University College Oxford Record 2020

association to raising money for church fabric.
He inherited a passion for classical music
from his father, and from his mother a love of
gardening and the countryside. Always good with
his hands, he was a talented maker of walking
sticks. His pride and joy was a large model railway
in the garage, designed to resemble a branch-line
station in a mythical Sussex town.
James is survived by his wife Carol, and two
sons George and Tom.
PROFESSOR ALAN HARDING
(Royal Grammar School, Guildford) died on 23
August 2019 aged 87. We are very grateful to his
widow Marjorie for providing the following tribute:
Alan Harding grew up in Guildford, Surrey, the
second youngest of seven siblings. He went with
a scholarship to Guildford Grammar School, the
first in his family to reach secondary school, let
alone university; from there, after National Service
he went to University College to read History.
After his first degree he did a BLitt in medieval
legal history, and short-term jobs in Manchester
and London, before becoming a Lecturer in the
University of Edinburgh. Oxford had opened up
a new world of people and opportunities for
many interests outside history; he joined the
SCM (Student Christian Movement), he met
people with whom he went walking – developing
a love of mountain country such as North Wales
and North-west Scotland – and went with an
SCM group to Heidelberg where he met and
made lasting friendships with members of the
Studentengemeinde there. In 1958 he married
Marjorie Aitken, who had read Chemistry
at Somerville, and was still much involved in
teaching and research; in Edinburgh they took
opportunities to encourage communication
between arts and science faculties. In the 1960s
they adopted two children.
He took teaching and the support of students
seriously, and in due course was an Associate Dean,
and a Reader; his research on the development
of English law led to his first book A Social History
of English Law, others followed. Scottish Law
is quite different from English Common Law,
and he also made significant contributions to
Scottish Legal History. In 1980 he moved to the
University of Liverpool as Professor of Medieval
History. There were many challenges, such as
the sudden tightening of University funding, the
riots in Toxteth (within a few hundred yards of
his University department’s buildings), the militant
city council, and later Hillsborough; despite these,
when they retired and left Liverpool in 1997, they
had a real respect for the city and its people.
The return to Edinburgh in 1997 offered
good libraries and research opportunities as well
as old friends. Alan completed his last academic
book, Medieval Law and the Foundations of the
State, published in 2002. Then he needed another
historical project and set to work on a history
of his church, St Columba’s by the Castle, based
on the available records. Another on the (local)
Grassmarket Mission followed and broadened to
wider issues in Victorian social history.
He was a committed member of the Church,
serving as churchwarden and vestry secretary
at different times, promoting ecumenical
relationships, and working as a voluntary helper
with meals for the homeless. He loved books,
and read very fast and widely; for many years he
sorted books and organised the History section
of Edinburgh’s big Christian Aid Book Sale. Oxford
had introduced him to music, which he loved. He
supported the arts, generously, in particular music
throughout the year, the Edinburgh Book Festival
and International Festival. He also enjoyed travel
University College Record | October 2020 69