2011 Hertford College Magazine (Issue 91)

“ Margaret was one
of the most interesting,
knowledgeable,
and charismatic tutors
I have ever had...
she was a phenomenal
tutor ”
admitted the fact. The one thing she really
didn’t have any time for was fuss. She liked
people who did what they said they would
do, were sensible and intelligent, who could
actually play the instrument they sat behind
(and what is more, played in tune), individuals
who could use a semi-colon properly
(and undergraduates who were aware
even of its very existence), people who
were nice, and above all, people who – as
she would have put it – didn’t make a fuss!
I was privileged to know Margaret in
several, but by no means all parts of her
varied life, which had three main though
connected constituents: her family, her
professional career as a tutor of linguistics,
and her musical life. There were
certain common themes. Margaret was
supremely well organized, completely reliable,
and wanted those things which needed
to be done to be done well. She would
have agreed wholeheartedly with Shakespeare’s
Richard II: ‘How sour sweet music
is / When time is broke and no proportion
HERTFORD COLLEGE MAGAZINE
Hertford record: Obituaries
kept! / So is it in the music of men’s lives’.
She put me to shame with her efficiency
in marking and returning essays. She might
tut-tut and mutter that ‘this poor child simply
doesn’t get it’, and then, according to report,
display infinite patience in the tutorial. One
pupil writes, ‘Margaret was one of the most
interesting, knowledgeable, and charismatic
tutors I have ever had... she was a phenomenal
tutor’. Other themes that come through
in undergraduates’ comments were Margaret’s
good humour, her grasp of strategy, her
sympathy, her supportiveness, and the feeling
that she was very firmly ‘on your side’.
Similarly, she worked quietly but effectively
during Admissions to try to secure places
in other colleges for deserving candidates.
Similar traits were evident in her musical
activities. She played in several local
(and not so local) orchestras, and was widely
known ‘on the circuit’. Her little black
book was an invaluable source when trying
to fix players for a concert. And Margaret
strongly approved of any amateur soloist –
87.