FRIENDS have expressed surprise after a schoolmaster who recently lost his fight with cancer left more than �2million to charity in his will.

The announcement was made at the funeral service of Sudbury resident Tony Wheeler, which was held yesterday at the United Reformed Church in School Lane in the town.

Mr Wheeler, who had been suffering with pancreatic cancer for the past seven months, was a well-loved local historian who had spent much of his working life as deputy headteacher at Worcester Royal Grammar School before retiring to his home town of Sudbury in 1987.

Friend Val Herbert, who worked closely with Mr Wheeler in the months before his death to help him publish a book on the origins of Sudbury street names, described Mr Wheeler as ‘a perfect gentleman’ and said she had known he was going to leave a large amount of money after his passing but was stunned at exactly how much he had left to charity.

She said: “ We spent some time talking about the future during those last months and he told me he thought a lot of people would be surprised at how much he was going to leave. But I had no idea it would be so much.

“He was able to accumulate so much because he lived on school premises for much of his life and had very few outgoings. He was also a teetotal bachelor, who never smoked and didn’t like to waste anything.”

David Cocksedge, probate manager at Sudbury-based legal firm Bates, Wells and Braithwaite, who are executers of Mr Wheelers will, said although he had not had a chance to make an in-depth inspection of Mr Wheeler’s estate he believed it was worth “in excess of �2 million” and that Mr Wheeler had requested that virtually all of this should go to a number of national and local charities.

He added: “It is very unusual to have the vast bulk of such a large estate left to charity. Mr Wheeler has obviously amassed a considerable fortune. He was known to be a generous man during his life time and he has been a generous man in his will.”

Mr Cocksedge said the majority of Mr Wheeler’s fortune was in investments. In addition, he said Mr Wheeler had also left a large archive of historical maps, documents and papers that would be of interest to Suffolk Records Office.

Mr Wheeler’s second cousin Michael Wheeler, who also lives in Sudbury, said the names of the charities that would benefit had yet to be announced. However, he said he expected church charities in Sudbury, as well as civic and historical groups to be included.

He added: “ Tony was very generous with his time and was involved with a number of groups and I expect his generosity will be spread equally as far when the details emerge.”