– although now I think we talked more about people and relationships than the big intellectual ideas that we were supposed to be grappling with in our studies! After Oxford, Hatty returned to London for her first job, at Lloyds of London, where she was the first woman on the floor of the Stock Market. She did not enjoy that environment so moved to work for the Consumers’ Association and Which? magazine. During this time she wrote several books about household economics. She then worked for more than twenty years as a very successful self-employed business woman, and as a freelance editor. Throughout her life Hatty devoted countless hours to voluntary work – including the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and the Norden Farm Arts Centre. She was a tireless editor of the Marlow Society newsletter for many years. More recently she contributed to the CAB’s advice column in the local Marlow newspaper once a month. Hatty was an expert gardener, with an allotment which kept her family in seasonal vegetables and jam. She was an enthusiastic and excellent oarswoman and she had a skiff on the Thames. She somehow also found time to maintain a rich cultural life in art and music and many friendships. Hatty’s first marriage ended some years ago, but in 2013 she met Kevin Brookland and they married very happily just seven weeks before her death. Hatty leaves behind her new husband and three step-children, her sister, other family members and her many friends. Hatty died very suddenly and inexplicably after a minor accident in her garden, having been in very good health. Very sadly Bridget, her only child from her first marriage, also died recently. Hatty’s death came as a very great shock to her family and friends. She will be very sorely missed. Julia Goodwin, 1969
Helen Moira Minter (Knox, 1971) Born in Sheffield on 8 May 1953, Helen was educated at Sheffield High GPDST, leaving with grade As and distinctions in chemistry, maths and physics. Matriculating in 1971, she developed a lasting love for Somerville, making lifelong friends among contemporaries. After prelims she changed to agriculture and forestry. The course, for researchers and advisory experts rather than farmers and foresters, was intellectually fulfilling. Two inspiring lecturers, Geoff Hodgson and Collier Dawkins, taught her to think independently and defend her conclusions. She often acknowledged their enormous influence. After Oxford, she accompanied her fiancé, David Minter (Pembroke, 1970) to Aberdeen where she worked at the North of Scotland College of Agriculture monitoring distillery effluent. Having married on 14 June 1975, the couple moved to Brentford in September 1977, and she started an MSc in information science at City University, London. Her
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Helen Minter
thesis focused on patent law and resulted in a paper written jointly with her tutor, Charles Oppenheim. In autumn 1979 she joined her husband in Prague for two months behind the Iron Curtain. Back in London, she attended the May 1980 graduation ceremony, already two weeks overdue with her first child, then went directly to the maternity hospital, giving birth to James two days later. Combining motherhood and career, she worked parttime with CABI (an international information organisation), producing abstracts from scientific literature in over ten European languages. After about fifteen years she became a technical editor for the British Association of Dermatology, overseeing journal production. James was followed by two other children, William (November 1984) and Roxana (December 1988), and the growing family moved to a larger house in Isleworth. Helen was typical of a generation with wonderful opportunities to see the world, and the children, even when young, were unhesitatingly taken along. Among many trips abroad, the weeks touring Senegal in 1995 with a woman friend were particularly adventurous. Her varied interests included music (the Aberdeen Bach Choir, street choirs, and a Bolivian music group), stained glass, and badminton. She loved long walks, and her propensity to paddle along any suitable beach was legendary. By 2007, she and David had location-independent jobs, so decided to return to Helen’s native Yorkshire, buying a house in Whitby with fine harbour views. Happiness was completed by grandchildren, Lorencita (February 2010) and Anna (June 2012), but this joy did not last. In August 2012, Helen was diagnosed with a rare but aggressive cancer. Major surgery followed in September, but delays in making the diagnosis meant it was already too late. Understanding that, Helen filled her remaining time with as much life as possible. In combating the illness her courage shone,