Alexander Dennis Cross (Researcher and lecturer in the Department of Chemistry 1957-1960)

29 March 1932 – 11 June 2018

Provided by Alexander’s son, James

Alex Cross passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on 11 June 2018. He was born and raised in Leicester, England, and went on to complete both a BSc and PhD in organic chemistry at the University of Nottingham. He later earned a DSc from Nottingham for his research in the fields of spectroscopy and stereochemistry.

As a Fulbright scholar, Alex spent from 1955-1957 as a chemistry post-doc at the University of Rochester in America. After several chilly winters in upstate New York, he decided to move back to London to spend three formative years (1957-1960) under the mentorship of Nobel Laureate, Sir Derek Barton, at Imperial College London. He served as a researcher and lecturer of organic chemistry, with a particular emphasis on scientific methods that also proved instrumental in his subsequent career in industrial research.

In 1960, Alex was recruited by Syntex Corporation to join a team of scientists in Mexico, including Drs. Rosenkranz, Zaffaroni, and Djerassi to develop and commercialize the first oral. He embarked on an 18-year tenure that culminated in the position of President of Syntex International Pharmaceuticals and Senior Vice President of Corporate Economic and Strategic Planning.

In 1979, Alex joined Zoecon Corporation where he assumed the role of President and CEO from 1984-85. From 1986 onward, he formed a biotech consultancy and served on the boards of more than 20 different companies. In the course of his career, Alex was a named inventor of 109 issued US patents and co-authored more than 90 peer-reviewed research papers. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1966 at the age of 34 and lectured at more than 30 universities and institutions across five continents during his lifetime.

Alex is survived by his wife Antonia of 44 years, two sons Guy and James, three grandsons Nelson, Darcy and Mackenzie, and two brothers Peter and James.

Provided by Peter Edwards, friend and one-time flatmate:

1948 - 2021

Alex was born in Scotland and spent his early years there, but his family moved to Warwickshire where he completed his secondary education. From there Alex went on to study chemistry at Imperial (1966-69) and then to carry out research in Physical Chemistry for his PhD (1969-72). During this time Alex was a member of the Imperial College football team and he also met and married his wife, Ina.

After completion of his PhD Alex was employed by the chemical companies Revertex and then Yule Cato. At first, he worked in the laboratory but in time he moved to roles in purchasing and sales. In the later stages of his career he was employed by Resinous Chemicals, a subsidiary of Akzo Nobel.

Alex and Ina settled with their two children in a village in Essex. Alex enjoyed many sports but especially enjoyed watching Test Cricket at Lord's and he was a very active member of his local bowls club. He was also a keen birder, recording sightings in his local area and travelling more widely to follow up sightings of birds that were unusual or rare visitors to the UK.

At the alumni days in 2016 and 2019, Alex enjoyed meeting many of the friends that he had made during his time at Imperial. But, sadly in October 2021, he passed away after a sudden crisis caused by an underlying health issue. He is survived by his wife, Ina, and their daughter, son and grandsons.

01.04.1933 – 24.11.2017     

Alfred Wallwork was a very principled man with a great love of the outdoor life. He became a competent and gifted climber. His greatest achievement was climbing the Matterhorn among other challenging mountains in his twenties. For many years he was also a member of the Midland Association of Mountaineers with regular holidays spent climbing in Scotland. He worked for many years for the Severn Trent Water authority, and finally the Environment Agency.

We married in 1989 and enjoyed an extremely happy 25 years together. Alfred developed Parkinson’s Disease and suffered a stroke. He is sorely missed by our many friends and Church family, where he worked with devotion.

