ParT FIVe
C M C Oliver (née Hutton) (1985)
Christopher Cornish excelled academically and was grateful that his masters at Haberdashers’ aske’s School for Boys suggested he apply for Cambridge. after achieving a first-class honours degree in natural Sciences, he stayed on at Selwyn to study for his PhD. He continued his studies throughout his working life, gaining a Diploma in Management Studies, membership of the Institute of Managers and the Managers Certificate in IT Service Management. Chris had an interest in politics from an early age and was elected president of the Cambridge Graduate Society. after university he became involved in local politics and served as a councillor and chairman of the Finance Committee for rochester upon Medway City Council. Chris enjoyed cricket and, although he acknowledged that he was not one of the best players, he played a total of 200 matches over sixteen years for a friendly amateur club where he acted as secretary, statistician, club captain and treasurer before the club closed. His early academic success had enabled him to take a gap year before university, when he worked in the Chemistry research Laboratories for the Wellcome Trust. This was to be an introduction to the organisation where he would work for the next thirtythree years, making a successful career in computing. Chris resumed his involvement in amateur dramatics and became a motor-cycle instructor. He also became a scientific adviser for Kent County Council. He met his wife Tracy at the Wellcome and they married in 1991. Their enjoyment of luxury travel included trips on the Qe2, Concorde and the orient express. For Chris’s fiftieth birthday they took a half-world cruise to new Zealand, which enabled Chris to visit Fiji and the base where his father had been posted during his time in the new Zealand air force. Following their marriage, Chris and Tracy bought a house in Chatham, where they added two greenhouses which helped to provide the plants for the two allotments that were such an important part of Chris’s later life. This led to him researching the history of Medway allotments. He became a frequent visitor to the Medway archives Centre and also to the university library to use old maps to help identify the development and decline of allotment sites over time. Chris also spent a significant time researching his family history, extending the line of Cornish ancestors back from 1798 to the 1680s, as well as tracing several lines of people marrying into his family. Chris was an enthusiast and believed that if something was worth doing it was worth doing well. He was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes in his early twenties but never let it hinder him from living a full life. He took the same approach when first diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2000, but the condition recurred and he died on 10 May 2018 following a year of treatment. He will be greatly missed.
Catrin Margaret Clare oliver was born in Bristol on 13 november 1965. She was educated at Badminton, then at Bristol Grammar School for the sixth form. She came up to Selwyn to read english Literature in 1985. Their mother, elizabeth, was head of Classics at Badminton and their father, Chris, a senior building society executive. From elizabeth, Catrin learned to love languages and literature and she shared her warmth and wit. From Chris, she learned to love wildlife and she shared his pragmatism and business acumen. From both she inherited a passion for the culture and landscape of Wales. at Selwyn, Catrin took full advantage of the relaxed attitude of her teachers, rowing for the College, leading its oxfam group and directing and producing at the aDC. after graduating in 1988, she travelled to the United States with her boyfriend alex, who had won a Mellon Fellowship at Yale. They met at school, studied at Cambridge together and were soon married in new Haven. Catrin began her career in management there, serving as the assistant Director of the International Center, which provided advice and support to overseas visitors. on returning to Cambridge in 1990 Catrin trained as a chartered accountant with arthur andersen in the tax division, passing every exam first time and developing interests in economics and the law. after a year’s maternity leave, she became Finance Director and Company Secretary of Cambridge’s arts Theatre and Cinema, in the fragile opening period following the theatre’s long refurbishment. Catrin found that she favoured the front end of personnel management rather than the remote back office of the accountant, and so in 1997 decided to retrain for a career in management consultancy, specialising in human resources. There were yet more exams, leading to membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. She travelled the country, initially with Coopers & Lybrand and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, then with IBM, rising to associate Partner in charge of complex transformation projects, mainly in local government and Whitehall. To the somewhat harsh, sales-driven world of consultancy, Catrin brought a rare gentleness and kindness. When the chance came in 2012 to work in Cambridge in a more operational role, Catrin seized it, becoming Director of Human resources and assistant Principal at Cambridge regional College. These were the happiest years, she said, of her working life. Catrin was admired and respected at the college. They knew about her integrity and professionalism, her loyalty and determination. She was regarded as a formidable negotiator by the unions, but one who was guided by compassion, honour, and understanding. Catrin was a shrewd judge of character. She knew whom to trust, who would gossip, and what made people tick. She did not tolerate self-pity, weak will or pretension. Her quiet, unflamboyant confidence was founded on an enduring set of values formed early in her teenage years. Her mind was open and honest, her disposition positive and direct. She preferred solving problems to finding or creating them. although she made her home in Cambridge, Catrin’s true home was aberedw, a tiny village in mid-Wales, which she knew since childhood, like her mother before her and like her own children after. Catrin relished the routine and ritual of holidays in aberedw. The long drive from Cambridge, the late arrival into the dark night, the fresh air, the stillness and the quiet. She loved the wild flowers, the sound of the rushing river, the birds the little lambs; and then all the walks: around the tump or down to the Pooh
Tracy Fiona Cornish-Lawrence (Christopher’s widow).
150
Selwyn Calendar 2017–2018
ParT FIVe
C Cornish (1978)
151