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- Billy Butlin 1899~1980 -
South-African born William Edmund Butlin spent his early life in Canada, proclaiming he only received three years' formal education.
He joined his uncle's fairground business in Liverpool after serving in France during the First World War, where he was provided with his first hoopla stall.
He then travelled around fairgrounds with his own roundabouts, before setting up an amusement park in Skegness in 1927, followed by another at Mablethorpe.
After seeing the advantages of combining amusements with accommodation, Billy Butlin built his first holiday camp at Ingoldmells, near Skegness, in 1936, and the Butlins empire was born.
More camps followed at Clacton, Ayr, Pwllheli, Mosney in Ireland, Bognor, Minehead and Barry.
After being knighted in 1964, he switched on the illuminations at Skegness in 1977 which was to be his last visit to the county before his death on June 12, 1980.
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