Provided by Professor Stephen Brown

(1944 – 2020)

Andrew Panter, who has died aged 76, had two distinct phases to his life. Following a successful 34 year career as a civil engineer, senior manager and director in the construction industry, he devoted the next twenty years to works of charity and services to his local community. In his first career, after initial training, he worked for the George Wimpey group of companies, rising to Managing Director of Wimpey Homes. An important part of his subsequent charitable work was devoted to the Prince Philip Trust Fund for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and to his role as a Deputy Lieutenant of the Royal County of Berkshire. In parallel with these later activities, he used his knowledge of the construction industry for the benefit of several housing associations through membership of their boards of directors. He also served as Master of the Worshipful Company of Paviors in the City of London in 2009-10.

Andrew Panter was born in Ealing in 1944 and lived with his parents, Hugh and Hillary, and brother, Howard, in South Australia from 1951 to 1958. He was educated in Scotch College, Adelaide, the John Lyon School in Harrow and Imperial College, where he graduated in civil engineering in 1965. The first six years of his career were with the civil engineering consultancy, Binnie and Partners. This provided the experience needed for him to qualify as a Chartered Civil Engineer and he worked on major projects including the Mangla Dam in Pakistan and the Plover Cove scheme in Hong Kong.

Having decided that his career would be best served in the field of contracting, he joined Wimpey in 1972 and filled a number of increasingly important engineering and management roles. Panter was involved in the early stages of the long debate that preceded the major reorganisation of Wimpey in 1996. In the early 1980s, he authored a report with a colleague on how profitability of the old housing division could be increased. It was poorly received at that time by most of the senior management but the ideas were later adopted in the 1996 transformation of Wimpey.

The subsidiary companies for which Panter served as MD during the 1980s and 90s included Wimpey Waste Management, Wimpey Hobbs, Wimpey Asphalt and Wimpey Minerals International. He was appointed to the Executive Board of George Wimpey plc in 1984. Some of the major achievements he was responsible for included establishment of a major coastal quarry in Bantry Bay, a pelletized slag facility in South Wales and a key role in privatisation of the Czech quarrying industry.

Panter moved to Pennsylvania in 1993, where he served as CEO and President of Wimpey Minerals, North America. He quickly learned that selling aggregates for construction in New York City involved dealing with ‘middle men’, one of whom in conversation dressed as a priest, revealed a gun in his belt to emphasise the need to take him and his colleagues seriously.

The 1990s were an interesting and challenging time for Wimpey as the company was transformed from a family-owned heavy construction firm to a sharp, lean, profitable public company specialising in house building. The final stage of this was the major asset swap negotiated in 1996 between Tarmac and Wimpey, which resulted in Tarmac taking on all the civil engineering, aggregate and asphalt interests and Wimpey doing all the housing. The result was a rapid and large increase in profitability for Wimpey. The immediate consequence for Panter in the USA was that he became a Tarmac employee overnight. This move was reversed within a year when he was attracted back to the UK as Managing Director of the expanded Wimpey Homes business, a position he held until his early retirement in 2000.

Following his retirement Panter used his experience to voluntarily assist the affordable housing market and was appointed Chairman of the Bourne Housing Society. He subsequently served on the boards of Moat Homes, the Horizon Housing Group, the South London Family Housing Association and Amicus Horizon Group Finance. He also became very active in charitable work as Chairman of Windsor and Eton Rotary Club and the Round Table.

Panter was regarded as a tower of strength in his work for the Prince Philip Trust with his engaging style and capacity for getting things done. He was invited to serve an unprecedented third three year term when chairing the Fundraising Committee. He took leadership roles in major fund raising events, notably the Classic Car Rallies on the Long Walk at Windsor and a series of Ascot Race Days. These events were extremely popular and raised several hundred thousand pounds for the Trust to distribute to the many deserving causes in the local community. He was a good leader but also a team player, getting results through his hard work, charm and tremendous good humour. His outstanding contributions will be sadly missed by the trustees notably the first chairman, Prince Philip, and present incumbent, Prince Edward.

