Graham Kirkham, Baron Kirkham CVO

Royal Victorian Order

The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...

 (born 14 December 1944 in Doncaster

Doncaster

Doncaster is a town in South Yorkshire, England, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster. The town is about from Sheffield and is popularly referred to as "Donny"...

), is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 businessman famous for founding sofa

Couch

A couch, also called a sofa, is an item of furniture designed to seat more than one person, and providing support for the back and arms. Typically, it will have an armrest on either side. In homes couches are normally found in the family room, living room, den or the lounge...

 retailer Dfs

Dfs (retailer)

DFS, formerly Doncaster Furnishing Stores, is a national furniture retailer in the United Kingdom which specialises in sofas and soft furnishings. It serves the lower end of the furniture market and offers credit terms on its goods.- History :...

.

Currently Executive Chairman of DFS Furniture Company Ltd, Kirkham is a strong political and financial supporter of the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

, and is one of South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...

's richest men, with a personal fortune estimated at £1 billion.
Adopted

Adoption

Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...

 at the age of three weeks, he is the only son of Edlington

Edlington

Edlington is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, lying to the south west of Doncaster. It has a population of 8,276...

 miner

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...

 Tom Kirkham and his wife Elsie: "My whole life has been the luck of going to a good family."

After passing the Eleven plus exam, he attended Maltby

Maltby, South Yorkshire

Maltby is a town and civil parish of 17,247 inhabitants in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, situated in a rural area about 7 miles east of Rotherham and 12 miles north-east of Sheffield...

 Grammar School

Grammar school

A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...

 (since 1967 called Maltby Comprehensive School

Maltby School

Maltby Community School is a comprehensive school in the mining town of Maltby in South Yorkshire.-Admissions:The school has a sixth form. The school is below capacity in its numbers. It is situated on Braithwell Road close to the junction with the A631. It will become an academy in January 2010...

) and hoped to join the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 as a pilot.