with his parents and younger sister, Liz, initially in Rayners Lane, West London. In 1949, the family moved to Shortlands, near Bromley, Kent. He attended Shortlands Primary School, but came to the College with a scholarship after a short spell at Oakfield Prep School in Dulwich. At the College, he was in Raleigh but, being small for his age and asthmatic, he did not enjoy most sports until his late teens when he began to enjoy rugby. His favourite subjects at school were Chemistry, Latin and English Literature, and he always fondly remembered Latin master, Philip Vellacott, who unknowingly provided many answers for subsequent cryptic crossword puzzles. While he was at school, he spent many happy holidays in Cambridgeshire, at the farm owned by his aunt and uncle, helping out with farm work. He was a keen Boy Scout who obtained the Queen’s Scout Award, and enjoyed participating in hikes, camping, and developing his cooking skills, which proved useful in later life. He loved classical music and was in the choir, both at school and at church. He was a member of the school choir which recorded Te Deum by Berlioz with the London Philharmonic Choir conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. After leaving Dulwich, Roger went to Battersea College of Technology to study Chemistry. After only one year of the course, he decided that industrial chemistry would not provide a satisfactory long-term career and, purely by accident, he discovered the developing world of computers and he was smitten. His first proper job was with the Road Research Laboratory, then part of the Civil Service, where he ran the punched card system which
processed accident statistics, and he also wrote programs to enable reports to be produced on the laboratory’s Ferranti Pegasus, which was advanced and very expensive for its time. His next job was with English Electric-Leo, where he was a technical writer, programmer and instructor. Various other positions in the computer industry followed, and he ended up working for ICL, working in the same areas as for English Electric. Eventually he came to be known as an authority on the 2900 VME based system and its transaction processing functionality called TPMS, and was highly regarded for his problem- solving and training abilities. When he moved to Australia, he became ICL Training Manager based in Melbourne. Subsequently, he ran training courses for ICL users all over Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, and was also a consultant on systems design. This work involved much time working away from home, and sometimes he was only at home in Melbourne for just long enough for his washing and ironing to be completed. For some longer assignments, he had more permanent accommodation in cities like Sydney and Melbourne and commuted to work each week. As large main-frame computers were replaced, he transferred his knowledge and experience to smaller systems and then to laptops, building a one-man consultancy business. In 1976 Roger married Bettina, who was an Australian working in London for a computer time-sharing company. Roger had already spent several years living in the Thames Valley, some time before it became known as the UK’s ‘Silicon Valley’, and they both continued to commute to jobs in London from Lower
Shiplake, near Henley on Thames. There they enjoyed a busy life with a small boat moored at the bottom of their garden, tended their garden and ensured that the profits of local brewery, Brakspear, did not decline. He was also able to enjoy sailing in the English Channel with his next- door neighbour, whose own yacht wintered on the Thames, next to his own Rivermead Owl. Following the birth of a daughter, Sarah, in 1977, the small family moved to Melbourne, Australia, where a son James was born to complete the family. Roger and Bettina spent nearly forty years based in Melbourne, and were very involved in their children’s schools, where his skills as a chef were put to good use at fund-raising events. Son James attended Caulfield Grammar School, in Melbourne, which has links with Dulwich College. Roger began sailing again and enjoyed being one of a crew, where he tended to be the cook, navigator and also act as engineer. He participated in the 1988 Sydney Hobart yacht race and several Melbourne to Devonport races, particularly enjoying off-shore racing. He was a proud father to both Sarah and James and a devoted Grandad. His children particularly remember him singing in church: very loudly and without reference to the hymn book which often resulted in embarrassingly different words. He died unexpectedly from complications of pneumonia and his family miss him greatly, regretting that he was not able to enjoy much of the retirement he deserved and to see his grandchildren grow up. He is survived by Bettina, Sarah, James and by four grandchildren, the youngest born only four weeks before Roger’s early death.
Bettina contributed significantly to this obiturary.
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