Panter also made a huge contribution as a Deputy Lieutenant, always being ready to take on tasks large or small in support of the Lord Lieutenant, including numerous occasions such as Citizenship Ceremonies and presentations of Queens Award for voluntary services. He was able to take most events in his stride, including the occasion when, on a rainy day, he found an umbrella in the grounds of Windsor Castle clearly left by someone who had watched the parade of classic cars that afternoon. As he examined it, a voice from a window in the castle shouted that it belonged to her and that she would come down and fetch it. Panter presented it to the Queen without turning a hair.

While much occupied with these charitable works, Panter became very active within the Worshipful Company of Paviors, chairing key committees and very effectively representing the Livery around the City of London during his year as Master in 2009-10. Under his leadership, the Company signed a lease on rooms within the Charterhouse complex to provide much needed space for the Clerk to operate, silver to be stored and committee meetings to be held. He was appointed MBE for services to charity and the community in 2015.

Andrew Panter was a charming man with the gift for getting things done using his engaging personality and powers of persuasion while listening carefully to the views of others. He was very effective at chairing committees of various kinds that produced fresh ideas and high quality results. His busy schedule still allowed time for his favourite hobby of sailing, which he would undertake with a group of friends each year. Socially, he was an excellent host and dinner parties at the home in Englefield Green that he and his wife Tui created, were to an extremely high standard and always memorable.

Andrew Panter is survived by his wife Tui, née Cooke, whom he married in 1967 and by his daughter, Tiffany, son-in-law Dominic and grandson, Inigo. He will also be greatly missed by his brother Sir Howard Panter and sister-in-law, Dame Rosemary Squire.

Provided by Ken West (Zoology 1966)

Mike Scott BSc ARCS

The death of Mike Scott (né Anthony Michael Scott) occurred at his home in Newmarket on 13 May 2022. Mike graduated in 1965 with First-Class Honours in Zoology. The following year, he was elected the President of the RCS Student Union while doing postgraduate research at Imperial College. After a brief spell in teaching, he worked until he retired from the Equine Research Centre in Newmarket.

Mike discovered a lethal disease was transmitted to newly born foals via their mother’s milk. Since then, if a pregnant mare tests as a positive carrier of the disease, the foal is removed at birth and suckled by a surrogate mare. Mike also discovered that horses have 12 different blood groups. These discoveries led to increased genetic research into the DNA of racehorses. Furthermore, some years ago, on a visit to an Equine Research Centre in Denmark, Her Majesty The Queen was shown the genetic work done there. Her Majesty The Queen was told that this research was pioneered at Newmarket; the Queen replied, ‘I know, and our man there is Mike Scott’.

Mike was a keen ornithologist and had a black belt in Judo. He enjoyed golf, sailing and horse riding. He was a devoted family man and enthusiastically supported his children’s careers and pursuits. He will be missed greatly by his wife, Lynne, his four children and ten grandchildren.

1932 – 2018
Provided by Richard Newsom, Bill’s son.

Bill Newsom was educated at Rossall School (1945-50) and Cauis College (1950-53) where he developed a lifelong link to Cambridge. After undergraduate work, he attended the Westminster Hospital Medical School qualifying in 1956. He was appointed House Surgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, where he met his future wife, Rose Fisher. He then returned to the Westminster for house jobs and was appointed lecturer in Microbiology (1964-7) by Professor Lacy.

Once he had completed microbiology training in London and military service in the Far East, he again returned to Cambridge. He was appointed consultant microbiologist to Papworth and Addenbrooke’s Hospitals 1967. During his time in Cambridge, he became a leading authority on infective endocarditis and on infections complicating cardiac transplantation. He authored original work on laboratory safety and safety cabinets, evaluation of disinfectants, hospital infections and history of infection control. He was the first person to discover an important beta-lactamase enzyme, PSE-4, in Pseudomonas.

He published approximately 160 papers/editorials. He sat on several national and European committees for safety cabinets and hospital disinfection. He was particularly pleased to be at the forefront of antibiotic research, giving the first dose of cefuroxime and ciprofloxacin in the UK. He was a founder member of the Hospital Infection Society and was President from 1998-2002, being awarded their Gold Medal in 2013. He was also president of the Central Sterilising Club.

