2013 Annual Report - Jesus College - University of Cambridge

OBITUARIES I Jesus College Annual Report 2013 143
Obituaries
Fellows
John Cameron Wilson (1960) was
born on 3 November 1942 and died
on 21 September 2013.
Dr Cameron Wilson, who was a
Jesus Teaching Fellow for almost
forty years, supervised with great
devotion many generations of
students in French language and
literature. He also undertook a
variety of academic, pastoral and
administrative roles in the College,
all of which he performed with
legendary diligence and courtesy.
From 1992 to 1995 he was President
of the College, demonstrating
impressive skills as a chair person
and punctilious concern for
individual Fellows.
He was greatly valued on the
governing boards of four
independent schools, and liaised with a variety of schools throughout the country to
encourage university applications in modern languages. For many years he was involved
with schools’ examining boards. He was a devout Christian, frequently assisting at
prayers in Chapel, and preaching both in College and elsewhere.
Cameron, as he was popularly known, was a softly-spoken man who exuded
consideration and sensitivity. All who knew him were struck by his self-effacing
modesty. There was an air of clericalism about his demeanour: always the dark suit,
white shirt, sober tie, black shoes. Circumstances conspired to discourage him from
pursuing research in his chosen specialist field – 17th century French literature – beyond
his PhD. He never held a University post. Instead his time and energies were channelled
into tutorial teaching of undergraduates, directing their studies, offering pastoral and
academic advice across many disciplines, and promoting the welfare of the College
community. Despite colleagues’ occasional misgivings, he would find redeeming
features (and grounds for future hope) in those who fell by the wayside – either
academically or in matters of discipline. His serious, purposeful exterior belied a keen
wit and talent for public speaking, which he revealed to the delight, sometimes
astonishment, of those whom he entertained with an after-dinner speech.
John Cameron Wilson was born on 3 November, 1942, the only son of two teachers
(both graduates of the University of Leeds) in the small village of Sutton-in-Craven,
North Yorkshire. His father taught music in a variety of schools and eventually became
Registrar at the College of Music in Manchester where the family settled in 1948. Aged
eleven, Cameron became a pupil at Manchester Grammar, when it was a direct grant
school. His love of language, he used to say, was developed from listening to the radio.
He admitted that his boyhood hobbies included collecting copies of the Radio Times and
mastering the bus time-tables of Greater Manchester!