Part 2 (Obituaries) - King's College - University of Cambridge
Part 2 (Obituaries) - King's College - University of Cambridge Part 2 (Obituaries) - King's College - University of Cambridge
106 OBITUARIES Spencer attended Gresham’s School, and later studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture during the 1930s. In 1938, he joined the Territorial Army and served in the war effort with a commission in the Royal Engineers. The course of Spencer’s duties in the war took him first to Palestine and thereafter through North Africa, the Balkans and Burma. In the late 1940s, Spencer returned to the Middle East in order to work briefly with the British Mandate in Palestine before its dissolution. It was during these years that Spencer seems to have fostered his passion for archaeology. In the first years of the 1950s, Spencer completed a PhD at King’s in the Architecture of Ancient Churches in Asia Minor, resulting in a dissertation entitled Christian Architecture in the First Four Centuries of the Roman Empire. While he was reading for this degree, Spencer continued to take working holidays to Smyrna, Lepcis, Constantinople and Paphos. After completing the doctoral program, Spencer joined excavations in Turkey and Crete. Fresh from his formal education, it was while Spencer was working on these archaeological digs that he met Audrey Petty. To the delight of his family, Spencer, whom they thought at the age of 42 was a confirmed bachelor, married Audrey in 1955.Together, and almost immediately, the couple settled in Rome. Hired by the British School there, for a project funded by the University of Chicago, Spencer worked to catalogue all of the ancient churches in Rome. Until UCLA recently used real-time VR technology to record the interior of several Roman churches, some of Spencer’s line drawings constituted the most commonly accessible models available to students and scholars. Perhaps one of his most widely used works is his rendition of the recent reconstruction of the Basilica published in R Krautheimer’s text Rome: Profile of a City, 312–1308 (Princeton: 1980, p 48, fig 41). In 1962, after also living in Athens, Spencer and Audrey moved to Stapleford, near Salisbury. There, he worked as Editor for the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments until his retirement in 1978, and he was honoured with an OBE for his services.
Family members remember Spencer as thoughtful, meticulous and kind. At one point, he spent two years making an exact, although increased in scale, replica of a threadbare Persian rug as a present for a nephew’s daughter. His niece recalls a day, perhaps four decades ago, when she walked above theWylie Valley with him.As they looked out over Stapleford, Spencer reflected that one day all signs of human life would disappear as if they had not been. This inevitable transience, he told her, made the real human obligations ones of stewardship, practising good friendship and neighbourliness through peacefulness, patience and delight. STUART ERSKINE CREWE-READ (1920) was a naval man who saw action during the Great War and retired as a Commander. Stuart was born on 6 January 1901 in Ensenada, Mexico, and was educated at Osborne and Dartmouth. He went to sea as a 16-year-old midshipman straight from Dartmouth and served in the Grand Fleet during the First World War and in a destroyer in the Baltic operating against participants in the Russian Revolution. He came to King’s as a naval officer on a special course and played hockey for the College before returning to resume his naval career. In April 1939 Stuart married his wife Daphine. During the late 1940s he collaborated with Westley Richards in Birmingham on the development of an electric harpoon, and was later seconded to the Underwater Detection Establishment in Portland. Stuart died in the early 1980s. JOHN CROCKER (1968), father of S J C (1998), was a man “larger than life” for more reasons than his impressive stature and Santa Claus beard. His professional grasp and range in the field of pathology were accompanied by an ability to engage with many other subjects. His untimely death at 53 from heart failure left a gaping hole in the lives of all who were close to him. John was born on 18 June 1951 in Luton to Norman and Olga Crocker. After a two-year sojourn in Australia the family moved to Kent, and John won a scholarship to Sevenoaks School. His gift for learning later won him an 107 OBITUARIES
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106<br />
OBITUARIES<br />
Spencer attended Gresham’s School, and later studied at the Architectural<br />
Association School <strong>of</strong> Architecture during the 1930s. In 1938, he joined<br />
the Territorial Army and served in the war effort with a commission in<br />
the Royal Engineers. The course <strong>of</strong> Spencer’s duties in the war took him<br />
first to Palestine and thereafter through North Africa, the Balkans and<br />
Burma. In the late 1940s, Spencer returned to the Middle East in order to<br />
work briefly with the British Mandate in Palestine before its dissolution.<br />
It was during these years that Spencer seems to have fostered his passion<br />
for archaeology.<br />
In the first years <strong>of</strong> the 1950s, Spencer completed a PhD at King’s in the<br />
Architecture <strong>of</strong> Ancient Churches in Asia Minor, resulting in a dissertation<br />
entitled Christian Architecture in the First Four Centuries <strong>of</strong> the Roman Empire. While he<br />
was reading for this degree, Spencer continued to take working holidays to<br />
Smyrna, Lepcis, Constantinople and Paphos. After completing the doctoral<br />
program, Spencer joined excavations in Turkey and Crete.<br />
Fresh from his formal education, it was while Spencer was working on these<br />
archaeological digs that he met Audrey Petty. To the delight <strong>of</strong> his family,<br />
Spencer, whom they thought at the age <strong>of</strong> 42 was a confirmed bachelor,<br />
married Audrey in 1955.Together, and almost immediately, the couple settled<br />
in Rome. Hired by the British School there, for a project funded by the<br />
<strong>University</strong> <strong>of</strong> Chicago, Spencer worked to catalogue all <strong>of</strong> the ancient churches<br />
in Rome. Until UCLA recently used real-time VR technology to record the<br />
interior <strong>of</strong> several Roman churches, some <strong>of</strong> Spencer’s line drawings<br />
constituted the most commonly accessible models available to students and<br />
scholars. Perhaps one <strong>of</strong> his most widely used works is his rendition <strong>of</strong><br />
the recent reconstruction <strong>of</strong> the Basilica published in R Krautheimer’s text<br />
Rome: Pr<strong>of</strong>ile <strong>of</strong> a City, 312–1308 (Princeton: 1980, p 48, fig 41).<br />
In 1962, after also living in Athens, Spencer and Audrey moved to Stapleford,<br />
near Salisbury. There, he worked as Editor for the Royal Commission on<br />
Historical Monuments until his retirement in 1978, and he was honoured<br />
with an OBE for his services.