Bill was a supporter of Westminster/Imperial Medical School and cherished his lifelong friends and colleagues from his time there.

He will be remembered by generations of Cambridge medical students and laboratory technicians for his interesting and thoughtful lectures and by his colleagues and family for his generosity, kindness, faith and wise counsel.

He is survived by his wife Rose of 59 years, his sons Richard and David and five grandchildren.

Provided by David Diggens

It is with regret that I have to report the death of our dear friend and colleague, Dr David Bamber, MB.BS, FFA.

He was a student during the years 1960-65 at the Charing Cross Hospital Medical School in the Strand. After qualifying as an anaesthetist, he became a Consultant at Charing Cross Hospital for the best part of his career. Married twice, firstly to Elizabeth by whom he had triplet daughters Lisa, Sara, and Caroline, and then a son Damien. After divorce, he later married his current wife Penny, with whom he spent a very happy 28 years.

He sadly died in a care home in Roehampton, on Saturday 20th March, six days short of his 80th birthday.

He will be greatly missed by his wife and family, including four grandchildren, Jake and Emma, Daisy and Tom, and his many friends.

Provided by his son Oliver Evans

Derwyn Elis Evans passed away August 2019.

Derwyn arrived at Imperial having obtained a scholarship after attending Carmarthen Grammar School. During his undergraduate and postgraduate time at Imperial, he embraced university life enjoying both the academic and social aspects. In particular, he was proud of helping to run and maintain ‘Jezebel’ as an active member of the Motor Club. This was also the time when he met Catherine (Cathy), an ophthalmic nurse, who would become his wife of fifty years.

After completing his studies, he remained at Imperial to work at the fledgling Centre for Computing and Automation. In the mid-seventies, Derwyn, with a young family, relocated back to South Wales and took up a position at the Computer Centre in Swansea University where he remained until his retirement.

Derwyn was always a dedicated family man and in more recent years had become a carer for Cathy who has Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). He is sorely missed and survived by Cathy, his four children and six grandchildren.

Obituary provided by Roxy Harris

1941 - 2022

Sarah was born in Welwyn and grew up in West Hampstead. Her parents were Edith Dorothy (“Dodo”) and Eric Walter White. Eric joined the newly created Arts Council after the Second World War and became its first Literature Director. After attending Badminton school in Bristol, Sarah went to Leeds University to study chemistry, although she soon switched to studying the History of Science, and Russian.

Thereafter, she spent a year in Moscow learning how to teach Russian as a foreign language, before returning to the UK to carry out doctoral research at Imperial College London. During her student days, Sarah was in the Communist Party and engaged in anti-colonial activism and voluntary work in support of the ANC. It was through this work at places like the Africa Centre and the nearby West Indian Students’ Centre that she encountered the Trinidadian, John La Rose in 1965. Their personal relationship also blossomed into a very public partnership of over 40 years in the service of the struggle for racial equality and social justice, both in Britain and globally.

John and Sarah’s endeavours signposted key developments in Black British history, politics and culture from the mid-1960s onwards. These included the founding of New Beacon Books – book service, bookshop and publishing (1966), the Caribbean Artists Movement (1966), the Black Education Movement (1965-1988), the Black Parents’ Movement (1975), the International Bookfair of Radical Black & Third World Books (1982-1995), and the George Padmore Institute (1991 to date). Without Sarah’s dedicated, tireless, self-effacing background work, all these activities would have struggled to achieve success.

The warmth and social and intellectual stimulation experienced around John and Sarah’s famous kitchen table at Albert Road in Finsbury Park has been fondly remembered by writers, artists and political activists throughout the black and brown diaspora across the continents. Sarah ended her active responsible involvement with New Beacon Books at the end of 2016 and resigned as a director in 2019. She continued as the Secretary of the George Padmore Institute until the final months of her life. John died in 2006. She is survived by her only child, Wole.

