Vera, died in 1963. He also left eight grandchildren.

The funeral was held at Boston Crematorium on Monday 26th February and many friends and business acquaintances made the journey from Bourne to attend. His lifelong dedication to the Methodist cause was remembered with a memorial service at the chapel in Abbey Road on Sunday 11th March.