Headquarters in Singapore, advising RAF personnel on any civil problems they encountered. On arrival in Singapore, the Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in the Far East, Air Marshal the Earl of Bandon, who had identified Michael as “a pretty useful cricketer” instructed him to play for the United Services team the following day. He also instructed him to travel to the unit of the RAF person requiring advice, rather than to call them to come to HQ in Singapore, and to take a cricket team with him to “play the locals”. In order to fulfil this assignment, he was able to call on Flight Operations, who had been instructed to supply whatever aircraft he required at any time. Michael made a total of 79 such trips all over the Far East, Pacific and as far as Australia during his time in Singapore. After National Service, Michael returned to London and joined Coward Chance, then the leading corporate law practice in the country. During this time he started to travel internationally on business, particularly to the USA and which he continued to do for the remainder of his career. He then moved to Jaques & Co, where he spent much time acting for the newly-independent Government of Zambia in their acquisition of the Copperbelt mines, travelling to Zambia frequently. While working at Jaques, he met Maxwell Joseph, one of the most successful entrepreneurs of his day, who was then building up the Grand Metropolitan Group. He was interested in acquiring a Merchant bank and Michael identified Henry Ansbacher & Co as a potential opportunity. Joseph acquired the bank and Michael became his Deputy Chairman in 1969, steering the bank through a very difficult period of the secondary bank crisis as well as the stock market slump of the late 1970s. The bank was eventually floated on the
LSE as Fraser Ansbacher but following its tumultuous purchase by the New York-based Lissauer Group and the subsequent resignation of Joseph as Chairman, Michael decided to return to the legal profession once more. He established his consultancy firm, Quadrant Associates, in 1981, which worked on several exceptional projects. Perhaps most memorable was his work with the Northern Ireland Development Corporation (NIDC), which was created to aid inward investment into the province. Michael represented NIDC in its negotiations with the US Lear Aircraft Corporation about establishing a new factory in Belfast to build the Lear Fan aeroplane. In 1985, he joined Lawrence Graham, a large and respected long-established law firm, which had omitted to set up a corporate law practice, unlike most of its competitors. He was mandated to create a corporate department and drew upon his experience and friendships to establish a global network, travelling frequently to the USA, Lebanon and throughout continental Europe. Under his leadership the corporate team became the largest department within Lawrence Graham. His lavish retirement banquet at the Dorchester Hotel in 2000 recognised his immense contribution to the firm. Quadrant Associates remained an important element of his working life until 2006 when, at the age of 71, Michael decided to reward himself with a ‘proper retirement’ and wound the company down. While obviously focused on his working career, Michael was also a hugely loving and dedicated family man, successfully juggling his work- life balance. He adored his wife Rosi, their four daughters Penny, Tessa, Christina and Alexandra, and the
eight grandchildren. Supportive and loyal to the core, his weekends were often spent on the sidelines of a netball court or hockey pitch, or watching yet another school production or concert. He was always a committed sportsman and was particularly fond of playing cricket. After playing cricket for the school at Dulwich, he then played a great deal of cricket in SE Asia during his National Service as mentioned above, and then joined West Kent Cricket Club in Chislehurst as a seam bowler and team captain for many years. He also became a life member of the MCC, which he made more use of during his retirement although his eyesight let him down in later life. Political history was always a subject which interested him and he went on to study this after retirement. Every Sunday, he and Rosi separated briefly as he went to the local Anglican church and she went to the Catholic church, but they reunited again over a Sunday roast at home. Michael was heavily involved in the Church and also dedicated much time to looking after the financial affairs of several local parishes. A perfect gentleman, Michael’s voice of calm and wicked sense of humour will live on amongst all those who knew him. Claes Frederik Rosell [1947-55] 04.10.1937 – 26.02.2017 Claes Rosell
was at Dulwich in the period of austerity soon after the Second World War. After
leaving Dulwich, he did National Service as a Russian and German linguist based in Berlin listening in to the East German and Russian armies for RAF Intelligence. In the last few years, he told his children about his recollections of
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