Provided by Liz Turnbull

James M. Turnbull, MD, born May 12, 1938, died, at age 82, on March 6, 2021, still flirting with the love of his life, Sharon Turnbull (all while making sure no one else felt ignored!). He was blessed to be surrounded by vaccinated and masked loved ones in his last days and hours.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Walter Turnbull and Margaret Minorgan-Turnbull, and his brothers, Stewart and Andrew. He is survived by his soul-mate Sharon, his siblings; Graham and Frances, his 5 children; Andrea, Philip, Liz, Sarah, and Laura, 9 amazing grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, and countless beloved relatives, in-laws and friends.

Who would have imagined that Baby Jim, born in wartime England, was destined to become a citizen of three different countries (England, Canada, and USA)? At the ripe old age of 18 months, he was one of the children shipped to Canada as a war evacuee when England was being bombed by the Germans. In Canada, he was properly spoiled by his wealthy grandmother. When he finally returned to England after the war, he found his family larger by a few siblings. He was used to being an only child and didn’t adjust easily to his new position among many and acted out (naughty, cheeky little bloke!). His misbehavior led to him being sent off to private/boarding school. Though his parents weren’t wealthy, he was able to attend on scholarship and showed sufficient talent to earn a scholarship to attend St. Mary’s Medical School (now known as Imperial College).

He passed his courses there with flying colors, amazingly, while working several side jobs, including as a stand-in/double and extra in several major films. After graduating, he heard the call to return to British Columbia, Canada. He began training as a general/family practitioner and later moved to open a practice in a beautiful small coastal town, Powell River, BC. Later, he returned to Vancouver to study to become a Psychiatrist. He received numerous teaching awards, served as officer in several professional associations, including the Tennessee Psychiatric Association.

While completing his residency at Temple University in Pennsylvania, during a shortage of physicians serving in the Vietnam war, Jim (who was a foreign citizen) was drafted and served in the US Army. He taught medics at Fort Sam Houston how to handle psychiatric emergencies on the battlefield. Later, he became a US citizen and served in the local Army Reserve Unit.

Whether he was serving as a physician, a university professor, a sought after lecturer, or medical director of a mental health organization, he was devoted to his patients, students, and co-workers. During his career, he touched many lives. Even his hobbies carried his mark - president of the dog park, avid gardener, library volunteer reader, tenor in the choir, and supporter of the arts in all forms. He lived a good life and will be missed.

Provided by Peter Newell

16.11.1937 – 11.07.2019

John Philip Spradbery was a graduate of the University of London having enrolled at Queen Mary College and then specialising towards the end of his undergraduate studies in entomology, which he studied at Imperial. He became a post graduate student at Rothamsted Experimental Station where he started his life’s work on wasps.

“Phil” Spradbery was one of those people who could turn his hand to anything. He exhibited several paintings in the Royal Academy, he loved his cars and restored an MG-A while at Rothamsted, and produced and directed the Christmas revue, which was widely acclaimed. When in Australia, he owned both an Austin – Healey 3000 and later an MGB. He was a keen sailor and was a member of the Hobart Yacht Club, and when posted to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea helped to found their yacht club.

After finishing his Ph.D. He started work for the CSIRO in the UK which was, at that time, based at Silwood Park. His project was to find and identify parasitic wasp species that could be used against insects (Sirex sp.) that were attacking conifers. He had many adventures in Eastern Europe where he would cut down dead conifers in forests and then, having loaded the logs onto his trailer, been confronted by the true owner of the forest! He would recount these stories on his return to the amusement of his wide circle of friends. He then moved to Australia and continued this work on Sirex in Tasmania.

 When this project was finished, he started working on Screwworm flies (Chrycomya bezziana) for the CSIRO in Papua New Guinea, the idea being to find means of biological control of these nasty insects and prevent them invading Australia. These insects attack cattle and pets, and occasionally people, laying their eggs in wounds where their larvae hatch and eat their hosts. Given their nature, they can devastate livestock herds and cause significant economic damage, but the project was a success and Australia has remained free from screwworm flies.

