A NIECE has paid tribute to her "wonderful, kind uncle" who was involved in theatre groups in Barrow, and had to spend time in prison for living as his true self. 

Brian Jackson died at Furness General Hospital aged 84, due to complications after falling and breaking his femur. 

Brian was well known in the community as he worked various jobs until retiring at 70. He was also involved in amateur theatre groups and societies, and in 2019 the Theatre Factory even invited him onto a panel to discuss his life in a show called A Rather Queer Evening. 

The Mail: Brian lived and worked around Barrow all of his life Brian lived and worked around Barrow all of his life (Image: Heather Kelk)

Brian lived his life proudly as a gay man, even at a time when homosexuality was a crime in the 1960s. 

At the panel, he said he was charged with gross indecency after a police sergeant and a police constable spotted him going off with another man and followed them.  

However, this did not dampen Brian's spirits. When he was interviewed in 2019, he said: "Prison held no terror for me, in fact I could say I enjoyed it, what I didn't like about prison was my mother and father were left in Barrow with the nudge nudge wink wink brigade."

The Mail: Brian reconnected with his family later on in his life when his nieces wanted to find him. He was close to them before he died. Brian reconnected with his family later on in his life when his nieces wanted to find him. He was close to them before he died. (Image: Heather Kelk)

He said that when he got back to Walney people "were good to him" and said he should not have gone to prison. 

Heather Kelk said that often when watching old black and white movies Brian would say that he dressed the star on screen when they performed at the Coliseum, which hosted shows until 1964.

He also visited places as far away as New Zealand in his life. 

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Brian lost touch with his family for twenty years, but Heather and her sister wanted to reconnect with him in Barrow. When they did, Heather became close with her uncle in the final period of his life. 

She said: "We went to travel up to see him once every three months until he became poorly and then we travelled up there once a week.

"He was this wonderful, kind man. What a lovely guy he was." 

Brian's funeral will include a procession up Duke Street, to Barrow Island where he lived, and then down Abbey Road on April 21.