Obituary - T.FC. Blagg, MA, PhD, FSA

OBITUARY T. F. C. BLAGG, M.A., PH.D., F.S.A Tom Blagg had come late to Archaeology, having read History at Keble College, Oxford and trained and briefly practised as a solicitor in Newark. His London Ph.D was supervised by the late Donald Strong, and it is a mark of distinction that it was eagerly awaited by fellow-scholars long before its eventual submission. His main research interest was in the techniques of Roman monumental sculpture, in which he had an international reputation. His specialist reports extended to sites in Italy, Malta, Bulgaria and Petra, but he never lost a strong interest in London, and the South East as well. His Report on Stonework from the Roman Riverside Wall for the Museum of London appeared in 1980; seminal work soon appeared on the organisation of the stonecutters' profession; and the fascicle of the Corpus Signorum lmperii Romani on the stonecarving of Southeastern England was well advanced at his death. Tom will be remembered not only for his impeccably scrupulous scholarship, but also as a warm, humane and many-sided personality. Much of his time had been spent in the School of Continuing Education before his absorption into Classics; and he was a pivotal figure in the new Kent degree programme in Classical and Archaeological Studies. He had an abiding interest in music, especially opera, and in ballet; and he was the only archaeologist known to me to possess a higher degree in choreography. He was very loyal, civilised and polished colleague; and the uncertainties of his mercifully brief illness did nothing to lower his spirits. He died the day after his fifty-eighth birthday, a distinguished and memorable presence and a delight to all who knew him. GRAHAM ANDERSON 431