Phil Spradbery was finally posted to Canberra where he became the Australia’s national expert on European wasps and was asked to find ways to reduce their impact on Australian life and its economy. 

In 1975 he authored “Wasps: An account of the Biology and Natural History of Solitary and Social Wasps” which remains one of the definitive works on this insect group. The life cycle of European wasps in Australia differs from that in Europe in that the entire colony, and not just the queen, can overwinter, allowing them to build huge colonies which are both a nuisance and a danger.

Lately, and since his retirement, he had been working on the mechanisms that control fertility in wasp colonies. Under normal circumstances only one female wasp in each colony is fertile: the queen. However, if the queen dies then other workers start to lay eggs, clearly implying that the fertile queen can suppress the fertility of the other members of the colony. It was his hope that this compound (perhaps a pheromone) could be identified and then used as a starting point for a new method of wasp control.

Phil Spradbery is survived by four children, Jess, Jeremy, Samantha and Matthew. He was a good friend.

Provided by his wife, Margaret Watson

19.12.1937 - 21.03.2019

Born in England Neil spent his first 7 years in Australia. Returning to Manchester at the end of the war he was a pupil at Hulme Grammar School, Leeds University and Imperial College, London before a lifelong career in the Meteorological Office. He travelled extensively both for work and pleasure. A man of many sports he excelled at cricket, tennis, lacrosse, badminton and golf.

An easy-going and friendly man. He managed to keep his sense of humour even through the last 18 months of his battle with cancer. He leaves behind his wife, son, daughter and 7 grandchildren.

Nicos left his native Cyprus to take A level courses in Folkestone where he found the English Channel much less inviting than the eastern Mediterranean.  In 1960, he began his lifelong association with Imperial College by winning a scholarship to study Electrical Engineering. After graduating with First Class Honours in 1966, he stayed in Electrical Engineering to complete a PhD titled “The origins of load losses in induction motors with cast aluminium rotors” under a joint supervision that involved the renowned scientist and Nobel Prize winner Dennis Gabor, for which he was awarded the Ferranti medal. Even though several of his later publications received more prestigious awards, he fondly recalled this particular ceremony as it was the first official event that he attended with his girlfriend and future wife, Ann.

In 1968, he changed focus towards a different problem area, by taking a lectureship in the Management Engineering Section of Mechanical Engineering (which sequentially evolved into the Department of Management Science, the Management School, and finally the Business School).

Here Nicos started his work in combinatorial optimisation and graph theory, an area where practical problems are often so complex that they cannot be easily solved optimally. Nicos, together with department head, Sam Eilon, were pioneers in vehicle routing algorithms. There was nothing similar to today’s Google Maps that we now take for granted. In 1971, Nicos published his first book with Sam: “Distribution Management: mathematical modelling and practical analysis”.

In 1975, Nicos published his seminal and pioneering book “Graph Theory: An Algorithmic Approach” and shortly afterwards Nicos and family took a sabbatical year in North America visiting several universities and developing research projects. Nicos held visiting professor positions at a number of major US universities with visits to Carnegie-Mellon, University of Rochester, Berkeley and Stanford. It was during his time working on the TSP, among other combinatorial optimization problems, that he made his lasting friendships with mathematicians, George Dantzig and Don Knuth.

During the 1970s and 1980s, Nicos helped create a research centre in Italy (SOGESTA, in Urbino), and supervised many research students who explored the developing field of heuristic algorithms for problems in areas such as vehicle routing and two-dimensional cutting. In 1979, Nicos released his third book “Combinatorial Optimization.” Nicos became Professor of Operational Research in 1982. 

