Obituary - Allen Grove

OBITUARIES L.R.A. GROVE, B.A., F.S.A., F.M.A. Allen Grove was born in November 1910 and died in July 1990. Allen came to Maidstone Museum in 1948 as its curator, a post he held until his retirement in 1975, after serving in museums at York, Bradford and Halifax, following his taking a degree in history at the University of London. Though he.himself would disclaim, as at least ill-fitting, the mantle of the polymath, Allen had an encyclopaedic knowledge on a great variety of subjects and his mind was ever open on a myriad of pages, even in the chaotic stratification of the curator's room in Maidstone Museum for which more than one of his friends would often chide him, if only to provoke the expected response, 'Ah, yes! But I know where everything is!' which is all that really mattered. It was not only his mind that was open and shared with others, but also his constant cheerfulness, even through the years of his illness, and his unfailing willingness to share knowledge and fellowship. Fuller obituary notices elsewhere record Allen's many achievements in many fields during a full lifetime's service to others. Here, it only remains for me to pay tribute to the President of our Society in 1986-87, to the Chairman of the Kent History Federation (1977-85), to the member of the many committees in which Allen served us all, and to witness with gratitude the passing of a scholar and a friend. Ave atque vale! A.P.D. F.W. JESSUP, C.8.E., M.A .. LL.8., Hon. D.C.L .• F.S.A .. Hon. F.L.A. Frank Jessup, President of the Society from 1976 to 1982, died on 30th August, 1990. Frank was born in 1909, educated at Gravesend Grammar School, and joined afterwards the local government service in Kent whilst 313 OBITUARIES continuing his studies as an external student of the University of London from which he took degrees in history and law besides being called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1935. Before leaving Kent, Frank had risen to the post of education officer in charge of further education: the adult education centres throughout Kent stand as a lasting memorial to his service in the county of his birth, which he left in 1952 on his appointment to the Delegacy of External Studies of the University of Oxford, first as secretary, later as its director, a post he held until he retired in 1976. Frank Jessup published many papers and books, notably A History of Kent (1958), which will stand the passage of time as eloquent witnesses to his versatile mind and scholarship, alongside his sterling work in Kent and at Oxford. He took over the presidency of our Society during a difficult period of its existence, and those of us who were privileged to sit close to him, at Council meetings or stormy A.G.M.s, will long remember the patient geniality and unfailing good humour with which he circumnavigated many reefs and piloted us all into calmer waters: for this alone, the Society remains forever in his debt. Sadly, the last years of his life were to be clouded by ill-health, though the measure of the affection and esteem in which he was held by all always surfaced, certainly at meetings of Council and in private, in members enquiring about him. We salute Frank's passing from our midst and offer our most sincere sympathy to his family and brother, Ronald. A.P.D. BEVERLEY NUNNS The death of our Member, Beverley Nunns, on 13th September, 1990, has removed a well-known figure from the field of local history, especially in the part of Kent around Sidcup. His early education was at Merton Court, Sidcup, and at Hereford Cathedral School. Later, he was employed by the National Provincial Bank, and as a member of the Territorial Army he was called-up at the beginning of World War II, serving with the Royal Engineers and the R.A.F. in the Middle East. After study at King's College, London, he joined the staff of the British Council where he remained until his retirement in 1980. During his working life he became a founder member of the Lamorbey and Sidcup Local History Society and also Secretary and President of the Sidcup Literary and Scientific Society, being elected 314 OBITUARIES as Honorary Life Member in recognition of his services to that body. He was also a founder member of the Bexley Civic Society with which he maintained contact after he moved to Deal in 1980. In addition to his local studies, he had an extensive knowledge of railway history and was for some years one of the lecturers to the Railway Studies Group at Goldsmiths' College, and a member of the Railway Club. At Deal, he became involved in the study of its history and became a member of the Deal Society and a friend of the Deal Maritime and Local History Museum, and the Deal Summer Music Festival. He will be remembered by his many friends not only for his wide knowledge but also for his modesty and good humour. At the age of seventy he died suddenly, leaving his wife, Gertrude, and daughter, Janet, to whom we offer our condolences. P.J.T. P. THORNHILL, B.A. After his retirement from teaching at Christ's Hospital in the course of which he had published a number of useful text-books, one of which, Downs and Weald, is a first-class introduction to the social geography of the South-East, Patrick Thornhill became a most enthusiastic member of the Society. He took part in every season of excavation at the Eccles Roman villa site between 1967 and 1975 as well as in excavation at Rochester Castle and elsewhere, and also contributed two most valuable articles to Archaeologia Cantiana. The first was 'A Lower Thames Ford and the Campaigns of 54 B.C. and A.D. 43' (Arch. Cant., xcii (1976), 119-18) in which he argued most convincingly for a more easterly line of advance in both campaigns; the second article, 'Second Thoughts on Strood's Causeway' (Arch. Cant., xciv (1978), 249-54), cleared up the confusion that had existed since the time of George Payne between the Roman and medieval roads in the area. His good-humoured and wise counsel will be greatly missed. A.C.H. and A.P.D. 315