College Record 2017

Geoffrey Garton
(1927–2016)
Photo:
courtesy of Patricia Swinscoe
Governing Body Fellow 1967–92, College Bursar
1977–87, Emeritus Fellow 1992–2016
Geoff Garton, who died peacefully at home on 3
October 2016, exemplified the social mobility made
possible for many an Oxford scientist by the post-war
grammar school system. Born in Nottingham on 6
October 1927, Geoff was the son of a warehouseman.
After attending the Henry Mellish Grammar School
in Nottingham he entered St Catherine’s Society,
Oxford (now St Catherine’s College), gaining a BA
in Chemistry in 1950 and a DPhil in 1952. During
1952–55 he worked as a Research Assistant in the
Department of Chemistry at Princeton University before returning to Oxford as an
ICI Research Fellow, where in 1955 he was appointed a Research Assistant in the
Clarendon Laboratory, progressing to the post of Senior Research Officer, which he
combined with lectureships in Chemistry at Brasenose and Lady Margaret Hall. His
interests were in the fields of crystal growth, crystal structures and phase equilibrium.
When I pressed him for detail, all I could extract was: ‘Oh, I grow crystals for the
physicists.’
As Wolfson developed, its need for Fellows in branches of science with a large
graduate intake became increasingly pressing, and Geoff joined the Governing Body
in 1967, remaining a Fellow for 25 years until his retirement in 1992. He was also
a stalwart of the Grounds Sub-Committee for many decades, even after retirement.
So much for the record. My acquaintance with Geoff arose via his first wife, Natalie,
who was a senior technician in the then Department of Geology and Mineralogy,
which I myself joined in January 1967, as a 23-year-old Departmental Demonstrator.
Natalie was kindness itself: invitations to their home on Arnold’s Way, off Cumnor
Hill, are well-remembered. By the late 1970s Geoff became pessimistic about the
future of research funding, and agreed to take on the role of Bursar at Wolfson. To
his affected dismay, funding for his Department did come through, and the following
years were busy, to say the least. One of the conditions of the post of Bursar was that
the Gartons occupied 14 Chadlington Road, which raised a number of opportunities.
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