During the 1980s, Nicos started his work on the analysis of images, condensing an image to a combination of basic shapes.  Over the following decades, he developed algorithms for image compression that allowed images to be stored using a fraction of the memory taken by the raw image. In parallel with his academic career, Nicos was always very active in consulting for industry in a wide range of operational research projects. His unique ability of explaining elaborate and mathematically complex problems to the layman led him to forge extensive relationships with business leaders. He consulted for a diverse set of industries, including the Oil and Gas sector (BP, ENI, PTT), pseudo Government Agencies (NASA, Centre for Disease Control), Telecoms (BT, C&W) and nearly every major multinational bank in the Financial Sector.

In 1990, Nicos and Gerry Salkin set up the Centre for Quantitative Finance (CQF) within the Management School, which he then directed for 17 years. Nicos’ focus was on supervising PhD students in tackling ‘real world’ problems in financial mathematics and risk management. Very popular as a teacher, Nicos was always ready to explain even the most difficult concepts in terms of easily understood ideas. It is said by his long-standing friend from Imperial College, Professor Tony Constantinides, that “the best way to learn from Nicos is to disagree with him”.

Aside from work, Nicos was a renaissance man with an encyclopaedic general knowledge and was a prolific reader and writer. He enjoyed both the art and science of photography and collected fountain pens and leather-bound journals where he wrote exquisite and detailed academic notes. He also had an extensive collection of marbles and wooden tops from his childhood, with which he would often try to impress his grandchildren.

Nicos Christofides was Professor Emeritus of Quantitative Finance at Imperial College London, having retired from Imperial in 2009. During his academic career he has published over 150 papers in quality journals and four books on optimization and quantitative finance.

In 2018, Nicos was devastated by the illness and death of his wife, Ann, but resolved to keep working hard until his death the following year. Nicos’ two sons, Alexander and Simon, and three grandchildren, Hugo, Ivan and Lola survive him.

Provided by John Glithero

1936-2019

Richard Hills was born in 1936 in Lewisham in south London. His father Leslie was an Anglican vicar and his mother Margaret (Peggy) was a daughter of Sir John Ontario Miller, Home Secretary to the Governor of India. Peggy died of cancer when Richard was two years old and a year later Leslie was called up to serve as a chaplain in the war. Richard went to live with his Aunt Kathleen in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and later attended Charterhouse School in Surrey. Whilst there he became interested in engineering and nearly completed a model of Stephenson’s Invicta locomotive.

Richard was called up for National Service in 1955 and attained the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery. He went on to read history at Queens’ College, Cambridge. There he flirted with various vintage cars, including Alvises which he described as sturdy British bulldogs. He bought a 1924 Lancia Lambda which was ‘a rather elegant Italian lady’. Over the next 52 years he rebuilt it, ran it regularly and rallied it. He was an active member of the Mountaineering Society and also the Railway Club through which he was introduced to the narrow gauge lines of North Wales. After graduation he started a Diploma of Education course at Cambridge but his studies were interrupted by a climbing accident. Richard was an instructor for Outward Bound in The Lake District. He was leading a small party of boys on a climb on Needle Ridge on Great Gable when a boulder came loose, crushing his left leg. He nearly lost the leg through gangrene but it was eventually saved. During his year of convalescence he had many skin and bone grafts. In the periods between operations he would stay with Andre and Leslie Kenny at Long Melford where the Lancia was being restored. The Kenny’s were also helping to restore the 1831 steam engine at Stretham and whilst on a visit there with them Richard came across a trunk full of old records of the engine and the drainage of the fens. He wrote in his autobiography ‘They changed my life and my career’. He returned to Cambridge and completed his teaching diploma. He taught at various schools including Worcester College for the Blind. He then had the opportunity to study at Imperial College London and gained a Diploma in the History of Science and Technology through his thesis on fen drainage. This was the basis of the first of his fifteen books.

