Monkhouse gag books passed on

Bob Monkhouse left £1.4million in his will, bequeathing his famous gag books to fellow comedy writer Colin Edmonds.

He spent 25 years collating the books, which hit the headlines when they were stolen in 1995 and returned 18 months later.

A clause in his will stated: "I give all my gag books, specifically the two loose-leaf handwritten files and the eight loose-leaf typewritten files in their pilot cases, and all the copyright therein, free of inheritance tax, to Colin Edmonds."

Edmonds was responsible for the Seventies sitcom Love Thy Neighbour and has written for Tom O'Connor, Little and Large and Jimmy Tarbuck.

Monkhouse, who died of prostate cancer last December aged 75, left the bulk of his estate to his second wife Jackie in the will, which was made public this week.

His god-daughters each received £10,000, and  he left donations to charities including the NSPCC, RSPCA and Amnesty International.

Published: 16 Jul 2004