Derek Sherborn
Derek Sherborn | |
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Born | Conservationist | 7 May 1924
Derek Ronald Sherborn (7 May 1924 – 4 July 2004) was a British
Biography
The only child of Ronald Thorne Sherborn, a Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, amateur photographer and draughtsman, and his wife Evelyn May (née Allman),[1] Sherborn was born and raised in Streatham, a descendant of the Sherborn family of Bedfont,[2] Lords of the Manors of Fawns and Cockbell, first recorded in the person of John Sherborn, of Feltham, who appeared in the Middlesex Muster Rolls for Foot Soldiers in 1338 as being required to serve with a bow and arrow. The family had been settled at Bedfont since the 14th century.[3] In his youth, Sherborn was a collector of coins, stamps and Roman pottery, and his enthusiasm for history led him to attend auctions.[4]
After Streatham Grammar School, Sherborn joined the
Although numerous houses of distinction were lost, Sherborn's diligence and effort led to successful rescues of houses such as
Fawns Manor in Bedfont ('in the unlikely depths of suburban Middlesex'),[6] in the ownership of the Sherborns since the 15th century,[1] was inherited by Sherborn's uncle, the taxonomist Charles Davies Sherborn on the death of his fourth cousin once-removed, William Sherborn, in 1912.[7] When Charles Davies Sherborn died in 1942, the Manor came to Ronald Thorne Sherborn; the family took up residence in the restored house in 1950.[8] Sherborn lived there after his father's death until 1983, when, following several burglaries, he sold the manor to the British Airways Housing Association and moved to a seafront villa in Brighton. He died in 2004, having published his memoirs, An Inspector Recalls, the previous year.[1] In his Spectator review of the book, Hugh Massingberd noted Sherborn to be 'one of the unsung heroes of conservation' in Britain, and observed that 'the so-called "national heritage" thus owes Sherborn an immeasurable debt' in light of his efforts.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Granger, Derek (15 September 2004). "Obituary". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
- ^ 'Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry' vol. 2, 1969, pg. 559, 'Sherborn of Bedfont'
- ^ "SHERBORN FAMILY" – via National Archive of the UK.
- ^ "Derek Sherborn". 17 July 2004 – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
- ^ List of the Society of Antiquaries of London, Bartholomew Press, 1970, pg 42
- ^ a b "Jolly serious work » 7 Jun 2003 » The Spectator Archive". The Spectator Archive.
- ISBN 9781857765649.
- ^ Country Life, vol. 195, 2001, pg. 154