In 1965 Richard became a Research Assistant in The Department of the History of Science and Technology at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). His research in the textile industry led to his PhD and to his next book Power in the Industrial Revolution. Plans were being made by the Department for a new museum of science and industry. Richard was appointed Curator and set up The North Western Museum of Science and Industry. The first site was in Grosvenor Street, Manchester. In 1983 The Greater Manchester Development Corporation acquired the site of the first railway passenger station in the world on Liverpool Road and the Museum transferred to this site. He collected mill engines, textile machines, railway locomotives, machine tools and all manner of North West connected artefacts. He described the return of South African Railways Beyer-Garratt steam locomotive No. 2352 as ‘perhaps my greatest triumph’. His policy was to have demonstrations of many of the machines actually working. The numerous galleries were bustling with massive engines under steam, mules spinning cotton, looms weaving cloth etc. He made several 16mm films recording the last days of the textile industry in Lancashire. Richard was also involved with Quarry Bank Mill, Nether Alderley Mill and Dunham Massey Mill. At first Richard lived in Oak Cottages on the National Trust estate at Styal but moved to Stamford Cottage, a 17th century weaver’s cottage in Mottram in Longdendale, about ten miles east of Manchester. The original kitchen there was converted into an engineering workshop which contained lathes, a milling machine, a pillar drill etc. The attic housed a large collection of books on theology and the history of engineering, a drawing board, papermaking screens, model steam engines and his writing desk. Spinning wheels and looms were spread in other rooms throughout the house. A ‘lair’ was built for the Lancia.

The Manchester Development Corporation appointed an outside Director for The Museum. Richard and his colleagues continued to achieve extraordinary progress in setting up all the machinery. Richard left in 1984 due to overwork. He was then able research several areas of industrial history, including papermaking and windmills. His greatest academic work was his definitive three volume biography of James Watt. He was author of about 150 articles or papers. He continued to teach, lead hillwalking groups, and drive his beloved Lancia.

Richard had always been an active Christian. In 1985 he trained at St Deniol’s College, Hawarden, and was ordained as priest. He served in parishes in Urmston (Manchester) and Yarmouth before becoming Curate of Mottram.

In 2005 Richard was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Amongst the many people who helped him through this was Bernice Pickford, a member of the church at Mottram. She had been a food technologist at Hollins School of Catering in Manchester. She was very well known in Girl Guiding circles for her hard work and had been Divisional Commissioner. They got on very well together and were married in 2008. He was 71 and she a few years younger. They travelled a lot and were very happy together. However, Richard had to make concessions. No longer were there steam locomotive models on the kitchen table; a television set appeared in the lounge.

Richard had held many offices, including President of the International Association of Paper Historians, Chairman and Honorary President of British Association of Paper Historians, Chairman of the Manchester Regional Industrial Archaeology Society, Chairman of The Newcomen Society North Western Branch, President of the Manchester Association of Engineers and Warden of the Society of Ordained Scientists. He was made a Companion of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Honorary Member of several societies. He was awarded the Medal of Honour of the University of Manchester and in 2015 was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire. Sadly Richard was not strong enough to travel to Buckingham Palace. The Investiture was carried out by Warren Smith, Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester, in Mottram Parish Church. This had the benefit that many of his friends could be with Richard on this well-deserved occasion.

Richard was having problems co-ordinating movements in his legs. Parkinson’s disease was confirmed in 2011. They sold Stamford Cottage and moved to a bungalow about a mile away. Bernice was diagnosed with cancer and in 2016 she died in Willow Wood Hospice in Ashton-under-Lyne. The Parkinson’s disease caused Richard to become frailer and he died peacefully of pneumonia on 10 May 2019 at Willow Wood Hospice. Richard inspired many people during his lifetime. He was thorough and meticulous in all he did. He was always helpful and generous with his time. He was always willing to share his knowledge and always gave credit to those who helped him. He leaves behind a sister, a niece, three nephews, two step-daughters, many, many friends and a large literary legacy. Countless people will enjoy and learn from The Museum of Science and Industry for a long time hence.