By Jenny Barwise

Last updated at 11:36, Saturday, 08 September 2012

TRIBUTES have poured in for the owner of a popular restaurant who has died.

Quentin Ryan and his wife Christine ran the riverside restaurant the Honest Lawyer in Cockermouth and were well-known throughout west Cumbria.

Mr Ryan, 66, died after a short illness leaving family and friends in shock.

Mr Ryan, originally from New Zealand, lived on Challoner Street with his wife and their two children Jacinta and Edward-James.

The family took over the restaurant five years ago, initially living in a flat above the business.

The restaurant was under 6ft of water during the floods of November 2009 and so was their Challoner Street home – which they were due to move into the week after devastation hit the town. After eight months of hard work they finally moved into the new house, but it took nearly two years for them to reopen the restaurant.

Other business owners in the town today expressed their shock and sadness at the news.

Vanessa Graham, owner of hardware store JB Banks and Son, said: “Quentin was lovely and I will remember him with great fondness. He and his dog Dumbledore made a great pair.

“I was fortunate to be called his friend.”

Karen Cottier, owner of Percy House Gallery, said: “When I found out that he had died it was a real shock. He and his wife Christine were a lovely couple and they put so much work into the Honest Lawyer. After the floods everything was just starting to go well for them and the business was starting to thrive.”

Jan Mansergh, of Jacy’s Lingerie, would often go to the Honest Lawyer, and when she did, she would chat to Mr Ryan who would be serving behind the bar.

“He would always say hello to you in the street when he was out walking his dog. He was very friendly and amenable and would stop to chat in the street. I was so sorry to hear about what happened,” she said.

Mrs Ryan was born in Workington, but moved to southern England with her family as a child and worked abroad for many years.

After their marriage, the couple lived in France and then Monte Carlo, from where they worked on yachts voyaging all around the world.

During a holiday to Cockermouth they spotted the restaurant and decided to move to the town.

JBarwise@cngroup.co.uk

First published at 10:49, Saturday, 08 September 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk